C-NRLF
SB 37M IBM
M13RARY
OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA.
GIFT OF
Mrs. SARAH P. WALSWORTH.
Received October, 1894.
^Accessions No. 5~*T0?w>- Class No.
INTRODUCTORY
LESSONS ON MORALS,
CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES.
BY
RICHARD WHATELY, D.D., LL.D.
CAMBRIDGE:
JOHN BART LETT.
1856.
CAMBRIDGE:
ELECTROTYPED AND PRINTED 1JY METCALP AND COMPANY.
PREFACE.
THE special merits of the following treatise
on Practical Ethics will be found to be simplici
ty of method, general clearness of style, a good
absence of technical terms and artificial classifi
cations, a singular aptness and familiarity of
illustration, respect for common sense in the de
velopment of principles, the doctrines it exhibits
of the essential unity of virtue, of the nature of
conscience, and of the determining efficacy of
motives, frequent appeals to Scriptural sanc
tions, and the uniform practice of referring the
quality of actions to the spiritual state in man
out of which they proceed. It is mainly for
these traits that this work has been selected
from among the many presented to the public
notice, and is now republished here as a text
book for elementary instruction.
IV PREFACE.
The only " Morals" that the educating plans
of Christian nations can finally concern them
selves much about are, in the high and broad
acceptation, Christian morals. It is but a lim
ited and partial service, though an actual one,
that science, in the ordinary sense, can render to
the moral life. It is certainly true, that there is
such a thing as a science of man s moral nature,
legitimate and justified ; as it is also true, that
psychology may be treated under ethical aspects.
But traditionary notions of categorical processes,
and the ambition of system-builders, have often
hindered a vital apprehension of the simple and
sublime laws of the soul working, under the
Spirit, towards the absolute right and good.
Divine truth creates its own modes, and imposes
its own conditions. It needs only to be wel
comed, in the clear shining of its own light,
only to be studied in a teachable temper and ac
cording to the natural necessities of experience,
that it may reveal its reality and beauty.
The grand ethical attainment is to come into
right, genuine relations with the Creator. Man
learns his duties, not by rules and formulas, but
through a pure attitude towards the Infinite Fa-
PREFACE.
ther. The subject is to be unfolded, not as an
agglomeration of facts, but as a living power.
It accosts the understanding less than the will.
It proceeds less by analysis than by sympathet
ic communications of purpose and aspiration.
There is but one root for all excellences in dis
position or deed. The best system of ethics
would grow out of the Sermon on the Mount.
In the great New Testament maxim, " Love
God and man," lies the central and germinal
idea of all true policies, economies, common
wealths, duties. The life of Christ is the norm
of all morality. For ethical science the spiritual
order is the only logical order. The proof of
this profound principle is in the readiness and
facility with which it joins moral ideas to ac
tions, informs circumstance with intention, and
applies doctrine to all the exigencies and shapes
of life ; because what is most true is always
most practical. When this is realized, a com
prehensive, consistent, and complete philosophy
of human character and conduct may be written.
The subsequent discussion of Christian Evi
dences appears to present what is most impor
tant to a primary investigation of the grounds of
VI PREFACE.
belief, in a lucid arrangement, unencumbered
with extrinsic matter. The author s treatment
has also the advantage of actually investing the
array of outward proofs with something of the
attraction and interest of the internal testimony,
not confusing the two departments, yet not
raising too sharp a distinction between them.
In affixing the name of Archbishop Whately
to both parts of this work, although they were
first published anonymously, we follow the
common opinion as to their authorship, an
opinion not contradicted on his authority.
F. D. H.
CAMBRIDGE, August, 1856.
CONTENTS.
LESSONS ON MORALS.
LESSON I.
CONSCIENCE.
PAGE
1. The Law of the Land no Complete Standard ... 1
2. The Law does not control Motives . ... 2
3. Ah^MenJiave some Notion of Right and Wrong ... 3
4. Scripture does not profess to give Precise Rules for Con
duct in all Cases . . ..... 4
MPT, ng r
6. Moral Goodness attributed to God ..... 7
7. Obedience to the Divine Will is a Duty .... 8
LESSON II.
THE DIVINE WILL.
1. A Divine Command in any Particular Point creates a Duty 10
2. Moral Precepts and Positive Precepts . . . . 11
3. Moral Precepts to be observed in the Spirit, and Positive in
the Letter ......... 13
4. Compliance with Positive Precepts a Moral Duty . . 15
5. Shi implies a Moral Faculty .... . 16
LESSON III.
ENCOURAGEMENTS TO DUTY IN SCRIPTURE.
1. What Scripture reveals in Reference to Duty . . .18
2. God s Approval of Virtue ...... 19
V1U CONTENTS.
3. Divine Approbation of Virtue an Encouragement . . 20
4. Divine Aid in the Performance of Duty .... 22
5. Scripture Examples 23
LESSON IV.
OFFICE OF SCRIPTURE IN REFERENCE TO MORAL, CONDUCT.
1. The Golden Rule 25
2. Application of the Golden Rule 26
3. Design of the Golden Rule 27
4. Offices of Scripture and of Conscience .... 28
5. Regulation of Conscience 29
LESSON V.
MODE OF MORAL TEACHING OF SCRIPTURE.
1. Difference of the Gospel-teaching from that of the Law . 31
2. Men accustomed to Precise Rules . ... 32
3. Principles substituted for Exact Rules . . . .33
4. Moral Discretion 34
5. Principles taught by Instances in Small Matters . . 36
6. Importance of Right Motives 37
7. Virtue and Vice depend on the Motives . . . .39
LESSON VI.
MORAL DISCIPLINE.
1. Object of requiring Good Conduct 41
2. Good Works by Proxy ....... 42
3. Works required for the Sake of the Works . . . .43
4. Righteousness of God ....... 45
5. Good Conduct has no Natural Claim to Reward . . .46
G. Reward and Punishment when due . . 47
CONTENTS. bt
LESSON VII.
PROPER OFFICE OF CONSCIENCE.
1. Foundation of our Moral Notions 51
2. Two Things requisite for Virtuous Conduct ... 52
3. Man under the Law and under the Gospel . . . .54
4. Depraving of Conscience 56
5. Misapplying of Scripture 58
LESSON VTII.
REGULATION OF CONSCIENCE.
1. Conscience never to be opposed 62
2. A Wrong Principle makes it impossible to act rightly . 63
3. Careful Study needed for Good Conduct . . . .65
4. Divine Blessing bestowed on Diligent Care ... 66
LESSON IX.
DIFFICULTIES OF MORAL DISCIPLINE.
1. Moral Improvement a Laborious Task . . . .68
2. No Direct Pleasure from Conformity to Conscience . 69
3. Indirect Gratifications from the Discharge of Duty . . 71
4. Supremacy of Conscience 72
5. Amiable Feelings to be under Control . . . .73
LESSON X.
CULTIVATION OF RIGHT FEELINGS.
1. Feelings not under the Direct Control of the Will . . 75
2. Feelings under the Control of the Will indirectly . . 76
3. How to influence one s Feelings 78
: CONTENTS.
4. Control of Feelings gradual 79
5. Right Acts lead to Right Inclinations 81
6. Right Actions must be what are done on Right Principles 83
LESSON XL
FORMATION OF HABITS.
1. What is practised, that will be learnt . . 85
2. Opposite Habits acquired among the same Things . . 87
3. Progress in forming a Virtuous Character . . . .89
4. Virtue a Struggle of Good against Evil .... 90
5. Imitation of our Heavenly Father 92
LESSON XII.
IMITATION OF JESUS.
1. Example of our Saviour 95
2. Jesus had Human Feelings 96
3. The Nature of the Lord Jesus mysterious .... 97
4. Jesus a Faultless Model 99
5. Danger of Erroneous Imitation 101
LESSON XHI.
IMITATION OF THE APOSTLES.
1. How far the Apostles are to be imitated .... 103
2. How far the Example of our Lord is not to be followed . 104
3. False Imitation of the Lord Jesus 105
4. Mistakes as to the Conduct of the Apostles . . . 106
5. The Apostles never tortured Themselves . . . .107
6. Goods of Christians not Common 108
CONTENTS. XI
LESSON XIV.
SINGLENESS OF VIRTUE.
1. Various Treatises on Morals . . . . . .111
2. Virtues not distinct, like the Arts 112
3. Apparent, but not Real Virtue 113
4. The Sacred Writers, and the Heathen Philosophers, agree on
the Oneness of Virtue 114
5. Consistency 116
6. Men apt to trust in one Supposed Virtue .... 117
LESSON XV.
EASIER AND HARDER DUTIES.
1. Differences in Men s Dispositions 119
2. Analogy of Bodily Constitutions 120
3. Care of Bodily Health and of Moral 121
4. Enumeration of Virtues not necessary .... 123
5. Mode of Instruction in the New Testament . . .124
LESSON XVI.
MISCELLANEOUS CAUTIONS. PART I.
1. The Matter to -which our Conduct relates should be well un
derstood 126
2. Right Principles not to be reserved for Great Occasions 128
3. Self-Love and Selfishness 129
4. Retiring from the World 132
5. Occasions for doing Good to be looked out for . . . 133
LESSON XVII.
MISCELLANEOUS CAUTIONS. PART II.
1. Veracity and Fidelity 134
2. What constitutes Moral Truth and Falsehood . . 135
Xll CONTENTS.
3. Implied Promises 137
4. Cases in which a Promise is not binding . . . 140
5. Falsehoods of Suppression ....... 142
6. Connivance at Deceit ....... 143
7. Pious Frauds 145
8. Consequences of Deception ...... 148
LESSON XVHI.
MISCELLANEOUS CAUTIONS. PART III.
1. Coveting 150
2. Personal Injuries 153
3. Christian Humility 155
4. Confessions of the Depravity of Man .... 156
5. Just Estimate of One s Self 159
6. .General Confessions, and Confession Avithout Amendment 161
7. MoralJudgments of the Vulgar 162
8. Virtues that are not generally approved .... 163
LESSON XIX.
SELF-EXAMINATION. PART I.
1. Stated Times for Self-Exam ination 166
2. Candor in Self-Examination ...... 167
3. Progress in Virtue to be marked 169
4. Despair leads to Neglect 171
5. Virtuous Progress to be hoped for 172
LESSON XX.
SELF-EXAMINATION. PART II.
1. Christian Knowledge 174
2. Scripture to be studied intelligently .... 175
CONTENTS. yiii
3. Practical Study 176
4. Outward Acts not the only Virtuous Practice . . 178
5. Advice of Friends ........ 179
6. Signs of Progress ISO
7. Heads of Self-Examination , 183
CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES.
LESSON PAGE
I. FIRST EISE OF CHRISTIANITY 187
n. FAITH AND CREDULITY 194
III. ANCIENT BOOKS 201
IV. PROPHECIES 206
V. MIRACLES. PART 1 211
VI. MIRACLES. PART II 217
VII. MIRACLES. PART III 222
VIII. WONDERS AND SIGNS 229
IX. SUMMARY OF EVIDENCES 235
X. INTERNAL EVIDENCES. PART 1 242
XI. INTERNAL EVIDENCES. PART II. .... 252
XII. INTERNAL EVIDENCES. PART in 257
XIII. OBJECTIONS. PART 1 270
XIV. OBJECTIONS. PART II 278
XV. MODERN JEWS. PART 1 290
XVI. MODERN JEWS. PART II 297
LESSONS ON MORALS
LESSONS ON MORALS.
LESSON I.
CONSCIENCE.
1. TJie Law of the Land no complete Standard.
THE law of the land ought not to be made our
standard of moral right and wrong. It is indeed our
duty to obey the laws, unless there should be a law
commanding us to do something absolutely wrong ;
but this is only a part of our duty, and not the whole.
For there are many things to which a good man will
think himself morally bound, though they are what
no laws make any mention of; such as gratitude to
a benefactor, charity to the poor, and many others.
Such duties cannot be enjoined by any human laws, be
cause they are what cannot be enforced; being in their
own nature voluntary. When a man is compelled to
make repayment to one who has advanced him money,
or to contribute to the support of the poor, there is no
gratitude or charity in the case. For these consist in
giving of one s own free will ; and no one can be said to
give what the law obliges him to pay. If therefore any
one should have been well inclined to contribute a cer-
1
2 LESSONS ON MORALS.
tain sum towards the relief of his poor neighbors, still,
as soon as the law obliges him to contribute that sum, it
is no gift ; because what the law requires him to part
with is no longer his own.
So also there are many things which every good
man would consider wrong, but which the law does not
prohibit, because it could not prevent them, or because
the attempt to prevent them would do more harm than
good. What are called " sumptuary laws " have been,
for this reason, abolished in most civilized countries.
For though it is wrong for a man to spend more than
he can properly afford, in fine clothes, furniture, and
feasts, beyond his station, the attempt to prevent this, by
legal interference with each man s private expenditure,
has always been found to be intolerably troublesome,
and almost entirely ineffectual.
2. The Law does not control Motives.
But it was pointed out, in the second place, that even
if it were possible for the laws to enjoin everything that
is good, and prohibit everything that is wrong, still a
man who should act rightly merely in. obedience to the
laws, and for the sake of avoiding legal penalties, would
not be at all what any one would account a good man,
because he would not be acting from a virtuous motive ;
and it is entirely on the motives and disposition of the
mind that the moral character of any one s conduct de
pends. An action, indeed, which is done "from a bad or
from an inferior motive, may be in itself right, as being
what a good man would be disposed to do ; as when a
man pays his debts for fear of being imprisoned, or hav
ing his goods seized ; but this does not make him an
honest man.
CONSCIENCE. 3
You can plainly see, therefore, how great an error it
would be for a man to make the law of the land his
standard of right and wrong, and to be satisfied with
himself as long as he did but comply with the laws.
For, in the first place, he might do much that is wrong,
and might omit many duties, without transgressing any
law ; and secondly, when he did do what is right in it
self, yet not because it is right, but merely for fear of
legal penalties, though this would be a benefit to the
public, it would be no virtue in him.
3. AH Men have some Notion of Right and Wrong.
All men, except perhaps some few of the wildest sav
ages, have some notion of moral right and wrong, inde
pendently of human laws. There is hardly any one
who would not account it a good thing to relieve a dis
tressed neighbor, and a bad thing to treat a benefactor
with ingratitude ; though these are matters which laws
do not notice. And every one would allow that who
ever has borrowed anything, is bound in duty to repay
it, even though there were no law to compel him to do
so.
But there are several points in which different na
tions, and different persons, vary considerably as to their
notions of what is morally good and bad. The same
things which are condemned by some, are approved
by others. And this has led some persons to doubt
whether there is any such faculty in the human mind
as that which is commonly called " Conscience," or
" Moral sense," or " Moral faculty."
But you should remember that every one of our facul
ties is capable of cultivation and improvement, and is
LESSONS ON MORALS.
also liable to be corrupted and depraved, and is subject
to various imperfections. Human Reason is far from
being infallible; for many men are deceived by falla
cious arguments, and fall into various errors ; and there
are great varieties in the opinions formed by different
persons. Yet no one would on that ground deny that
Man is a rational Being. And again, you may oc
casionally see great variations even in the bodily sens
es, and in the bodily formation, of different individuals.
But we do not consider these variations as doing away
with all general rules. Some are born idiots, and some
blind ; some have been born with only one arm, and
some with neither arms nor legs. Yet we speak of Man
as a Being possessing reason, and having eyes, and arms,
and legs. And again, to a person in fever, sweet things
taste bitter ; and some have a taste so depraved by dis
ease or by habit as to prefer bitter or sour things to
sweet. Yet no one would deny that wormwood is bitter,
and honey sweet ; or would say that aloes has naturally
a pleasanter taste than honey. And it would be equally
absurd to deny that there is anything naturally odious
in ingratitude, or that justice and beneficence are natural
and proper objects of approbation.
4. Scripture does not profess to give Precise Rules
for Conduct in all Cases.
Some, however, nlay be disposed to think that it is of
no consequence to Christians what may be the natural
faculties of Man in all that relates to moral conduct, or
what may have been said or thought on the subject
by heathens, since we have in the Holy Scriptures a
sufficient guide to teach us all that we are to do or
avoid.
CONSCIENCE. 5
But this would be to mistake altogether the whole
character of our Scriptures. You may see, even from
Scripture itself, that it was never designed to supply a
complete set of precise rules as to every part of our con
duct ; and that the sacred writers do not address them
selves as to men that had no natural notion of moral
right and wrong. They do indeed notice such errors in
particular points as their hearers were the most apt to
fall into, and they dwell on such particular duties as had
been most neglected. But they do not attempt to go
through in detail all things that a Christian is required
to do or to abstain from. And they are so far from
supposing their hearers to require to be taught the first
rudiments of morality, the fundamental distinction be
tween moral good and evil, that, on the contrary, they
appeal to the moral principles of their people, and call
upon them to judge and decide according to those prin
ciples. And they appeal to them, not only as Christians,
but as human creatures ; for they speak of the Gentiles
before the Gospel had been revealed to them, as " know
ing " (when they lived in gross vice) " that they who do
such things are worthy of death," and they speak of
some who, " not having the [divine] law, do, by nature,
the things of the law ; their conscience also bearing wit
ness, and their thoughts accusing or else excusing one
another." (Rom. ii. 14.)
5. Scripture addresses Men as possessing a
Conscience.
Moreover, our Lord says that " the servant who knew
not his lord s will, and did commit things worthy of
stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes; but that he
1*
6 LESSONS ON MORALS.
who knew his lord s will and did it not, shall be beaten
with many stripes." Now, that one who knew his lord s
will and did it not, should receive the heavier punish
ment, is a rule which one can easily understand ; but
that one " who knew not his lord s will " that is, who
had not received any express command could " com
mit things worthy of stripes" would be utterly incon
ceivable, if we supposed all notions of right and wrong
to have been originally derived entirely from a knowl
edge of the divine will.
And again, when the Apostles exhort Christians to.
think on and practise " whatsoever things are pure, what
soever things are honest and lovely, and of good re
port"; and, "giving all diligence, to add to their faith
virtue, and temperance, and patience," , and the like, it
is plain they could not have been speaking to men who
had no notion of what is meant by virtue, and temper
ance, and purity, &c., and who needed to be taught pre
cisely what is to be accounted good and bad conduct on
each point ; just as you would inform a blind man that
snow has a quality called white, and grass green, and
coal black, and the like.
Indeed, the ancient heathen philosophers, who had no
belief in a future state of reward and punishment, or in
any revelation made to man, used the words which we
translate "virtue," and gave, on; the whole, much the
same descriptions of virtue and vice that any one would
do now. And this would evidently have been ^ impos
sible, if Man had been naturally quite destitute of all
moral faculty.
CONSCIENCE. 7
6. Moral Goodness attributed to God.
Moreover, the sacred writers always speak of God as
just and good, and his command as right and reasonable.
"Are not my ways," says He by a prophet, "equal?
Are not your ways unequal ?" And again, " Why, even
of yourselves judge ye not what is right ? " Now all
this would have been quite unmeaning if Man had no
idea of w r hat is good or bad in itself, and meant by those
words merely what is commanded or forbidden by God.
For, then, to say that God s commands are just and
good, would be only saying that his commands are his
commands. If man had not been originally endowed
by his Maker with any power of distinguishing be
tween moral good and evil, or with any preference of
the one to the other, then it would be mere trifling to
speak of the divine goodness ; since it would be merely
saying that " God is what He is," which is no more <
than might be said of any Being in the universe.
Whenever, therefore, you hear any one speaking of
our having derived all our notions of morality from the
will of God, the sense in which you must understand
him is, that it was God s will to create Man a Being
endowed with conscience, and capable of perceiving the
difference of right and wrong, and of understanding that
there is such a thing as Duty. And if any one should
use expressions which seem not to mean this, but to im
ply that there is no such thing as natural Conscience,
no idea in the human mind of such a thing as Duty,
still you may easily prove that his real meaning must
be what we have said. If any persons tell you that
our first notion of right and wrong is entirely derived
8 LESSONS ON MORALS.
I from the Divine Law, and that those words have no
meaning except obedience and disobedience to the de
clared will of God, you may ask them whether it is a
matter of duty to obey God s will, or merely a matter of
prudence, inasmuch as He is able to punish those who
rebel against Him ? Whether they think that God is
justly entitled to obedience, or merely that it would be
very rash to disobey one who has power to enforce his
commands ?
They will doubtless answer, that we ought to obey
the divine commands as a point of duty, and not merely
on the ground of expediency; that God is not only
powerful, but good ; and that conformity to his will is
a thing right in itself, and should be practised, not
through mere fear of punishment, or hope of reward,
but because it is right.
7. Obedience to the Divine Will is a Duty.
Now this proves that they must be sensible that there
is in the human mind some notion of such a thing as
Duty, and of things being right or wrong in their own
nature. For, when any persons submit to the will of an
other merely because it is their interest, or because they
dare not resist, we never speak of this submission as a
matter of duty, but merely of prudence. If robbers were
to seize you and carry you off as a slave, threatening
you with death if you offered to resist or to escape, you
might think it advisable to submit, if you saw that re
sistance would be hopeless ; but you would not think
yourself bound in duty to do so. Or again, if you Avere
offered good wages for doing some laborious work, you
might think it expedient to accept the offer, but you
CONSCIENCE. 9
would not account it a moral duty. And when a farm
er supplies his cattle, or a slave-owner his slaves, with
abundance of the best of food, in order that they may
be in good condition, and do the more work for himself,
or fetch a better price, and not from benevolence to
them, every one would regard this as mere prudence,
and not virtue. And we judge the same in every case
where a man is acting solely with a view to his own ad
vantage.
You can easily prove, therefore, that when people
speak of a knowledge of the divine will being the origin
of all our moral notions, they cannot mean exactly what
the words would seem to signify ; if, at least, they admit
at the same time that it is a matter of duty, and not
merely of prudence, to obey God s will, and that he has
a just claim to our obedience.
LESSON II.
THE DIVINE WILL.
1. A Divine Command in any Particular Point
creates a Duty.
SOME persons are apt to fall into indistinctness of lan
guage, and confusion of thought, on this subject, from
not taking care to distinguish between our moral judg
ment on some particular . cases, and . our notion of Duty
generally. . On any. particular point, a pious man will
be ready, if he is convinced that a divine command has
been given, to obey it at once without further inquiry ;
taking for granted that it is right, though he may not
see the reason of it. But this is not from his having no
notion at all, generally, of anything being in itself right
or wrong, and knowing no meaning of the word " good,"
except " what is commanded by a superior power." On
the contrary, he acts as he does from his general trust
in God s goodness, and just claim to obedience. For, in
this or that particular point, a divine command may
make that a duty which was not so before. But this
can only be when the command is given to a being en
dowed with a moral sense, which enables him to per
ceive that there is such a thing as Duty, and that God
has a rightful claim to be obeyed, even when the reason
of his commands is not perceived.
In like manner, a telescope will enable a man pos-
THE DIVINE WILL. 11
sessing the sense of sight to see objects invisible to the
naked eye. But the revelation of a divine command
could no more originate the notion of duty, generally, in
a being destitute of Moral Faculty, and to whom, there
fore, the word " duty " would have no meaning at all
(though he might be afraid to disobey), than a telescope
could confer sight on a blind man.
2. Moral Precepts and Positive Precepts.
In order to have a clear view of this subject, you
must be careful to observe the distinction (which some
persons are apt to overlook) between what are called
moral precepts [or " natural " precepts] and positive
precepts. We are bound to comply with both ; but
" moral precepts " are what relate to things right and
wrong in themselves, independently of any command ;
and " positive precepts " are what relate to things origi
nally indifferent, but which are made right or wrong by
the command . of a Superior whe has a just claim to
obedience.
Thus, when Children are forbidden to tell lies, or
to quarrel, these are things forbidden because they are
wrong in themselves. And when they are told to im
prove their minds by learning what is useful, and to be
kind and helpful to each other, and the like, these things
are commanded because they are right in themselves.
But when they are forbidden to go beyond the bounds
of the play-ground, and are charged to come in at a
certain hour, these are what are called "positive" pre
cepts. To go beyond a certain spot was originally noth
ing wrong in itself; but became wrong, after the rule
had been laid down, because it would be an act of dis-
12 LESSONS ON MORALS.
obedience. And to come in from play at twelve o clock,
or at one, is in itself a matter of indifference, but it is
made a matter of duty as soon as the master or parent
has appointed the time.
So also it is a moral duty (as has been above said) to
obey the laws of the land when not wrong in them
selves ; and some of these relate to things originally and
naturally right and wrong ; others, to things originally
indifferent. For instance, to import tea, or wine, or to
manufacture candles or malt, is a thing originally in
different. But when a tax has been laid on these
things, then to evade this tax is to rob the revenue,
that is, to rob the nation. And, accordingly, to sell, or
to buy, smuggled goods is a thing morally wrong.
The like holds good with private contracts. In these,
a person may be bound, as to matters originally indiffer
ent, not by the command of a superior, but by his own
act. For it is clearly a moral duly to fulfil one s en
gagements. Thus, a husband and wife are bound, by
the marriage contract they have made, to their mutual
duties, though they were not bound to each other be
fore. Children, on the other hand, are bound by an
original and natural obligation to honor their par
ents.
Again, when the Israelites were commanded, in the
Mosaic law, to be kind to their neighbors, and liberal to
the poor, this was commanded because it was in itself
right. But when they were commanded to keep the
feast of the Passover, and to perform certain appointed
ceremonies, and to set aside certain specified days and
years as sanctified, this was right because it was com
manded.
THE DIVINE WILL. 13
So, also, the prohibition of murder and theft were
what are called " moral " [or natural] precepts, as re
lating to things wrong in themselves; but to eat the
flesh of the animals specified as " unclean," which is a
matter originally indifferent, was wrong for Israelites,
because it was forbidden in their law.
In such cases, the command of a rightful Superior
makes things morally right and wrong which were not
so before the express command was given. And when
such a command does exist, we are bound in duty to
obey it.
3. Moral Precepts to be observed in the Spirit, and
Positive in the Letter.
The distinction between positive duties and [natural]
moral duties, it is most important to perceive clearly,
and always to keep in mind. For with respect to the
latter class, that of natural duties, we are left to be
guided by our own conscience, according to the best
judgment we can form ; and we must not expect to have
precise rules laid down as to every case that can arise ;
nor satisfy ourselves that we are blameless as long as
we do nothing that is expressly forbidden, and omit noth
ing that is, in so many words, commanded.
But with respect to the other class, that of positive
duties, it is sufficient if we do but conform precisely
to the commands distinctly laid down for us. We are
safe as long as we transgress no express injunctions
given to us.
And precepts of this class we are bound to comply
with according to the letter, without presuming to depart
from this, and to plead that we are observing the spirit
2
14 LESSONS ON MORALS.
of the command. With moral precepts it is the reverse.
For instance, the injunction of our Lord " to wash one
another s feet," is usually regarded (and very rightly)
as no positive precept, but only an injunction to be kind
and helpful to each other. Any one, therefore, would
be complying with his command in spirit, and as was
designed, by showing such kindness generally, even
though he should never literally wash another s feet.
And, on the contrary, one who should literally wash an
other s feet, but should generally refuse all kind assist
ance and relief, would be in reality disobeying the com
mand, by disregarding the spirit of it.
But, on the other hand, when our Lord said, " Do this
in remembrance of me," and commanded his disciples to
baptize, He was giving positive precepts ; as we learn
from the practice of the Apostles, who evidently under
stood Him (as He must have known that they would,
and designed that they should) to enjoin the use of lit
eral water, and bread and wine. No one should pre
sume, therefore, to omit the literal and exact compliance
with these commands, and to set up the plea of observ
ing them in the spirit.
So, also, when the Israelites were enjoined to sanc
tify certain distinctly specified days as religious festivals,
it was not allowable for them to make any alterations,
and to plead that they were observing the spirit of the
ordinances, by keeping the Passover, for instance, at
some different time of the year ; or by sacrificing some
other animal than the one enjoined ; or by sanctifying as
a sabbath every sixth day, or every eight ; or by fixing
on the first, or second, or third day of the week instead
of the seventh, on the ground that one day is in itself as
THE DIVINE WILL. 15
good as another. In all positive precepts, in short, an
exact compliance with the very letter of the command
is required ; and is made, by the command, a moral duty
to those to whom the command is given.
4. Compliance with Positive Precepts a Moral Duty.
The obedience, in these matters, of a pious man to
the divine commands, even when he does not under
stand the reasons of them, and his general trust in the
divine wisdom and goodness, all this is of a piece with
what we feel and do towards our fellow-men. A duti
ful and affectionate child, for instance, will fully trust
(with good reason) in the goodness and the superior
judgment of a kind parent, and will comply cheerfully
with his directions, even when not knowing why they
were given ; all the more cheerfully from being con
vinced that his parent s directions are right; and not
as merely yielding to superior power, and calculating
on reward or punishment.
So, also, some friend, on whose worth and good sense
you fully rely, will perhaps take some measures which
you presume, from your knowledge of his character, to
be right ones, before you have sufficient knowledge of
particulars to judge of the case itself.
And we judge in the same way in other matters also,
that have no relation to moral conduct. For instance,
if you had read several works of some author, which
.you greatly admire, you would be likely, when you
heard of some new work of his about to be published,
to expect, before reading it, that that also would show
great ability. It is not that you have no notion of good
or bad writing except what is or is not his ; but you
16 LESSONS ON MORALS.
would form your expectations of what you have not
seen from that which you have seen.
5. Sin implies a Moral Faculty.
In addition to what has been said, it is important to
remark, that sin, which the sacred writers so often im
pute to men, does itself imply the existence of a moral
sense. For a being destitute of all power of distinguish
ing between moral good and evil, as is the case with
brutes, however odious his actions might be, could not
commit sin. And accordingly, though a wolf, or a
swine, or any other brute, may do acts which would be
sinful in a man, no one speaks of a brute as sinful, or
imputes to it moral guilt. And, for the same reason, no
sin is ever imputed to the acts of a new-born infant, or
a complete idiot. And, accordingly, in some parts of
this country, the term used by the common people for
an idiot is " an innocent." For, though idiots may be
very mischievous, it is understood that they can incur no
guilt, whatever they do, from not having the sense to
perceive right and wrong. They, and infants, every
one would say, are not moral agents, any more than the
brutes ; and, consequently, the word sin would not ap
ply to any of their acts. Yet the higher kinds of brutes,
such as horses and dogs, can be taught to obey their
masters, and to do or to abstain from certain acts, from
fear of punishment or hope of reward. But we con
sider sin to consist in doing what one knows, or might
have known, to be morally wrong ; in short, in trans
gressing the rules of duty which one is capable of un
derstanding. So, also, folly we consider as consisting
in acting against the dictates of one s reason, and conse-
THE DIVINE WILL. 17
quently as implying a rational nature. And, accord
ingly, no one imputes folly to a brute, any more than
sin.
Of course, when any express command does come
from God, or indeed from a parent, or any other right
ful superior, this increases the sin of those who disobey
it. And this is what the Apostle Paul evidently means
when he speaks of " the commandment " making siii
"exceeding sinful."
But in no case can there be any sin at all except in
a violation of duty by a Being capable of understanding
what duty is.
LESSON III.
ENCOURAGEMENTS TO DUTY IN SCRIPTURE.
1. What Scripture reveals in ^Reference to Duty.
You have seen, then, that Man has been endowed by
his Maker with a power of distinguishing, in some de
gree, good and bad actions ; which is called by some the
" moral sense " [or moral faculty], and by some " con
science." And you have seen that the sacred writers
always address us as Beings having some notion of what
Duty is ; and that the moral precepts they deliver al
ways proceed on that supposition. And, moreover, it
has been pointed out, that if Man had been a Being
quite destitute (like the brutes) of all idea of moral right
and wrong, then no revelation of the divine will, nor
any expectation of future rewards and punishments,
could have imparted to such a Being the notion of Duty.
Man might, in that case, have obeyed the divine com
mands as a matter of prudence ; just as a slave (and
indeed even a brute) may be brought to do what his
master bids him. But the notion of being justly bound
to obey, as a matter of Duty, is what could never have
entered his mind.
What, then, you may next ask, is the connection be
tween a divine revelation and moral conduct ? If, as
we have seen, a knowledge of God s will could not of
ENCOURAGEMENTS TO DUTY IN SCRIPTURE. 19.
itself convey any notion of Duty to a Being naturally
destitute of a moral sense, and if the sacred writers do
not undertake (as it is plain they do not) to give precise
directions as to every point of conduct, what is it that
revelation does teach us in reference to morality ?
2. God s Approval of Virtue.
In the first place, we learn from our Scriptures that
our Maker approves of virtue, and disapproves of vice.
Now this was either unknown, or very imperfectly
known, to the ancient heathen. Their most eminent
philosophers regarded those supposed Beings who were
called gods (to none of whom, by the way, they attributed
the creation)* as wholly regardless of human concerns.
And as for the tales circulated among the vulgar about
a state of happiness or suffering after death, they de
rided them as "old wives fables." They understood
what is meant by " virtue," and wrote many admirable
things on the subject ; but always without any reference,
or with very slight reference, to the will of their gods.
And as for the vulgar among the ancient heathen, though
they were not altogether without a notion that their
gods favored the virtuous, and sometimes sent heavy
judgments on very great crimes, they trusted chiefly to
costly sacrifices, and splendid temples, and images, and
to superstitious ceremonies, for making their gods pro
pitious, and atoning for all violations of moral duty.
And, indeed, great part of the worship of several of
these gods consisted in gross immorality. Thus, we
read in the book of Deuteronomy concerning the relig-
* See " Lessons on Religious Worship," Lesson II.
20 LESSONS ON MORALS.
ion of the Canaanites : " Every abomination unto the
Lord which He hateth, have these nations done unto
their gods ; for even their sons and daughters have they
burned in the fire unto their gods/
Our religion, on the contrary, teaches, that " in every
nation he that feareth God, and worketh righteousness,
is accepted of Him " ; that our great Master came
into the world, and lived and died for us, "that he
might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify to Him
self a peculiar people, zealous of good works." When
ever, in our Scriptures, the unspeakable love and good
ness of God towards us is set forth, in sending his bless
ed Son for our salvation, we are always called on to show
our gratitude and love towards Him in return, by a zeal
ous and watchful endeavor after personal holiness. " If
ye love me," says the Saviour, "keep my command
ments." And he warns us that to those who lead a sin
ful life, even though they shall have preached in his
name, and " in his name done many mighty works," He
will say at the last day, " I know you not ; depart from
me, all ye workers of iniquity."
3. Divine Approbation of Virtue an Encouragement.
Now it is indeed true, as was remarked above, that if
Man had been a Being destitute of moral sense [con
science], no knowledge of the divine will could have
given him the notion of Duty ; and anything we might
do, in compliance with God s will, on grounds of mere
self-interest, would not be at all of the character of Vir
tue, but would be only Prudence. But Man being such
as he actually is, capable of understanding the differ
ence between moral good and evil, but of a frail and
ENCOURAGEMENTS TO DUTY IN SCRIPTURE. 21
imperfect character, and exposed to many temptations
to sin, such a Being is of course greatly encouraged
in virtue, and deterred from sin, by knowing that our
Maker requires what is good, and forbids what is evil, and
that " He hath appointed a day in which He will judge
the world in righteousness," and will " render to every
man according to his deeds ; to them who, by patient con
tinuance in well-doing, seek for glory and honor and im
mortality, eternal life ; but unto them that obey unright
eousness, tribulation and anguish upon every soul of
man that doeth evil."
Such an encouragement in the practice of duty as our
great Master has thus mercifully provided, is what Man
greatly needs. For, besides the temptations of sin which
he is exposed to, it is to be remembered that, when he
does resist them, and fulfils his duty, this does not of it
self produce any positive pleasure ; because it is the very
nature of Conscience to show us that good conduct is what
we are bound to, and as only the payment of a just debt.
If we fail in this, and act against conscience, its re
proaches are painful : if we comply with its dictates, it
then does not pain us, but neither does it afford positive
gratification ; only quiet, and peace, and freedom from
remorse. For if a man should pride himself on any
thing he had done, as if it were something meritorious
in God s sight, as being beyond his bounden duty, this
thought would be itself a sin.
Though, however, the mere performance of duty does
not of itself give positive pleasure, to obtain approbation
even from our fellow-creatures is gratifying ; sometimes,
indeed, even dangerously so. And our natural desire
of approbation God has graciously thought fit to direct
22 LESSONS ON MORALS.
towards Himself; assuring us that He sees, and sees
with favor, every struggle against sin, every effort to
obey his commands and to improve in virtue. And
moreover, He has promised, not only to be a " rewarder
of them that diligently seek Him," but to make their re
ward consist in a fuller knowledge of Him, and a more
perfect enjoyment of his presence and of his appro
bation. " We know," says the Apostle John, " that when
Christ shall appear, we shall be like Him ; for we shall
see him as He is." We have thus, therefore, what
Man so much needs, a strong encouragement to strive
after the improvement of our moral character. For
" every one," the Apostle goes on to say, " that hath this
hope on Him, purifieth himself, even as He is pure."
4. Divine Aid in the Performance of Duty.
Secondly, Man being by nature weak, and being be
set by temptations, our religion holds out the promise
of inward divine aid in the practice of Duty, from
the Holy Spirit, which " helpeth jour infirmities." " I
am the vine," says our Lord, " ye are the branches ; as
a branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in
the vine, no more can ye except ye abide in Me : with
out Me ye can do nothing." And, " It is God that work-
eth in us," says the Apostle Paul, " both to will and to
do of his good pleasure."
As for Man s need of such aid, that is, his frailty and
proneness to fall into sin, that is but too well known
from universal experience. But some persons seem in
clined to attribute this entirely to bad governments and
laws, faulty education, and bad examples. And they
seem to think that improvements in governments and
ENCOURAGEMENTS TO DUTY* IN SCRIPTURE. 23
systems of education might put an end to all moral evils.
No doubt erroneous education, unwise laws, &c., do ex
ist, and do greatly contribute to increase the faultiness
of the human character ; but they never could have been
the original cause of it ; since it is from men they have
all proceeded. Our Scripture history, however, tells us
that our first parents, without any bad education, corrupt
ing examples, bad governments, &c., did transgress the
only command given them. And as no one of us can be,
by birth, of a firmer and purer moral character than
they were originally, we may be sure that we, left to our
own unaided strength, should have acted, if placed in
their situation, no better than they did.
5. Scripture Examples.
Thirdly, we find set before us in our Scriptures the life
of our Saviour, who " left us an example that we should
follow his steps," and " purify ourselves as He is pure."
And we have also the examples of his Apostles, which
are instructive to us, both in their failings which are re
corded, and in their recovery through their divine Mas
ter s instruction and support, and in the life of devoted
Christian virtue to which they were at length brought.
For they were evidently not men of superior natural in
telligence ; nor were they originally exempt from world
ly ambition, and timidity, and other failings. And we can
trace in the Scripture history the gradual improvement
and elevation of their characters, under the training to
which they were subjected.
Fourthly and lastly, although, as has been said, there
is no such thing attempted by the sacred writers as a
complete enumeration of all points of duty, in all possi-
24 LESSONS ON MORALS.
ble circumstances, still they afford us much important
moral instruction in those points wherein it is most need
ed. They dwell on such duties as their hearers were the
most disposed to neglect ; such as kindness to enemies,
patience under provocation, forgiveness of injuries, and
the like. They correct, from time to time, various
errors in moral conduct to which men are liable. And
they instruct us, in various ways, how to rectify and im
prove our moral judgment, and bring it into practice in
our lives.
For Man s moral faculty is (as was observed at the
beginning) capable, like our other faculties, of cultivation
and improvement, and liable also to be depraved and
perverted in various ways. And a moral instructor is
one who undertakes, not indeed to create a moral faculty
in a Being quite destitute of it (any more than an ocu
list undertakes to create eyes), but to cultivate and im
prove the moral faculty, and remove its imperfections,
and preserve it from corruption ; even as an oculist
seeks to preserve the eyes, and cure the diseases of
them.
LESSON IV.
OFFICE OF SCRIPTURE IN REFERENCE TO MORAL
CONDUCT.
1. The Golden Rule.
THAT invaluable rule of our Lord s, " To do to others
as we would have them do to us," will serve to explain,
when rightly understood, the true character of moral in
struction. If you were to understand that precept as
designed to convey to us the first notions of right and
wrong, and to be your sole guide as to what you ought
to do and to avoid in your dealings with your neighbor,
you would be greatly perplexed. For you would find
that a literal compliance with the precept would be some
times absurd, sometimes wrong., and sometimes impossi
ble. And probably it is through making this mistake
that men in general apply the rule so much seldomer
than they ought. For the real occasions for its use
occur to all of us every day.
Supposing any one should regard this golden rule as
designed to answer the purpose of a complete system of
morality, and to teach us the difference of right and
wrong ; then, if he had let his tend to a farmer, he m iht
consider that the farmer would be glad to be excused
paying any rent for it, since he would himself, if he were
the farmer, prefer having the land rent-free ; and that,
3
26 LESSONS ON MORALS.
therefore, the rule of doing as he would be done by re
quires him to give up all his property. So also a shop
keeper might, on the same principle, think that the
rule required him to part with his goods under prime
cost, or to give them away, and thus to ruin himself.
Now such a procedure would be absurd,
Again, supposing a jailer who was intrusted with the
safe custody of a prisoner should think himself bound to
let the man escape, because he himself, if he were a
prisoner, would be glad to obtain freedom, he would be
guilty of a breach of trust. Such an application of the
rule, therefore, would be morally wrong.
And again, if you had to decide between two parties
who were pleading their cause before you, you might
consider that each of them wished for a decision in his
own favor. And how, then, you might ask, would it be
possible to apply the rule ? since in deciding for the one
party you could not but decide against the other. A
literal compliance with the rule, therefore, would be, in
such a case, impossible.
2. Application of the Golden Ride.
Now, if you were to put such cases as these before
any sensible man, he would at once say that you are to
consider, not what you might wish in each case, but
what you would regard as/azr, right, just, reasonable, if
you were in another person s place. If you were a farm
er, although you might feel that you would be very
glad to have the land rent-free, that is, to become the
owner of it, you would not consider that you had any
just claim to it, and that you could fairly expect the
landlord to make you a present of his property. But
OFFICE OF SCRIPTURE. 27
you would think it reasonable that, if you suffered some
great and unexpected loss, from an inundation or any
such calamity, he should make an abatement of the rent.
And this is what a good landlord generally thinks it
right to do, in compliance with the golden rule.
So also, if you had a cause to be tried, though of
course you would wish the decision to be in your favor,
you would be sensible that all you could reasonably ex
pect of the judge would be that he should lay aside all
prejudice, and attend impartially and carefully to the
evidence, and decide according to the best of his ability.
And this which is what each part may fairly claim
is what an upright judge will do. And the like holds
good in all the other cases.
3. Design of the Golden Rule.
You have seen, then, that the golden rule was far
from being designed to impart to men the first notions
of justice. On the contrary, it presupposes that knowl
edge ; and if we had no such notions, we could not prop
erly apply the rule. But the real design of it is to put
us on our guard against the danger of being blinded by
self-interest. A person who has a good general notion
of what is just may often be tempted to act unfairly or
unkindly towards his neighbors, when his own interest
or gratification is concerned, and to overlook the right
ful claims of others. When David was guilty of an
enormous sin in taking his neighbor s wife, and procur
ing the death of the husband, he was thinking only of
his own gratification, quite forgetful of duty, till his
slumbering conscience was roused by the prophet Na
than. On hearing the tale of " the poor man s lamb,"
28 LESSONS ON MORALS.
his general abhorrence of injustice and cruelty caused
him to feel vehement indignation against the supposed
offender ; but he did not apply his principles to his own
case, till the prophet startled him by saying, " Thou art
the man ! "
And we, if we will make a practice of applying the
golden rule, may have a kind of prophet always at hand,
to remind us how, and when, to act on our principles of
right. We have only to consider, " What should I
think were I in the other s place, and he were to do so
and so to me ? How should I require him to treat me ?
What could I in fairness claim from him ?
4. Offices of Scripture and of Conscience.
Besides this most important rule for the application
of our principles, we find in Scripture (as has been al
ready observed) many precepts designed for the correc
tion and improvement of our principles ; many cautions
against the errors men are likely to fall into, in their
moral judgment on various points. For Conscience is
far from being an infallible guide, any more than Rea
son, generally.
One may illustrate the distinct uses of Scripture (in
all that relates to morals) and of natural Conscience, by
the comparison of a sun-dial and a clock. The clock has
the advantage of being always at hand, to be consulted
at any hour of the day or night ; while the dial is of use
only when the sun shines on it. But, then, the clock is
liable to go wrong, and vary from the true time ; and it
has no power in itself of correcting its own errors ; so
that these may go on increasing, to any extent, unless it
be from time to time regulated by the dial, which is
alone the unerring guide.
OFFICE OF SCRIPTURE. 29
Even so it is with natural conscience as compared
with Scripture, which directs us according to the " wisdom
which is from above." In each particular case that may
occur, our own heart will furnish a decision as to what
is right or wrong ; and that in many cases which are
not particularly specified in Scripture, though they fall
under the general principles of the Gospel. But then
our own hearts are liable to deceive us, even to the
greatest extent, and to give wrong judgments, if they
are not continually corrected and regulated by a refer
ence to the word of God, which alone like his sun in
the natural world affords an infallible guide.
5. Regulation of Conscience.
While, therefore, you take care, on the one hand, not
to do anything that your conscience tells you is wrong,
you must beware, on the other hand, of concluding that
your conduct is necessarily right because your conscience
approves it ; or that you yourself at least are free from
sin as long as your own judgment does not condemn
you. For men may so far deprave their conscience as
to bring themselves to mistake wrong for right ; like
one who should bend the ruler which he is drawing
lines by. Thus, our Lord declared to his disciples that
those who killed them would think (not merely pretend,
but think) that " they were doing God service." And
Paul bitterly bewails his own sin in " persecuting the
Church," when he " verily thought that he ought to do
many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Naza
reth." And afterwards, when he became an Apostle, he
says, " I judge not mine own self; for I know nothing
3*
30 LESSONS ON MORALS.
by myself [against myself] ; yet am I not hereby justi
fied ; but He that judgeth me is the Lord."
We must be careful, therefore, to regulate both our
business by the clock, and the clock by the dial ; that is,
to regulate our conduct by our Conscience, and our Con
science itself by the commands and instructions which
God has given us.
LESSON V.
MODE OF MORAL TEACHING OF SCRIPTURE.
1. Difference of the Gospel-teaching from that of
the Law.
THERE is no need to transcribe our Lord s " Sermon
on the Mount," or his various instructive parables, and
the several moral precepts delivered from time to time
by Him and his Apostles. For we are not writing for
persons unacquainted with the Bible, or neglectful of its
teaching. But it is important to point out some things
that are peculiar in the general plan of moral instruc
tion in the New Testament.
1. In the first place, you may observe how greatly it
differs from the Law of Moses, in not having, like that,
a number of precise rules laid down as to several par
ticular cases. That Law did indeed lay down the gen
eral principles of conduct, in those two great command
ments on which, says our Lord, " hang all the law and
the prophets " : " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God,
with all thy heart, and thy neighbor as thyself." But
besides these general commandments, there is a great
number of precepts as to particular points of conduct.
For the Israelites were in a sort of half-civilized con
dition, and needed to be treated in many respects like
children. Now children must be subjected, we know, to
32 LESSONS ON MORALS.
many precise regulations and restrictions, on account of
their not being fully capable of self-government. And
these are gradually relaxed as they grow up, and they
are left more and more to guide their conduct by their
own judgment. This is not from our thinking that good
conduct is less required of a man than of a child ; but,
on the contrary, because he is supposed to have reached
what is called " years of discretion," and may be consid
ered capable of judging for himself what is right or
wrong, and of acting accordingly.*
Hence, the Gospel, which was designed for men in a
more advanced state than that of the ancient Israelites,
gives much less of precise directions than the Mosaic
law. It is not that a less degree of moral excellence is
required of the Christian, but that the Gospel lays
down pure and elevated moral principles, rather than
exact rules ; and requires men to conform their lives to
those principles.
2. Men accustomed to Precise Rules.
Most men, however, are willing rather to have certain
exact rules laid down for them as to particular points,
and to be told precisely what they are to do and to
avoid, in each case, than to be left to their own discre
tion, and required to regulate their own conduct for
themselves, according to certain principles, and to be
made responsible for doing so. And this was particu
larly the case with those Jews whom our Lord was ad
dressing, because they had been brought up under the
Mosaic law, which contains a great number of precise
* Sec Lessons on Eeligious Worship, Lesson III.
MODE OP MORAL TEACHING OF SCRIPTURE. 33
directions. And besides this law, they had among them
many pretended traditions (often alluded to in the Gos
pel history), which claimed to be of equal authority with
the written law. These are to be found in a book now
extant, called the " Mishna," which contains a multitude
of minute precepts ; some of them additions to the laws
of Moses, and some explanations of those laws, and di
rections how they are to be observed.
Now, a people who had been trained under such a
system would particularly require to have strongly im
pressed on their minds that Jesus did not design to give
them any such exact set of rules as they would be likely
to expect.
And here you may observe what a strong internal ]
evidence this affords of the divine origin of our religion.
If Jesus and his Apostles had been mere uninspired
men they would not have failed brought up as they
had been under the Jewish system to lay down such ;
precise precepts as the people of that Age and Country
were the most willing to receive, and the most prepared
to expect. Their proceeding in quite a different way
from what would have been both the most natural to
themselves (as mere men), and the most acceptable to
their hearers, is one of the many marks of their having
come from God.
3. Principles substituted for Exact Rules.
How much men did, at first, expect a system of exact
rules you may see from several passages in the Gos
pels. For instance, you find Peter asking his Master,
on one occasion, " Lord, how oft shall my brother sin
against me, and I forgive him ? till seven times ? " And
34 LESSONS ON MOKALS.
you find one who had been told that he was bound to
" love the Lord his God with all his heart," &c., and
" his neighbor as himself/ inquiring, " Who is my neigh
bor ? " wishing to have a certain exact line drawn be
tween those whom he was, and was not, bound to love
and to benefit. And Jesus shows him that by one s
" neighbor " is meant any one whom it is in our power
to serve ; giving an example of an alien, and one of
a different religion.
But our Lord, in the general course of his teaching,
took an effectual, method of showing his disciples that
He meant them (instead of satisfying themselves with a
literal conformity to certain precise rules] to cultivate
right dispositions, and act on right principles. This He
does by often giving such precepts that a literal compli
ance with them would be either (1.) impossible, or (2.)
irrational and absurd, or (3.) insignificant, and of too
little importance to be worth inculcating for their own
sake. For where a literal compliance with some pre
cept would be either impossible or absurd or wrong, it
is plain that such a compliance could not be intended ;
and where it would be trifling and unimportant, it is
manifest that it could not be all that was intended. And
thus the disciples were driven if they were sincerely
desirous to learn, and would intrepret rationally and can
didly what they heard to perceive that such precepts
were designed to explain and to impress on their minds
the dispositions they were to cultivate, and the general
principles on which they were to act.
4. Morcd Discretion.
For instance, when our Lord tells his disciples to
MODE OP MORAL TEACHING OF SCRIPTURE. 35
make their prayers and their alms so secret that " their
left hand should not know what their right hand did " ;
and again, " to let their light so shine before men,
that they might see their good works, and glorify their
Heavenly Father," it is plain that an exact literal com
pliance with both precepts would be impossible, and
therefore could not have been designed. What, then, is
it, one may ask, that He did mean ? Evidently, that
when the publicity of our alms and our devotions seems
likely to benefit men by our good example, then we
should let them see our light shining, " that they may
glorify our Father in heaven " ; and that, when it is our
own glory rather than his that is sought, or that is likely
to be the only effect of publicity, then concealment should
be preferred. And of this our great Master requires
us to judge for ourselves in each case, and to decide ac
cording to our discretion.
Again, when He tells us that, in order to be " his dis
ciple," a man must " hate father and mother, and wife
and children, and all that he hath," it is plain that this
was not meant to be understood and obeyed literally.
And, indeed, He himself supplies, in another place, an
explanation of it, when He says, " He that loveth fa
ther and mother more than me is not worthy of me."
But, even independently of that explanation, it is suf
ficiently clear to any one of ordinary good sense and
candor that He was looking to those cases (very com
mon at that time) in which the opposition of parents, or
wife, or children, must be encountered by one resolving
to be a devoted servant of Christ ; and that he must be
ready in such cases to account as nothing in comparison
the regard felt for those who have the strongest hold on
36 LESSONS ON MORALS.
our hearts, when we could not comply with their wishes
without deserting our Master s cause. And this he ex
presses i n another place by saying, " If thine eye offend
thee, pluck it out ";..." if thy right hand offend thee,
cut it off and cast it from thee " ; that is, if what is most
dear and precious to thee prove a hinderance in the path
of Christian duty, renounce it at once and completely.
5. Principles taught by Instances in Small Matters.
Then, again, several of our Lord s precepts relate, as
has been just said, to such small matters, that every can
did and sensible person must perceive that a mere literal
compliance with them could not have been all that was
meant, and that the design must have been to give a sam
ple of the kind of disposition to be cultivated. When,
for instance, Jesus censures those who took possession of
the most honorable seats at a feast, and tells his disci
ples to take the lowest seats, He does indeed mean that
his precepts should be literally complied with ; since
unobtrusive modesty is right, and arrogant forwardness
wrong, both in great matters and in small; but He
meant to give a specimen, in one of the smaller points
relating to good manners, of the disposition to be shown
in all cases ; and accordingly He concludes by laying
down, generally, " Every one that exalteth himself shall
be abased, but he that humbleth himself shall be ex
alted."
Again, He gives an example and also a precept, both
of humility and kindness, in condescending to wash his
disciples feet, and adding, " Ye ought also to wash one
another s feet." This was (as is well known), from the
peculiar circumstances of the Age and Country, one of
MODE OF MORAL TEACHING OF SCRIPTURE. 37
the chief refreshments to travellers. This particular
service, consequently, was chosen as affording an easy
and familiar illustration of the general disposition He
designed to encourage, a readiness to perform kind
offices for each other. Now, if the particular office of
kindness selected by Him had been one of the most im
portant services of life, the disciples might possibly have
supposed that the precept related to that particular ser
vice alone. But this was guarded against by his partic
ularizing one of the commonest and smallest services.
When He said to them, " Ye ought to wash one another s
feet," they must have felt sure that the precept was
meant to extend to more than that one small point of
hospitality, and to comprehend a general readiness to
befriend one another.
These few instances may suffice as specimens (since
you may easily find others for yourself) to show how
our great Master guarded his hearers against expecting
to receive any complete set of precise rules for their
conduct ; and against satisfying their conscience by the
performance of certain specified acts, and by taking
care to do nothing that is expressly forbidden.
6. Importance of Right Motives.
Another point on which our Scriptures supply need
ful corrections of men s moral notions, is the importance
of right motives. Thus our Lord declares that the alms
giving of the Pharisees was utterly worthless in God s
sight, because it was practised through ostentation, " for
to be seen of men." " Verily, I say unto you," said He,
" they have their reward " ; that is, the human praise,
which was what they sought, they may obtain ; but that
4
38 LESSONS ON MORALS.
is all: the Divine approbation they must not expect.
The Apostle Paul, again, tells the Corinthians : " Though
I give all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give
my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth
me nothing."
Men have the more. need to be put on their guard
as to this point, because it is possible, and indeed com
mon, for a person s acts to be of service to his neighbors,
or to the Public (as, for instance, the relieving of the
distressed poor), though they have nothing at all of the
character of virtue, from want of the right motive.
Every one must perceive, on reflection, that the very
same act may be either virtuous, or sinful, or indifferent,
according to the motive from which it is done. And so
completely does the moral character of any action de
pend on the motive and intention of the agent, that, when
this is fully known, we account him right or wrong (as
the case may be), even when no outward act at all has
taken place, or one quite different from what was de
signed. For instance, that attendant on King William
Rufus, who discharged at a deer an arrow which glanced
against a tree and killed the king, was no murderer, be
cause he had no such design. And, on the other hand,
a man who should He in wait to assassinate another,
and pull the trigger of a gun with that intent, would be
morally a murderer, not the less though the gun should
chance to miss lire.
So also, when our first parents transgressed the di
vine law in Paradise, their sin was committed as soon as
they had fully resolved to eat of the forbidden fruit, and
before it had actually entered their lips. Whatever ef
fects may have been produced in them by the actual eat-
MODE OF MORAL TEACHING OF SCRIPTURE. 39
ing of the fruit, it could not have been to make their na
ture frail, and such as to commit sin; since they had
actually committed their sin before. And in whatever
sense, therefore, they may have been said, before, to
have been " very good," it could not have been in the
sense of their being originally exempt from this frailty
and proneness to disobedience. /That their character I
may have become worse, through some effect producedj
by the fruit itself, is quite possible.; But to speak of
Man s having become liable to sin, through committing
sin, would be as absurd as to speak of his having cre
ated himself.
7. Virtue and Vice depend on the Motives.
It is plain, then, that though we commonly speak of
virtuous and vicious conduct, yet, properly speaking,
and in the strictest sense, it is not the actions them
selves that are virtuous or vicious, but the disposition
of the agent. The outward acts are accounted morally
good or evil, merely as being signs of the inward dispo
sition. They are generally the best signs we can have
of a man s disposition ; but we all know that they are
not to be relied on as infallible signs. If, for instance,
any one were making bountiful gifts to the poor, he
might, perhaps, be considered as kind-hearted and lib
eral ; but if it were discovered that he was doing this
for the sake of securing his election to a seat in Parlia
ment, or for some other object of his own, no one would
any longer give him credit for virtue in what he was do
ing. And (as was formerly observed, Lesson I.) if any
one acts honestly, and does what is right in itself, merely
from submission to the laws, and through fear of incur-
40 LESSONS ON MORALS.
ring legal penalties, this is evidently mere prudence, and
not moral virtue.
You are to remember, however, that when we speak
of the intention and design being what makes a man s
conduct morally good or bad, we mean, not an intention
merely of doing what he thinks right, but what really
is right. For, as has been above observed, the unbe
lieving Jews thought they were doing God service in
killing the Christians. But this neither justified the act }
nor made the intention a good one.
And you are also to remember, that we are not speak
ing of intentions and designs to do at some future time
what is in one s power to do at once ; but of such a full
intention and purpose as will lead to immediate action as
soon as the opportunity offers. For, " to-morrow," says
the proverb, " comes never " ; and the same tempter who
leads you to put off doing what is right to a " more con
venient season," will be as ready to suggest an excuse
to-morrow as to-day.
LESSON VI.
MORAL DISCIPLINE.
1. Object of requiring Good Conduct.
THE object aimed at by any moral instructor, and of
course by the sacred writers, is to make us good men.
And good works, [or virtuous actions,] which are the
natural fruit of good dispositions, are required principal
ly as a proof of those dispositions, and as an exercise
and training to produce a virtuous character.
On the other hand, if a farmer, or any other employer
of laborers, endeavors to make his men honest and in
dustrious, in order that they may do his work the better,
he is not properly a moral instructor ; since his main
object is, not the benefit of the workmen themselves,
(though he may, in fact, have greatly benefited them,)
but the work done, which is for his profit.
Now it is plain that our Divine Master can have no
need of the services of his creatures ; and that, there
fore, the good works which He requires of us must be
entirely for our own benefit, not for his, in order to our
moral improvement. And from this you may see how
utterly worthless in his sight must be any good works
(that is, good in themselves) not done from a good mo
tive. For " Can a man be profitable unto God, as he
that is wise may be profitable unto himself? Is it any
4*
42 LESSONS ON MORALS.
pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous ? or is
it gain to Him that thou makest thy ways perfect?"
Job xxii. 2, 3.
2. Good Works by Proxy.
And you may also see what an absurdity those fall
into who imagine that it is possible to do good works by
proxy, and in this way to have imputed to us as ours
what is done by another on our behalf. Yet, in some
Christian churches, men have been so far deluded as to
imagine that it can be acceptable to God to pay a priest
to perform religious exercises for them, or to pay a per
son to go on pilgrimages, and undergo penances, on their
behalf and in their stead. Now all this evidently goes
on the notion that these supposed good works have a
value in themselves in God s sight, and are acceptable to
Him on their own account, as if they were some benefit
to Himself.
But if those prayers and pilgrimages, etc., were really
the best possible works in themselves, it is plain that the
Most High could have no need of them, and that it is
not for his profit, but for ours, that he requires us to
worship and to obey Him.*
We do, indeed, find in Scripture several expressions
which, taken literally and by themselves, would imply
that God is really desirous, for his own sake, of the wor
ship and services of his creatures. He even describes
Himself as a "jealous God"; meaning that He will not
allow the honor due to Him to be paid to others. But
this is to be understood in the same way as when anger
* See Note at the end of this Lesson.
MORAL DISCIPLINE. 48
and repentance are attributed to Him ; and even eyes,
and ears, and hands. All this is meant to impress on
us that He knows all things, as we do what we see
and hear ; and that we ought to dread disobeying Him,
as we should some great earthly king who would be
really angry at our rebellion ; and that we should be as
careful to honor Him as if He really could be gratified
by our honor.
But it is plain that He cannot really have any need
of our services ; and that it is for our own sakes, and
that of our brethren, not for his, that we are command
ed to " do all for the glory of God."
3. Works required for the Sake of the Works.
The distinction we have been speaking of, which it is
most important to keep in mind, may be thus illustrated ;
if a man offers for sale any article for instance, a
map to a publisher, it is no matter to the purchaser
whether the man drew it himself or got some friend to
draw it for him. Provided the map is honestly the
seller s property, and is well executed, that is all that is
to the purpose. On the other hand, if a schoolmaster
sets a boy to draw a map, by way of practice, in order
that he may learn to be a good draughtsman, then, if
the boy should get a schoolfellow to do it for him, and
should show it up as his own, he would be reproved and
punished. For the task was set him, not for the sake
of the map, (which the master could have drawn better
for himself,) but as an exercisre for the improvement of
the learner.
Now you cannot doubt that this latter case answers
to ours in reference to our Divine Master, and that, as
44 LESSONS ON MORALS.
" no man can be profitable unto God," and He cannot
stand in need of our services, it must be a mere ground
less fancy to think that another person can perform our
duty- in our stead, and that his good works real or
supposed can be imputed to us, and considered as
done by ourselves.
A like illustration from the case of a school will serve
to explain another point also, on which some persons
have fallen into perplexity or mistake, that of the re
wards promised in Scripture, and the merit which some
suppose good works to possess in God s sight.
Suppose, for instance, some rich and liberal man
should found a school for the children of his poor neigh
bors ; and suppose that, besides building a school-house,
and providing teachers and school-books, he should also
propose prizes for such of the scholars as should behave
well, and make good proficiency in their learning.
Every one would understand that the children and their
parents ought to be very grateful to such a patron for
his kind bounty. And the children would easily be
made to understand that they ought to show their thank
fulness by taking pains to profit by the advantages af
forded them. They would readily understand that any
of them who should behave ill, or refuse to learn, would
be expelled ; and that those who exerted themselves
would obtain the prizes. And when it was said that
the prizes were to be the reward of good behavior, no
one would be so stupid as to think that those who gained
them could claim them as something earned by them
selves as a matter of right, and for which they owed no
thanks to any one. All would understand that the pro
posing of the prizes was from the free bounty of the
MORAL DISCIPLINE. 45
kind patron ; and that the proficiency in learning of the
children thus rewarded was no benefit to him, but only
to them ; and that it was entirely for their sakes that
they were encouraged to take pains in learning.
But they would fully calculate on receiving the prom
ised rewards in case of good conduct, though not as what
they had originally any claim to, but because it had
been promised. For, though the offer of the prizes
came from the patron s free bounty, the fulfilment of a
promise once made is a matter of justice.
4. Righteousness of God.
And, accordingly, we read that " God is not unright
eous [unjust] to forget our work and labor of love " :
not that He was originally bound in justice to reward
any good works of ours, or that they can be a benefit to
Him ; but because He has graciously promised to be a
" rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." The
offer of a reward to any of his creatures is a free gift of
his bounty ; but we may trust to his justice to make
good what He has said.
If you could imagine the patron of a school, such as
we have been describing, to have supplied to the chil
dren not only a school-room, and teachers and books, but
also the eyes with which they read the books, and the
ears with which they hear what is said to them, and the
brain by which they understand it, then the case would
answer more closely to that of ourselves in reference to
our Maker, " in whom we live and move and have our be
ing." For He has supplied to us all our powers of mind
and body, and He requires us, as He certainly has a full
right to do, to employ these in leading a Christian life
46 LESSONS ON MORALS.
and devoting ourselves to his service. And He has held
out to us the promise of the "prize of our high calling,"
the "crown of glory," which the Lord, the righteous
Judge, will give, at that day, to all them that love his
appearing. To this we could have no natural claim;
and though we may fully rely on his justice for the ful
filment of his promises, all that we can receive from
Him is not the less a free and bountiful gift, since
the promises themselves proceed from his bounty alone.
5. Good Conduct has no natural Claim to Reward.
Some, however, are apt to speak as if they thought
that virtue is, in itself, naturally entitled to reward ; and
that, if any Being could lead a life (though none of us
does so) of perfect, unsinning virtue, he might then just
ly claim [though we cannot] to be rewarded with im
mortal happiness.
But you may easily perceive, from considering what
is the nature of duty, that such a notion is quite ground
less. For it is evident that a duty must be something
that is due, a debt which we are bound to discharge.
That is the very meaning of the word. And no one
can be justly entitled to reward for merely paying his
debts. If a man fail to pay what he was bound to pay,
he is liable to punishment. If he does pay his debts,
he is exempt from punishment ; and that is all he can
claim.
Reward is what a man is justly entitled to, only for
doing something beyond what he was bound to, some
thing which he could not have been liable to punish
ment for not doing. For instance, if a man devotes his
own private property, and time, and labor, to the effect-
MORAL DISCIPLINE. 47
ing of some great public benefit, when he was not re
quired to do so, the nation will think such a man worthy
of being rewarded by some public honors bestowed on
him. And when any one bountifully relieves, out of
his own private purse, his distressed neighbors who had
no claim on him, this is a merit as regards them ; and
he is justly entitled to their gratitude, and to any ser-
yices they may be able to do him in return.
But the Most High has evidently a just claim to the
obedience of his creatures ; and all that they can do in
the keeping of his commandments can have no claim
of merit in his sight, being only the payment of a debt
due to Him.
And, accordingly, our Lord tells his disciples that
when they have "done all things that He has com
manded them, they are to say, We are unprofitable ser
vants : we have done that which it was our duty to do."
And thus also the Apostle Paul speaks of " death being
the wages of sin, but eternal life the gift of God through
Jesus Christ."
6. Reward and Punishment when due.
Some persons, however, are accustomed to speak of
the rewarding of virtue and the punishment of vice, as
if the two naturally went together. But they may per
ceive, on reflection, that this is not at all the true state
of the case. For no man is punishable for omitting to
do something which he was not hound to do. And for
doing anything that he was bound to do such as pay
ing a debt he has no natural claim to reward, only to
exemption from punishment. If, indeed, a reward has
been promised him for doing his duty, he may look for
48 LESSONS ON MORALS.
that reward on the ground of the promise made, and on
that ground alone. But the merit which claims reward,
as in itself rightly due, must be for some things beyond
what a person was bound to do.
And, accordingly, those Churches which teach that
the supposed merits of saints may be transferred from
them to us, always represent these merits as consisting
in what are called works of " supererogation " ; that is,
something beyond their duty, over and above that which
was required of them. But such a notion is utterly
groundless, and contrary both to Scripture and Reason.
For Scripture teaches that we are "to love the Lord
our God with all our heart, and soul, and strength. *
And Reason teaches that nothing we can do that is ac
ceptable to Him can be more than his just due. There
may, indeed, be something which, from peculiar cir
cumstances, is a duty to one man and not to another.
And thus one man may go beyond what is required
of some other men ; but no one can go beyond his own
duty.
It is plain, therefore, that no human virtue can have
merit in God s sight, or any natural claim to reward, in
dependently of express promise. In reference to your
fellow-men, indeed, you may have merit, and may justly
deserve from them gratitude and reward, for having
done them some service that is in itself valuable to them,
and which is also beyond what they had any right to re
quire. But it is plain that nothing of this kind can be
the case in reference to our Maker.
And as for Man s attaining heavenly happiness by
the performance of good works, even in unsinning per
fection, no such thought can enter the mind of any one
MORAL DISCIPLINE. 49
who has any just notions either of the nature of Virtue,
or of his Religion. For Reason teaches us that the
idea of a man s raising himself to immortal life, is as
absurd as that of a brute s exalting itself into a man ;
and that the performance of duty cannot (as has been
just said) entitle us, of itself, and independently of ex
press promise, even to any reward at all. And the
Christian Scriptures teach us that " by grace [i. e. favor]
we are saved ; and that not of ourselves : it is the gift
of God."
NOTE. If any one should ask you, " Since the Most High can
have no need of any one s services, or, again, of any one s sufferings,
how can it be that the sufferings and death of Christ could procure
Man s salvation, and that He should have suffered in our stead? " If
any one should ask this question, you should answer that you do not
know ; since it is a point on which Scripture gives us no explanation ;
and that you cannot clear up either that or any other part of the one
great mysterious difficulty (of which this is a branch), the existence
of evil in the universe. We know, as a fact, from the plain declara
tions of Scripture, that " Christ died, the just for the unjust," and
that "by his stripes we are healed " ; and we must suppose that if it
had been possible for us to understand, and needful for us to know,
the reasons why this was necessary, and how the death of Christ avails
us, the Scriptures would have told us. But they do not. They
merely tell us the fact. And if, again, Scripture had plainly declared
that it is possible to be virtuous by proxy, and that another person s
good works would be accepted by the Most High as ours, then we
should have been bound to believe this, though unable to explain it.
But as it is, the Scriptures tell us no such thing. We are left on
this point to the light of Eeason ; and nothing can be more contrary
to Reason, than that one man s virtue should be accounted another s,
that a barren branch of the vine should be reckoned fruitful, on
account of the fruitfulness of another branch.
It is for us to take Scripture as we find it; not presuming to add
on doctrines of our own devising, or attempting to explain mysteries
5
50 LESSONS ON MORALS.
i which Revelation has left unexplained. It is for us to seek to know
as much, and to be content to know only as much, of heavenly things
as Scripture tells us ; and to remain willingly ignorant of what our
all- wise Master does not think fit to teach us. According to the wise
saying of Scaliger,
" Nescire velle quoe Magister optimus
Docere non vult, erudita inscitia est."
" Be willing and contented not to know
What our Great Teacher thinks not fit to show:
This is Man s truest wisdom here below."
LESSON VII.
PROPER OFFICE OF CONSCIENCE.
1. Foundation of our Moral Notions.
You may have seen, then, that (1.) the law of the
land is not to be made the standard of moral right and
wrong; both because it cannot enforce all duties, or
prohibit everything that is wrong ; and also because it
is only concerned with outward acts, and cannot control
motives; though it is on these that the whole moral
character of any action depends.
(2.) You have seen that Conscience [or the moral
faculty] is a part of the human constitution ; since with
out such a faculty it would have been totally impossible
to form the notion of such a thing as duty, or such a
thing as sin ; though we might have submitted to the
divine commands as a matter of prudence.
(3.) You have seen that Conscience being (like the
rest of our faculties) liable to corruption, capable of im
provement, and requiring sometimes to be corrected and
sometimes to be fortified ; hence, God has been pleased
to afford us in the Scriptures much important moral in
struction, both by precept and examples, and also the
promise of divine aid in the performance of duty, and,
lastly, the promises and warnings relating to the Day of I
Judgment.
52 LESSONS ON MORALS.
j And (4.) it was pointed out, that, since the Most High
can have no need of our services, it is plain that good
works are required, not as a benefit to Him, but as an
exercise to us, in order to our own moral improvement ;
and can have no merit in his sight, nor can claim re
ward from Him, except on the ground of his free prom
ises.
In order, then, to form a virtuous character, two things
are requisite : (1.) that we should steadily act on prin
ciple, conforming all our conduct to the dictates of
Conscience, and keeping all our faculties and tendencies
tinder its control ; and (2.) that we should regulate our
Conscience itself; guarding against the errors to which
it is liable, and taking care, while acting on principle,
to keep that a right principle.
In short, we must (according to the illustration in
Lesson IV.) proceed as a man of sense does in the dis
posal of his time. He continually consults his clock or
watch, and regulates all his occupations by that ; taking
care, however, to regulate his watch also, when oppor
tunity offers, by the sun-dial.
T 2. Two Things requisite for Virtuous Conduct.
Both of the two things we have mentioned are equal
ly indispensable. For a man who should have the most
perfect knowledge of his duty, and the most correct
moral judgment on every point, but whose passions
should prevail over his reason, and cause him to act
against his own judgment, would be only tormented by
his conscience, and not guided by it. And he would be
in the condition of some nation whose laws were wise
and good, and its rulers able and upright men ; but in
PROPER OFFICE OF CONSCIENCE. 53
which the subjects were in rebellion against their rulers, )
and set the laws at defiance.
On the other hand, a man acting constantly according
to the dictates of conscience, but of a mistaken conscience,
and proceeding on wrong principles, would be in the
condition of a nation in which the rulers were strictly
obeyed, and the laws rigidly enforced, but whose laws
were absurd, and the rulers unwise or unjust. And it is
plain that neither of these nations would be in a pros
perous condition.
Conscience is, as we have said, a mere tormenter to
one who does not act according to it. And the more
conscientious any one is, and the clearer and juster his
moral judgments, and the better he is acquainted with
God s commandments, the more he will suffer the mis
ery of self-reproach, if he is leading a life of sin. And,
accordingly, the Apostle Paul gives a vivid and touch- /
ing description of a man in this condition; of one,
that is, who knows the divine will, and in his judg
ment approves of what is right, but who is enslaved to
[" sold under "] his passions, and acts against his con
science. "I delight in the law of God," he repre
sents such a man as saying, " after the inward man ;
but I see another law in my members, warring against
the law of my mind, and bringing me- into captivity to
the law of sin, which is in my members. wretched
man that I am ! who shall deliver me from the body of
this death ? " Rom. vii. 22 - 24.
It is plain that the same sort of description would ap
ply to any one who is acting contrary to his judgment
of what is right ; whether his knowledge be derived
from a divine revelation, or from the light of nature. /
5*
54 LESSONS ON MORALS.
And, accordingly, several of the ancient heathen writers
give nearly the same picture of a man wanting in self-
control, and sinning against his own better judgment.
In particular, the most celebrated and the soundest of
the ancient moralists, Aristotle,* has a passage agreeing
in substance, and almost in words, with what we find in
the Apostle Paul, describing the wretched state of the
man in whose mind there is, he says, a continual inward
" civil war " between his conscience and the passions that
| enslave him.
3. Man wider the Law and under the Gospel.
Of course, the Apostle, though using the first person, is
not describing his own actual condition, or that of those
he was writing to, but that of one who has a knowledge
of what is right, but wants strength of purpose to act on
that knowledge. That he is not speaking of himself in
dividually nor indeed of the Roman Christians at that
time is plain, from his going on to say immediately
after,! " There is therefore now no condemnation to them
which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh,
but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in
Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and
death." (chap. viii. 1, 2.)
And, moreover, he had just before been saying to the
* See Note at the end of this Lesson.
f You are to remember that the divisions into chapters and verses
were not the work of the sacred writers, but were made long after
their time, for the sake of reference.
It happens, unluckily, that the brenk between the 7th and 8th chap
ters conies in the midst of an argument, and almost in the middle of
a sentence.
PROPER OFFICE OF CONSCIENCE. 55
Romans (chap, vi.), " God be thanked, that ye were the
servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that
form of doctrine which was delivered to you. Being
then made free from sin, ye became the servants of
righteousness." (v. 17, 18.)
And, in the First Epistle to the Corinthians, he de
scribes himself as " keeping under his body, and bring
ing it into subjection " ; which is a complete contrast to
the state of a man " sold [as a slave] under sin," and
" brought into captivity to the law of sin."
But he is describing (in Rom. vii.), first, the condition
of a person situated as the Gentiles had been, who had
no revelation of God s laws, and were left to the imper
fect guidance of mere natural conscience. " I was alive,"
says he, (that is, had not incurred or, at least, was
not aware of having incurred the penalty of death,)
" without the law, once."
Now Paul himself, we know, was born and educated
a Jew, and never had been " without the law " ; but he
is speaking (though in the first person, which is a very
common mode of expression, not only with Paul, but in
our common conversation) of a Gentile, in ignorance of
the law. And then he proceeds to point out how the
" coming in of the law " that is, the knowledge of it
caused " sin to enter in " (Rom. vii. 9) ; that is,
caused that to be and to be perceived to be sin,
which had not been so before.
And then he goes on to describe the condition of a
person having a knowledge of the divine will, but want
ing self-control, and " sold under sin." And, lastly, he
describes (cli. viii.) the situation of those on whom the
Gospel has bestowed the inestimable gift of divine grace,
56 LESSONS ON MORALS.
not only to show them what is right, but to strengthen
them for the performance of it, and thus to make them
"free from the law of sin."
4. Depraving of Conscience.
Many persons, however, are apt to seek an escape
from the reproaches of conscience by bringing their con
science to conform to their conduct. They try to satisfy
themselves that they are right in following their own
wrong inclinations and prejudices, and that their faults
are not faults, or not faults in them ; or, at least, that
they are quite trifling and excusable faults. Many a
man takes more pains to justify his faults than it would
cost him, with God s help, to cure them.
Those who labor thus to blind their own judgment,
and to satisfy their conscience by perverting it, will gen
erally succeed, sooner or later, in this self-deceit. And
then they rejoice in the thought that they are free from
self-reproach, and are acting agreeably to the dictates of
conscience, when perhaps the truth is, that they are not
doing so, because they think it right ; but, on the con
trary, have brought themselves to think it right, because
they were inclined to do it. It is not that they omit
such and such duties from being originally ignorant that
they are duties ; but they have persuaded themselves
that they are not duties, because their inclination is
against them.
It is a proverbial remark, and a just one, that " a liar
will sometimes repeat the same falsehood so often, that
at last he will come to believe it himself." He did not
originally say it because he believed it ; but, by saying
it, has brought himself to believe it. The like takes
PROPER OFFICE OF CONSCIENCE. 57
place with many other sins besides lying. And a man
will often succeed in thus convincing, not only himself,
but others, of his " sincerity." When they are satisfied
that he believes what he says, and thinks it right to act
as he does, they will often take this as at least some ex
cuse or palliation, even when they think him in the
wrong. And so it is, if a man speaks and acts as he
does, properly in consequence of his judging it -to be
right ; but if it be, that, in consequence of his so act
ing, he has at length brought himself to judge it right,
this kind of " sincerity " is the last stage of moral cor
ruption. For this is not taking conscience for one s
guide, but making one s self the guide of conscience.
And, thus, a person who begins by committing the one
of those two errors above mentioned will end by com
mitting the other. If you begin by neglecting the warn
ings of conscience, and acting against your own moral
judgment, that judgment will in time become depraved,
and you will act on wrong principles. For when any
country (according to the illustration above given) has
long permitted rebellious subjects to disobey the legiti
mate governors, and transgress the laws, it is likely that
in time those rebels will themselves become the real
governors, and will make such laws as they please.
Even the teaching of Scripture, which was designed
for our guidance and correction, will not serve that pur
pose, to any one who reads it with a biassed mind, and
searches in it for a confirmation of his own opinions and
a justification of his own conduct. His reading will be
like a man s looking at objects through a colored glass,
which shows them not as they really are, but tinted with
the hue of the glass. And such a person is not really
58 LESSONS ON MORALS.
following Scripture, but making Scripture follow his
prejudices.
5. Misapplying of Scripture.
The Apostle Paul, for instance, before his conversion,
u verily thought that he ought to do many things " against
Christianity. Yet he was familiar with the Old Testa
ment Scriptures ; those Scriptures from which he him
self afterwards " proved that Jesus is the Christ." But
he had been in the state of mind which he afterwards de
scribes as that of many of his countrymen, who, he says,
in reading the books of Moses and the Prophets, have a
" veil on their hearts."
And, again, you may find persons convinced that they
are bound to receive all the doctrines and decrees of
their Church, even when plainly contrary to the written
word of God, because our Lord said in speaking of
the case of a dispute betiveen two private individuals
that, if any one " refuse to hear the church," he is to be
regarded " as a heathen man."
So, also, (to refer to the passage of Scripture above
mentioned,) men, leading a profligate life, and given up
to the practice of vices which their moral judgment con
demns, may flatter themselves that they are just in the
condition of the Apostle Paul, and as safe as he was ;
because they will insist on it that he was speaking of
himself individually in his actual state, when he said, " I
am carnal, sold under sin," etc.
Again, the words of the Prophet Isaiah (Ixiv. G),
" All our righteousness is as filthy rags," may be inter
preted, taken by themselves, to signify that our practice
of righteousness is not all acceptable to God. For the
PROPER OFFICE OF CONSCIENCE. 59
sacred writers or indeed any writer may be made
to say anything by thus picking out a sentence, or half-
sentence, here and there. But if you lodk to the whole
of the passage, you will see that the prophet is not speak
ing of persons who had been obedient to God s laws, but
of those who had been most emphatically ?mrighteous.
" Behold," says he, " thou art wroth, for we have sinned.
.... We are all as an unclean thing, and all our right
eousness is as filthy rags ; and we all do fade as a leaf,
and our iniquities like the wind have taken us away, and
there is none that calleth on thy name." His expres
sion is only another way of saying, " We are quite desti
tute of righteousness," even as the same prophet (ch. i.)
described a like condition by saying, " Thy silver is be
come dross."
There are many other parts of the Bible that may be
thus perversely interpreted, so as to sanction what is ab
surd or wrong. And thus may men, as the Apostle
Peter warns us, " wrest the Scriptures to their own de
struction." Such students of Scripture resemble (to re
cur to a former illustration) a man who should pretend
to regulate his clocks and watches by the sun-dial, and
should go to it in the night with a candle, and thus throw
the shadow whichever way he would.
NOTE. Aristotle, in the subjoined extract from his Ethics, agrees,
as you will see, in substance, and almost in words, with what Paul
says in Rom. vii. Many other passages to the same effect will be
found in several of the ancient writers. But there are some persons
so ignorant of what the heathen authors have said, and so uncon- /
scious of their own ignorance, as to imagine that no one not enlight-
60 LESSONS ON MORALS.
j ened by tho Gospel could have used such expressions as those of
Paul. The passage here given, from Aristotle, will serve as a speci
men to show how greatly they are in error.
And tho error is a dangerous one ; because those who teach that
the Apostle is speaking of himself in his present state, nullify all the
moral instruction they may give elsewhere. All their descriptions of
Christian virtue will be regarded as something very beautiful in
theory, but quite impossible to be realized in practice. For no one
will ever presume to think of becoming a better man than the Apos
tle Paul. And any one who is living a life of gross vice, while ac
knowledging and admiring the excellence of a virtuous life, and who
is, in practice, " brought into captivity to the law of sin in his mem
bers," will consider all attempts at reformation as hopeless, and will
think himself in a safe state, as being in the very same state with a
most eminent Apostle. There is, moreover, a danger of this misinter
pretation leading to infidelity, or at least to a disparagement of Paul s
authority. For if you compare "the sixth chapter of this epistle, and
also the eighth, with the seventh, you will see, that, supposing him to
have been speaking of himself throughout, he is made, according to
the plain sense of his words, to fall into the most gross and absurd
self-contradiction; such as no inspired writer, nor even any man of
good sense, could have been guilty of.
Extract from Aristotle s Ethics, B. ix. c. 4.
"Some define a friend one who keeps company with you, and
has the same preferences, and sympathizes with your sorrows and
joys, etc., etc.
" Now all these things exist in the virtuous man, in reference to
himself. .... Such a one agrees in sentiments with himself, and
seeks the same objects in ererypart of his mind. And he wishes for
and acts for what is good for himself, and what appears so; namely,
for the rational portion of himself, which is what is most properly
eacli man s self. .... He likes his own company ; for the recollec
tion of his past actions is agreeable, and he has good hopes for the
future. And he, above all others, sympathizes with himself in pains
and pleasures. For the same things are painful and agreeable to him
throughout his whole mind, and not one thing to one portion of him
and another to another; for he is, so to speak, exempt from regrets
and ehanges of mind But nothing of this kind is found in
j worthless characters. For they are at variance with themselves, and
have a craving for ono thing and a deliberate mil for a different one,
PROPER OFFICE OF CONSCIENCE. 61
as is the case with those destitute of self-command : for they prefer
to that which they themselves think good for them, pleasures which
are hurtful for them. Some, again, through cowardice or indolence,
draw back from such actions as they themselves know to be best for
them. And those who have committed many dreadful deeds, and are
hated on account of their wickedness, fly from life and make away
with themselves.
" Bad men, again, seek for some persons to keep them company,
and fly from themselves. For when left to themselves, they remem
ber many things that are odious, and look forward to such conduct in
future ; but in company with others, they are enabled to forget them
selves. And having in them nothing amiable, they have not towards
themselves any of the feelings of a friend. They do not sympathize
with their own pleasures and pains ; for their mind is in a state of
discord, and one portion of it is, on account of its evil nature, pained
at abstaining from certain things, while another portion is gratified
by such abstinence ; and one part draws one way and another the op
posite, as if pulling the man asunder, .... for bad men abound in
regrets.
" A bad man, then, seems not to have the feelings of a friend, even
towards himself, from having nothing in him worthy of friendship.
" Now if such a state be an excessively miserable one, we ought
earnestly to strive to avoid wickedness, and endeavor to become vir
tuous. For so will a man become a friend to himself, and obtain the ,
friendship of others."
LESSON VIII.
REGULATION OP CONSCIENCE.
1. Conscience never to be opposed.
You have seen that, as man s conscience is not in
fallible, you must not at once conclude that you are
right when you are acting according to the dictates of
conscience. And yet you may be sure that you are
wrong if you are acting against it. For if you do what
you believe to be wrong, even though you may be mis
taken in thinking so, and it may be in reality right, still
you yourself will be wrong.
And this is what the Apostle Paul means when he
says, " Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that
tiling which he alloweth," Rom. xiv. 22 ; and, " What
soever is not of faith, is sin " ; that is, whatsoever is not
done with a full conviction [faith] that it is allowable,
is, to him, sinful ; and he condemns himself in doing it.
And on this principle he alludes (in 1 Cor. x.) to the
case of some of the " weaker brethren " [the less intelli
gent] among the early Christian converts, who thought
that the flesh of animals which had been offered in sacri
fice to idols was unclean, and not to be eaten. lie does
not at all himself partake of this scruple ; considering it
a matter of no consequence, in a religious or moral point
of view, what kind of food a man eats. But he teaches
KEGULATION OF CONSCIENCE. 63
that those who do feel such a scruple would be wrong
in eating that flesh, and " their conscience being weak is
defiled ; for to him who thinketh it unclean, to him it is
unclean." And he teaches also that it would be wrong
for any one to induce others to do what they think sinful,
though it be something that is not sinful to one who
does not think it so.
In such a case as this, both parties are acting rightly,
if the one eats what he is convinced is allowable, and
the other abstains from what he thinks is not allowable ;
provided always that neither of them uncharitably cen
sures or derides his neighbor. " Let not him that eat
eth," says Paul, " despise him that eateth not ; and let
not him that eateth not, judge him that eateth." And,
" Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind."
Rom. xiv. 5.
2. A Wrong Principle makes it impossible to act
rightly.
But there are some cases in which a man who has
been brought up in some wrong system, or who in any
way has taken up some false principle, may hold himself
bound in duty to do what is in itself wrong. And in
such a case he cannot but go wrong, whichever course
he may take, till his moral judgment has been set right.
For instance, if a jury have formed a false opinion as
to some cause tried before them, either from their hav
ing been biassed by their feelings and prejudices, or
from not having listened with sufficient attention to the
witnesses and the arguments on both sides, it is impossi
ble for them, while in this state of mind, to give a right
verdict. For a verdict according to the wrong opinion
64 LESSONS OX MORALS.
they have formed would, of course, be a wrong one ;
and yet no one would say that, while they do hold that
opinion, they would be right in giving a contrary ver
dict.
So the Apostle Paul himself " verily thought that he
ought " to persecute the Christian Church ; and in doing
so, he acknowledges that he was guilty of a grievous
sin. He had not studied the ancient prophecies with
sufficient care, and candor, and humility, to perceive
from them, in conjunction with the rest of the evidence,
that Jesus was the true Christ, and not, as his enemies
maintained, an impious pretender. But it is plain that,
w T hile Paul did hold this erroneous belief, it would not
have been right for him to become a disciple of Jesus,
whom he then regarded as a false prophet.
Again, the doctrine has been distinctly maintained (in
a Protestant book, published a few years ago), that "the
magistrate who restrains, coerces, and punishes those
who oppose a true religion, and seek to propagate a
false one, obeys the will of God, and is not a persecutor"
Now suppose any magistrate to have embraced this doc
trine, believing as of course he must his own re
ligion to be true, and those opposed to it false, he will,
of course, hold himself bound in duty to establish a sys
tem of what, in the ordinary sense of the word, is called
" persecution " ; though he may satisfy himself by not
calling it by its real name. And if, through tenderness
of feeling, he should spare any whom he accounts here
tics, he will consider himself as disobeying God s will.
Such a man, therefore, as long as he is in this state of
mind, "not knowing what manner of spirit he is of,"
cannot possibly be right, whichever course he may take.
REGULATION OF CONSCIENCE. 65
Any one, therefore, whose conscience has been in any
way depraved, and who is proceeding on some wrong
principle, cannot possibly act rightly, whether he act ac
cording to his conscience or against it, till he is cured of
that defect in his moral judgment.
If, however, any one has done his best to form a right
judgment, and acts accordingly, but has fallen into error
through unavoidable ignorance, or weakness of under
standing, we may hope that his all-seeing and merciful
Judge will pardon this involuntary error. But as no
more is required of us than to do our very utmost to
avoid error, so no less is required, if we would stand ac
quitted before Him. And what mortal can know, with
complete certainty, who has, or has not, done his utmost?
You should never therefore allow yourself to pronounce
with full confidence, that your neighbor has not done
this, or that you yourself have.
3. Careful Study needed for Good Conduct.
You can see plainly, therefore, that one who is sin
cerely anxious to lead a virtuous life has need of dili
gent study and care, to learn what his duty is in each
case, as well as of firm resolution in keeping steadily
to the course his conscience points out. You must not
be satisfied with doing what you think right, that is,
with thinking that to be right what you do, unless you
have also taken pains to form a right judgment. Nor
must you be satisfied with opening the Bible at random,
and taking for your direction any passage that happens
to meet your eye ; or again, looking out for some pas
sage that may be so interpreted as to justify the course
you are inclined to take. And you should not listen to
66 LESSONS ON MORALS.
any one who would persuade you that no careful study
is needed in order to learn and practise your duty ; and
that any such Lessons as these now before you may be
thrown aside as useless ; and that if you have but a right
faith, and pray for divine guidance, your religion will at
once make you a good man, without any pains or watch
fulness as to your moral character being required.
The Scriptures themselves, if you will listen to them,
will teach you quite otherwise. Our Lord bids his dis
ciples "watch and pray, lest ye enter into temptation."
We must pray as if nothing depended on ourselves ; and
we must watch as if everything depended on ourselves.
And He and his apostles exhort us to " strive," to
" run," to " give all diligence " in our Christian course,
and to " work out our own salvation with fear and trem
bling," that is, with anxious care, on the very ground
that it is " God that worketh in us, both to will and to
do of his good pleasure."
4. Divine Blessing bestoived on Diligent Care.
And it is thus that every man of common sense pro
ceeds in all the concerns of ordinary life, when he is
thoroughly in earnest. A gardener, for instance, knows
very well that the fertility of the earth, and the life of
all his plants, are God s gift ; and that, without the rain
and sunshine from heaven, his trees would bear no fruit.
But he does not satisfy himself with merely praying for
favorable seasons, and then leaving his garden to the
care of Providence. He digs and manures the ground ;
and he not only takes care of the roots of his fruit-trees,
but also endeavors to protect the blossoms from blight
ing winds and noxious insects. And even so we are
REGULATION OF CONSCIENCE. 67
bound, not only to take care about a right faith, which is
the root of Christian virtue, but also to bestow vigilant
care on the moral character itself.
So also, if any one is endeavoring to learn some art
or trade by which to maintain himself, though he will, if
he be a pious man, beg the divine blessing on his exer
tions, he will not omit those exertions. He knows, in
deed, that his hands, and eyes, and ears, and understand
ing, are all divine gifts ; but he knows also that he must
diligently and carefully exercise all the faculties that
have been bestowed upon him, and lose no opportunity
of gaining useful instruction in his business. Now, to
improve one s moral character is the business of every
man. And as no one can think this a matter of less im
portance than any of the various arts of life, so we have
no reason to expect that, in this great concern, God
will bestow that blessing on the negligent which, in
everything else, He reserves for the diligent.
LESSON IX.
DIFFICULTIES OF MORAL DISCIPLINE.
1. Moral Improvement a Laborious Task.
IT is important to observe, that one who earnestly sets
himself to the task of moral improvement, must not ex
pect to obtain at once the comfort of an easy and quiet
conscience. On the contrary, he will sometimes find
that, as he proceeds in his task, his conscience will even
give him increased uneasiness. But this should not dis
courage him, if the case be that the pain felt is not from
increased sinfulness, but from increased consciousness of
it ; not from his conduct having become worse, but from
his moral judgment being more enlightened, and his
perception of what is wrong, and his abhorrence of
it, stronger than before.
When a strong light is admitted into a room which
had been left in a slovenly state, and partially darkened,
the stains on the walls, and the dirt on the floor, which
had escaped notice in a dim light, will now strike the
eye of every one. This will be likely first to shock and
disgust the occupiers of the room, and next to set them
upon cleaning it. Even so, a person who has been la
boring to purify and to raise his moral character, and to
advance in the knowledge and practice of virtue, will
often perceive more and more of blemishes which he
DIFFICULTIES OF MORAL DISCIPLINE. 69
had before overlooked. He will perhaps find in him
self faults which he had thought himself free from ;
and he will reproach himself for having omitted duties
which had not formerly occurred to him as duties. But
he must consider the increased pain caused by a more
enlightened conscience as a step towards improvement,
and as something that ought rather to encourage than
to dishearten any one who is really bent on amend
ing his life.
2. No direct Pleasure from Conformity to Con
science.
But after all, (as was remarked above,) the most en
lightened conscience, and the most exact compliance
with its dictates, will never of itself afford us directly
any positive pleasure, though it will save us from a vast
amount of pain. For it is the office of conscience to
point out what is our duty ; that is, what is dite, what
we are bound to do, as a man is, to pay his debts. Now
no one can claim reward or praise for paying a debt,
only, exemption from punishment. And when any one
is considered as deserving from his fellow-men some re
ward, this is always for doing something beyond what
they had a right to require of him, something which
they could not have justly punished him for omitting to
do. And from our Maker, therefore, no creature can
claim praise or reward, except on the general ground
(as was pointed out in Lesson V.) of his free and boun
tiful promise.
In this respect, then, the moral faculty [or " moral
sense," or " conscience," or " sense of justice "] differs
from our other faculties, sentiments, and propensities.
70 LESSONS ON MORALS.
For each of these, when strong, not only gives pain if
its exercise is impeded, but affords positive pleasure
when its action is freely called forth. For instance, a
benevolent man not only is pained by the sight of suffer
ing which he cannot relieve, but feels delight in doing
good, and is positively pleased with the view of an
other s gratification. So again, one in whom the senti
ment of attachment to friends is strong, not only is dis
tressed at the absence or loss of friends, but greatly
enjoys their society ; and one in whom the love of ap
probation is strong, is not only pained by censure or con
tempt, but a)so highly gratified by praise. Any one,
again, in whose character there is a great deal of firm
ness (the propensity of which the faulty excess is blind
obstinacy), is gratified by the very act of holding reso
lutely to his purpose, against solicitations, and threats,
and difficulties of any kind. A great calculator delights
in the work of calculation. One who possesses in a
great degree the faculty which phrenologists call " con-
structiveness," will take pleasure either in building and
in constructing machines, or in framing systems, devis
ing plans, composing books, or, in short, in some way
putting things together, so as to form a whole. And so
it is with the rest of our faculties and propensities.
But the moral faculty which some call conscien
tiousness is an exception. When it is strong, it is
capable of giving, if opposed, great pain ; but, as has
been above explained, no direct, positive pleasure, if
complied with.f It then merely says to us, "You are an
unprofitable servant ; you have but done that which it
was your duty to do."
"
DIFFICULTIES OF MORAL DISCIPLINE. 71
3. Indirect Gratifications from the Discharge of
Duty.
But then God has been graciously pleased so to order
things, that indirectly (though not directly) virtuous con
duct does afford the very highest gratification. He has
declared his own favor and approbation (as was re
marked above) of those who seek earnestly to do his
will ; and this affords a high gratification of that love of
approbation which is a part of the human character.
Again, he has also enlisted our self-love in the same
cause, by graciously promising to be "a rewarder of
them that diligently seek Him." And hope is a portion
of the human character which is capable of affording
very great pleasure.
Moreover, though the discharge of duty, simply as
duty, affords no positive pleasure, there are some duties
which are in themselves agreeable. The sentiment of
benevolence, for instance, when strong, affords in its
exercise (as has been just said) much gratification : and
the more we exercise ourselves in doing good, which
is a great part of our duty, the more will the senti
ment of benevolence be strengthened. Again, the sen
timent or propensity (whichever it may be called) of
firmness, which is a portion of man s nature, affords,
when it exists strongly, a pleasure and a very allow
able pleasure in the very act of standing firm against
temptation, and surmounting difficulties in the perform
ance of duty. And there are also several other natural
feelings which may become sources of much gratifica
tion in the practice of duty, and which will thus indi
rectly make virtue conduce to the greatest happiness
even in this life.
72 LESSONS ON MORALS.
4. Supremacy of Conscience.
And it may be added, that, though conscience is not
in itself a source of positive gratification, every kind of
enjoyment is, in a certain sense, dependent on it ; that
is, the approval of conscience is, to a right-minded man,
a necessary condition of every kind of gratification. He
cannot find real, unmixed pleasure in anything that his
sense of duty forbids, since anything which might be in
itself agreeable would bring him more pain than pleas
ure if attended with self-reproach. For conscience (or
the moral faculty) is to be regarded as a kind of abso
lute sovereign, to whom everything must be kept in sub
jection, and without whose permission nothing is to be
done. All our mental powers, and inclinations, and sen
timents, and actions, are to be thus under the supreme
control of conscience, and to be exercised and indulged,
or restrained, according to its dictates.
The Creator has not, indeed, implanted in the human
mind anything that is, originally and in itself, evil. But,
on the other hand, there is no part of our nature that
does not become bad if not controlled and regulated
by an enlightened conscience. Some of Man s disposi
tions indeed are of a more amiable character than
others ; such as gratitude, compassion, benevolence, at
tachment to our friends, and love for our children. But
even these are so far from being necessarily virtuous,
that they become mischievous and wrong whenever they
are not under the control of conscience guided by right
reason. For instance, if your attachment to a friend,
or your gratitude for services received from him, should
lead you to give a wrong decision in his favor, and to do
DIFFICULTIES OF MORAL DISCIPLINE. 73
injustice to others, (which you may often be strongly
tempted to,) this would be a manifest violation of duty ;
and so it would be, if your compassion for some one in
distress should lead you to give him what is not your
own ; that is, what you owe to a tradesman. The trades
man may perhaps be less in want of the money than the
other, or than you yourself; but he has a right to it,
which you have not.
Or again, pity for a criminal might tempt you to par
don and let loose on society a villain who might do un
speakable mischief. Or, on the other hand, indignation
against injustice and cruelty, which no one would con
sider a feeling bad in itself, may be carried to such
a faulty excess as to become itself unjust and cruel.
The desire of knowledge, again, and of wisdom, no one
would call bad in itself; and yet it was this that tempt
ed our first parents in Paradise to disobey the divine
command.
5. Amiable Feelings to be under Control
Again, a man s fondness for his children may tempt
him to spoil them by foolish indulgence, or to do unjus
tifiable acts for the sake of enriching them. And even
piety that is, the disposition to venerate a superior
Being is far from being anything good and virtuous,
unless it be rightly directed. Indeed, the very first of
the ten commandments is directed against the worship
of false gods. And (as was before remarked, Lesson
III.) great part of the worship paid by the ancient
heathen to their gods consisted of acts the most abomina
ble. And many of the heathen idolaters of the present
day offer human sacrifices. Indeed, one may say pro-
7
74 LESSONS ON MORALS.
fessing Christians have done nearly the same, when they
have thought to do God service by burning heretics at
what they call (auto da fe) an " act of faith." And
such Christians may be considered as, in a certain
sense, worshippers of a false god ; since, though they
use the name of the true God, they give a totally false
representation of his nature.
Benevolence, again, when not under the control of
reason and a sense of duty, causes some people to do
much more harm than good, by giving indiscriminate
relief to the idle and worthless, and thus drawing men
off from honest industry, and encouraging beggary.
Over all our feelings, therefore, and all our conduct,
a conscientious sense of duty, under the guidance of
sound judgment, must be allowed to reign supreme.
LESSON X.
CULTIVATION OF RIGHT FEELINGS.
1. Feelings not under the direct Control of the Witt.
WHEN you are told, that not only your actions, but
your sentiments, inclinations, and feelings of every kind,
ought to be under the control of conscience, it may, per
haps, occur to you, that our actions only are directly
subject to the Will, and that wishes and feelings of all
kinds are involuntary. It may be in your power, for
instance, to do another person a service if you will ; but
it is out of your power to. make yourself, by an act of
the will, to feel affection for him. So, also, a man may
be induced, by the offer of wages or otherwise, to un
dergo hard labor, and wounds, and cold, and heat, and
other hardships ; but it would be absurd to speak of
hiring him to feel no fatigue, or cold, or pain. He may
resolve to submit to abstain from food ; but to resolve
not to be hungry or thirsty would be absurd. And so
it is with the rest of our feelings as compared with our
actions.
There is something of the same kind in the different
functions of the different parts of the bodily frame. Some
of them depend directly on the will, and others net.
For instance, a man can open or shut his eyes, or move
his limbs as he will ; but the circulation of the blood,
76 LESSONS ON MORALS.
the process of digestion, and the secretions of the liver
and other glands, are not under the control of the will.
You may tell a man to walk, or run, or sit down ; but
to tell him to alter the pulsations of his heart, or the di
gestion of his food, would be as idle as to bid him " add
a cubit to his stature."
But although many of the actions of the bodily frame
are not under the control of the will directly, they are
so, to a certain degree, indirectly. Though it would be
in vain for a man to will that the circulation of his
blood should be raised or lowered, he can take some
medicine that will have such an effect. It is not in your
power to feel hot or cold at pleasure ; but you may be
able to warm yourself by exercise, or by coming to a
fire. So, also, merely to have a will to sleep would
have no effect ; but it may depend on your will to swal
low an opiate which will cause sleep ; and so in other
cases.
r 2. Feelings under the Control of the Will indirectly.
Now something corresponding to this takes place with
respect to all our sentiments, inclinations, and feelings of
every kind. They are under the control of the will in
directly, though not directly. A skilful orator, if he
wishes to excite in his hearers some feeling suppose
pity does not think to effect this by telling them to
feel pity ; because, even if they were desirous to comply
with all his directions, it does not depend on their will ;
but he puts before them a vivid description of sufferings
undergone, and of every touching circumstance of the
case, and dwells on these till the feeling of pity arises in
their hearts, whether they will or no.
CULTIVATION OF RIGHT FEELINGS. 77
It is. the same with indignation, admiration, or any
other feeling. He acts, in short, the part of a physician,
who does not tell his patients to digest their food better,
or to quicken their circulation, etc. ; but tells them to use
such and such a diet, or medicine, which will aid their
digestion or circulation.
Now a good man on many occasions has to act the
part of an orator towards himself. If at any time he is
conscious that he does not feel, or does not feel sufficient
ly, the love, or veneration, or gratitude, or whatever else
it may be, which he is sensible he ought to feel, and which
the case calls for, it would be in vain for him to say to
himself, I will feel so and so ; but he recalls to his mind,
and dwells upon, all the circumstances that are likely to
excite and to heighten such a feeling. He thinks over,
for instance, all the services and kindnesses of a bene
factor, and the great need he had for them, till, by dwell
ing on these, the feelings of gratitude and love arise in
his fieart.
So, also, if he wishes to allay in himself any emotion,
suppose that of resentment, though it is not under
the direct control of the will, he deliberately sets himself
to reflect on all the softening circumstances of the case,
such as the provocation the unoffending party may sup
pose himself to have received, his ignorance, or weak
ness, or perhaps disordered state of health ; he endeavors
to fancy himself in the other s place ; and, above all, he
meditates on the parable of the debtor, who, after having
been himself forgiven, exacted payment with rigid sever
ity from his fellow-servant.
And in all this he is proceeding just as we do with re
spect to those bodily functions before alluded to. We ,
7*
78 LESSONS ON MORALS.
cannot, by a direct exertion of will, quicken or retard
the pulse ; but we can, by an act of the will, swallow a
medicine that shall produce that effect. And this is the
only possible way in which you can proceed, either with
. yourself or with another, in what relates to the feelings.
3. How to influence one s Feelings.
But people often deceive themselves (though it may
seem strange that they should), by imagining that they
feel what they do not. They mistake for the feeling of
compassion, or gratitude, or veneration, etc., the convic
tion of their understanding that the case is one which
calls for such a feeling. And they say, perhaps, with
out the least intention to deceive, that they are " very
glad " of this, and " very sorry " for that, without really
feeling the gladness or the sorrow, but only a belief that
they ought to be glad or to be sorry.
But those two things the conviction of the under
standing, and the actual feeling are as different From
each other, as a blind man s full belief that grass is
green, and coals black, is from the actual perception of
those colors by thfe eye.
It is plain, therefore, that you must proceed different
ly in regulating your actions and your feelings. In bring
ing your conduct into subjection to conscience, you must
have a resolute will to do what conscience requires ; but
in bringing your sentiments and inclinations into this
subjection, a mere will to do so is not sufficient ; you
must, with prayer for divine assistance, bring before your
thoughts, and dwell upon, all the circumstances that may
tend to excite or to allay, as the case may be, the feel
ings which you ought to cherish or to repress.
CULTIVATION OF RIGHT FEELINGS. 79
And it is thus that the sacred writers proceed. " Thou
shalt love," says Moses, " the Lord thy God, with all thy
heart," etc. ; for " consider how great things He hath
done for thee." And thus also do the Apostles teach us
the duty of love to our Saviour : " For when we were
yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the un
godly ; for scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet
peradventure for a good man some would even dare to
die. But God commended his love towards us, in that,
while we were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly."
(Romans v. 6, 7, 8.) " We love Him," says John, " be
cause He first loved us " : and there are many other
passages to the same effect.
4. Control of Feelings gradual.
You will perceive, then, that the work of bringing
about any change in your sentiments and inclinations is
one of some difficulty, and only to be effected gradually.
On the other hand, a man who is resolutely bent on act
ing differently from what he had done before, may do
so immediately. " Let him that stole," says the Apostle,
" steal no more " ; but rather " let him labor, working
with his hands the thing that is good, that he may have
to give to him that needeth." Now any one who was
fully determined to obey this admonition, and reform his
life, would at once renounce theft, and betake himself to
honest industry. But he would find that his former hab
its of idleness and dishonesty had left in him evil dispo
sitions and wrong wishes, which could not be at once
subdued. He would indeed comply at once with the
commandment not to steal, but not with that which for
bids us to covet. For his former thievish practices
80 LESSONS ON MORALS.
would cause him to feel for a time strongly tempted to
commit acts which a man who had always lived honestly
would not so much as think of. And steady industry
will at first be much more irksome to such a man than
to one who has been always used to it, and who perhaps
would even be uneasy without it.
Again, any one who had been habitually intemperate,
though he might firmly resolve and, through divine
grace, keep steadily to his resolution to reform his
life at once, yet would, for a time, suffer much pain from
the craving after his accustomed indulgences ; which
craving would never be felt at all by one who had been
always of sober habits. And so in other cases.
But any one who is earnestly striving to reform or
to improve his character, may be encouraged by the
thought that the chief difficulty is in the first step, and
that his path will become smoother and easier the longer
he treads in it. He must not be discouraged at find
ing bad thoughts and wishes force themselves occasion
ally into his mind, provided he does not cherish, and
indulge, and retain them there, but strives to get rid of
them. His evil propensities will gradually become
weaker by being continually checked and restrained, on
a right principle.
For it is on a right principle (as will be explained
presently) that he must act, if he would acquire a virtu
ous habit ; and he will more and more acquire a liking
for many good actions which at first were distasteful to
him.
The process of reforming the corrupt nature of Man,
by establishing a Christian moral principle, may be com
pared to that of grafting a wilding tree such as a
CULTIVATION OF RIGHT FEELINGS. 81
crab-tree, or wild plum with scions of a good fruit-
tree. The younger the stock the tree to be grafted
is, the more easily is this complete change in its
nature brought about ; because, when it is once grafted
with a single scion, this will become the main stem of
the tree, and all the branches it puts forth will be of
the right sort. But a wilding tree may be successfully
grafted at a considerable age ; only, in this case, you
must put on perhaps twenty or thirty scions, grafting
each branch ; and, afterwards, you must be continually
on the watch to cut off the fresh shoots sent forth by the
wild stock.
Even thus, a person who has been early trained in
right principles will be likely, in the whole of his con
duct, to put forth, as it were, branches of Christian vir
tue ; and, on the other hand, one who has long lived a
different kind of life will have to unlearn a number of
distinct evil habits, and to ingraft, as it were, each
branch with a fresh scion of virtue.
5. Right Acts lead to Right Inclinations.
But in carrying on such a work of reform or improve
ment as we are speaking of, you must begin by acting
in such a way as conscience tells you is right. You
must not wait till you are completely in a proper frame
of mind ; and defer doing what a virtuous man would
do till you have all the dispositions and inclinations of a
virtuous man. On the contrary, it is only by so acting
that you can acquire those dispositions. Virtuous ac
tions are, indeed, the fruits of virtuous habits ; but they
are also the means of acquiring those habits. They are
the seed produced by the tree which springs from that
82 LESSONS ON MORALS.
seed. To wait, therefore, till you have become a virtu
ous man before you begin to lead a virtuous life, would
be like resolving not to go into the water till you were
able to swim ; or not to mount a horse till you were a
good rider. It is only by practising virtue that you can
bring yourself to delight in virtue.
Suppose, for instance, a man who had been given up
to selfish gratification, and indifferent to the welfare of
others, should, by God s grace, be brought to a convic
tion of the sinfulness of such a life, and the duty of benefi
cence, he ought at once to set about the work of doing
good to his fellow-creatures. At first, and for some
time, he will, perhaps, be exercising a painful self-denial
in giving up some personal gratifications he had been
accustomed to, or in parting with money that he highly
prizes, for the relief or benefit of persons he does not
much care about, and in taking trouble to serve them.
He will only enjoy the satisfaction of doing his duty.
But, by degrees, the sentiments of compassion and be
nevolence will be cherished in him by beneficent acts,
and will become stronger and stronger. His feelings
will in time overtake his reason. He will come to feel
an interest, more and more, in the welfare of others,
through the exertions he makes for their benefit ; till at
length it will be felt as a greater self-denial to withhold
his good offices than to perform them. His selfish in
clinations will be weakened by being continually re
pressed, and will at length become odious to him. He
will gradually cease to " give grudgingly, and of neces
sity," and will become the " cheerful giver " that God
loveth. And the like takes place in the formation of
other virtuous habits.
CULTIVATION OF RIGHT FEELINGS. 83
6. Right Actions must be what are done on Right
Principles.
But then, as we said above, it is necessary that good
actions should be done from a good principle. For it
is only by virtuous conduct that a virtuous habit can be
acquired ; and your conduct is not virtuous in you
(though it may be beneficial to others), if you do not
act from a good motive. If a man (as was observed in
Lesson I.) pays his debts punctually, and is fair in all
his dealings, merely through fear of legal penalties, or for
the sake of keeping up a good character, that he may
prosper the better in his business, there is no virtue in
all this ; nor is he even in the way to acquire any vir
tue. For, though it is true that, according to the prov
erb, " Honesty is the best policy," he who acts alto
gether on that motive alone is not an honest man ; nor
is he training himself to become such. His conduct, in
deed, is in itself honest ; but it is in him only a matter
of policy. He will indeed have been forming a habit,
but only a habit of prudence, not of justice. And, ac
cordingly, he will be very likely to wrong and defraud
his neighbor if ever he has an opportunity of doing so
with impunity.
So, also, a man of a violent and revengeful temper
will sometimes exercise great self-control from motives
of prudence, when he sees that he could not vent his re
sentment without danger or loss to himself; such self-re
straint as this does not at all tend to subdue or soften his
fierce and malignant passions, and to make him a mild
and placable character. It only keeps the fire smoulder
ing within, instead of bursting out into a flame. He is not
84 LESSONS ON MORALS.
quelling the desire of revenge, but only repressing it till
he shall have an opportunity of indulging it more safely
and effectually. And accordingly, he will have to ex
ercise the same painful self-restraint again and again on
every fresh occasion.
But to exert an equal self-restraint, on a good princi
ple, with a sincere and earnest desire to subdue revenge
ful feelings, and to form a mild, and generous, and for
giving temper, this will produce quite a different result.
A man who acts thus on a right motive, will find his
task easier and easier on each occasion ; because he will
become less sensitive to provocations, and will have been
forming a habit of not merely avoiding any outward ex
pression of anger in words or acts, but also of indulging
no resentful feelings within.
And the like takes place in the controlling and regu
lating of all our feelings. By doing what is good, at
once, on a right motive, you will gradually come to have
good sentiments and inclinations. Your conduct will
first be, in each particular act, virtuous ; and this will,
in time, form in you a virtuous character.
LESSON XI.
FORMATION OF HABITS.
1. What is practised, that will be learnt.
You have seen, then, that it is by the practice of
what is good on a right principle, that good habits are
formed. Mere reading, and listening, and talking on
the subject, will no more make you a virtuous man, if
you do not earnestly set yourself to practise, through
divine help, the duties you know, than listening to a
physician s advice, and looking at his medicine, without
taking it, would restore a sick man to health.
The patient would, in this case, be neither the better
nor the worse for the physician s advice. But it is not
so with one who has been accustomed to hear moral and
religious discourses without acting upon them. He will
be much the worse for them ; because he will have be
come hardened against receiving any profitable impres
sion from discourses that might strongly impress a per
son hearing them for the first time. " Familiarity,"
says the proverb, " breeds contempt." You may observe,
in travelling on a railroad, how the young cattle run
away in terror from the engine ; while those that have
often seen it pass, go on quietly grazing, and do not re
gard it. And even so, one who has been accustomed
to be a " hearer of the word, and not a doer," will ac-
8
86 LESSONS ON MORALS.
quire more and more of the same kind of " famil
iarity."
It might seem unnecessary to remind any one, that
" what you practise, that you will learn." But so it is,
that many persons seem to expect to learn one thing by
practising another very different thing. What misleads
them is, that they speak loosely of being accustomed to
such and such a thing, and forget that two persons may
have been both of them conversant about the very same
objects, and yet may have acquired opposite habits, from
being accustomed to act in opposite ways.
Suppose, for instance, that there is in your neighbor
hood a loud bell that is rung very early every morning
to call the laborers in some great manufactory. At first,
and for some time, your rest will be broken by it ; but
if you accustom yourself to lie still, and try to compose
yourself, you will become in a few days so used to it,
that it will not even wake you. But any one who
makes a point of rising immediately at the call, will be
come so used to it in the opposite way, that the sound
will never fail to rouse him from the deepest sleep.
Both will have been accustomed to the same bell, but
will have formed opposite habits from their contrary
modes of action.
And w6 may see the same thing even in the training
of brute animals. For instance, of sporting dogs, there
are some, such as the greyhound, that are trained to pur
sue hares ; and others which are trained to stand mo
tionless when they come upon a hare, even though they
see it running before them. Now both kinds are accus
tomed to hares ; and both have originally the same
instincts ; for all dogs have an instinctive tendency to
FORMATION OF HABITS. 87
pursue game. But the one kind of dog has always been
encouraged to run after a hare, and the other has always
been chastised if it attempts to do so, and has been
trained to stand still.
2. Opposite Habits acquired among the same Things.
In like manner, of two persons who have been accus
tomed to the sight of much human misery, one, who has
been used to pass it by without any effort to relieve it,
will become careless and hardened to such spectacles ;
while another, who has been in the practice of relieving
sufferers, will acquire a strong habit of endeavoring to
afford relief. These two persons will both have been
accustomed to the same objects, but will have acquired
opposite habits. So, also, if you are accustomed to talk
about virtue, and to listen to discourses on the subject,
and to peruse, for instance, such Lessons as these now
before you, without acting on what you say, and hear,
and read, you will acquire a habit of talking, etc. with
out acting.
"Whoever, therefore, is not the better for such studies,
will assuredly be the worse for them. And if you are
accustomed to read the Bible, either without careful at
tention, or without striving to bring into your daily life
what you learn from it, you will become insensible to
what it teaches. If, on the contrary, you make a prac
tice of applying in your own conduct what you hear and
read, you will acquire a practical habit. By talking, or
listening, or reading, you will learn to talk, or to listen,
or to read ; by attending, you will learn to attend ; and
by acting, you will learn to act.
A person who has acquired a habit of letting all his
00 LESSONS ON MORALS.
religious and virtuous sentiments evaporate in words,
instead of being brought into practice in his life, resem
bles the " barren fig-tree," which was blasted by our
Lord s command, to furnish an instructive emblem. A
tree that is in a torpid and leafless state in the winter
frost, may be roused into vigorous life and fvuitfulness
by the summer sun and warm showers. But much
more hopeless is one which is in a state of active vege
tation, yet bears "no fruit, but leaves only." Such
a tree is a picture of the man who is not ignorant or
thoughtless respecting morality and religion, but who
lets all his knowledge and his thoughts on such subjects
be wasted in barren talk, " leaves," without fruit.
Such persons, however, sometimes attract more notice,
and gain more admiration from the inexperienced, than
those who talk less, and do more. For you may observe
that, in a steam-engine, the steam makes a much louder
whizzing when it is let off, and the wheels are standing
still, than when it is quietly acting on the machinery.
Again, the custom of being present at public worship,
with an earnest and devout attention to the Service, tends
to cherish a habit of devotion ; but the oftener a person
is present at a Service which he does not attend to, the
more he will acquire of a habit of inattention to that
Service. And those who have been made familiar with
the words of Scripture, without being accustomed to at
tend to the meaning, or to bring its lessons into practice,
will acquire a habit of such unprofitable reading.
Such habits are often acquired in childhood, by those
who have been habitually brought to church at a very
early age, before it was possible for them to take part in,
or to understand, what was said : and who have used the
FORMATION OF HABITS. 89
Bible as a mere reading-book ; or have been accustomed
to read it as if there was some virtue in the mere act of
perusal. And these will have, in after life, a trouble
some and difficult task in unlearning such a habit. This
difficulty is created by the course pursued by well-mean
ing friends, whose wish is to accustom them early to pi
ous exercises, and who overlook that obvious truth, that
" what you practise, that you will learn " ; and that you
cannot learn one thing by practising another quite con
trary to it.
In the smaller affairs of daily life, hardly any one
ever commits such blunders as are often made in the
most important matters. Every one would see, for in
stance (to recur to the examples given just above) the
absurdity of expecting that by being accustomed to hear
a bell, and to lie still at the sound, he would acquire the
habit of immediately rising whenever it rung.
3. Progress in forming a Virtuous Character.
You will perceive, then, that it must be a work of
some labor and difficulty to form good moral habits,
especially for those who have to wrclearn evil habits.
The chief part, however, of this difficulty will be (as
was above pointed out) in the beginning of a right
course. Many things which at first cost much and
painful self-denial, will afterwards, when the habit has
been formed, be practised with ease, and even with
pleasure.
And each particular act will then become less an act
of virtue, while at the same time the character of virtue
will have been the more confirmed. For instance, take
the case of a youth who had been brought up among
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90 LESSONS ON MORALS.
thieves, and had been accustomed to pilfering, and en
couraged in it by his vile associates, but who has been
received (as many have been) into one of the ragged
schools, and has there received a good moral and relig
ious training. He will, for a time, have, of course, a
great inward struggle against his former habits. Such
a youth was on one occasion intrusted by the master,
by the way of a trial, with some gold to get changed ;
which he could easily have carried off. When he hon
estly brought the change, his schoolfellows were over
joyed ; and we have reason to believe that the holy an
gels rejoiced with them, at this victory over evil habits.
(Luke xv. 10.) It was in him brought up as he had
been a great act of virtue to resist the temptation.
But to a person who had been always honestly brought
up (and probably to that same youth, a few years later)
there would not be even any temptation. Such a one
would not so much as think of stealing ; and therefore
it would not be accounted an act of virtue in him to re
frain from it. But this would be, not from his being a
less virtuous character, but, on the contrary, from his
being fully confirmed in that character.
4. Virtue a Struggle of Good against Evil.
And so it is with other habits. Virtue, therefore, ap
pears to consist in a struggle, and a successful strug
gle, of good against evil. Moral goodness is not called
virtue, where there is no temptation to be resisted,
no evil tendency or weakness to be overcome. And
accordingly, while we attribute to the Deity the high
est moral perfection, and speak of his goodness, it would
shock any one to speak of Him as a virtuous Being.
FORMATION OF HABITS. 91
It would sound degrading, as implying some evil ten
dency to be resisted, or at least some weakness to be
overcome. But Man, in this his state of trial and disci
pline, can never so completely extinguish all faulty ten
dencies, and throw off all infirmities, as to be exempt
from the need of care, and vigilance, and self-control,
and firmness against temptation. Man s goodness, in
short, must, in this life, consist in virtue.
Accordingly, our estimate of the virtue displayed in
any act, depends much on the difficulty to be sur
mounted, the temptations to be withstood, etc. If, for
instance, any one decides justly in some cause in which
he has no interest, and where both the parties are stran
gers to him, we think little of the virtue of justice dis
played by him. But if he decides fairly in some case
where he has to sacrifice his own interests, or do vio
lence to his feelings ; or if he reduces himself to poverty
by giving up an estate to one whom he thinks entitled
to it, when he might safely and without discredit have
kept it, this we commend as a virtuous act. And thus
the person commended by the Psalmist is, "He that
sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not." (Ps.
xv. 4.)
So also we hardly account veracity as virtuous, when
a man tells truth in some case where there is nothing to
be gained by falsehood, but only when by telling the
truth he exposes himself to loss, or danger, or discredit.
And the like in other cases. And hence the great ad
vantage of our having placed before us the example of
the Apostles and other early disciples, who were, as they
tell us, " men of like passions " with us ; that is, subject
to the same infirmities and trials.
92 LESSONS ON MORALS.
5. Imitation of our Heavenly Father.
We are, indeed, told to imitate our Heavenly Father.
But then it is only the divine acts that Man can imitate.
We are told to be " merciful even as our Father in
heaven is merciful," and to be as He is "kind to
the unthankful and the evil."
The greatest difference in the nature of two Beings
is no reason against the acts of the one being held up
as an example to the other. Indeed, the acts of some
brute animals (such as the ant and the bee) are often
referred to for Man s imitation ; though no one supposes
those creatures to act from any such rational calculation
as guides the conduct of an industrious and prudent
man. And indeed, even the very precept, " Thou shalt
love thy neighbor as thyself" relates only to acts, not to
inward feelings. For no one can have an affection for
himself, of the same kind with what we feel for another
person whom we love. Self-love is a desire for our own
welfare, which no rational Being can be destitute of,
whether he- is or is not of an affectionate character.
But the meaning of the precept is, that as we seek for
our own welfare, as an end, and without any further ob
ject, so we should, in like manner, seek for our neigh
bors . So also our Lord, in the parable of the " Unjust
Steward," sets before us for imitation an example of
prudent forethought ; though no one can suppose that it
was meant that we should imitate his dishonesty, or act
on his motives.
But in the case of the Apostles, we can imitate, not
merely their actions, but their inward dispositions also,
throughout. We see them resisting strong temptations,
FORMATION OF HABITS. 93
and struggling against and subduing their worldly and I
ambitious desires, and their timidity, and their feelings
of resentment ; we see them giving, when it impover
ished themselves, and refusing gifts which they stood in
need of, and facing dangers which they naturally dread
ed. In short, we see them practising virtue. And
though we have not their miraculous powers, there
is no reason for thinking that we are less required,
or less enabled, than they were, to practise Christian
virtue.
As for their miraculous powers of healing, etc., these
were given them for the advantage of others, not for
their own. Miracles were necessary as a proof of the di
vine origin of the Gospel. But these superhuman gifts
neither implied that the possessors were good Christians,
nor necessarily made them so. All the Apostles, Judas
Iscariot among the rest, wrought miracles during our
Lord s abode on earth. And some of the Corinthians
abused their miraculous powers for the purposes of vain
display, and made them a subject of rivalry and conten
tion. But, on the other hand, when Paul tells the Ro
mans (who had then had no miraculous gifts, Rom. i.
11), that, "if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he
is none of his," (Rom. viii. 9,) and when he says to
them, " As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they
are the sons of God," it is plain he is speaking of a far
different, and far more valuable kind of spiritual gift,
the moral guidance of the conscience, and improvement
of the character. And this is what is equally needed
by all Christians in all ages, and which all may equally .
obtain.
But some people fall into the mistake (which you
94 LESSONS ON MOUALS.
should carefully guard against) of imagining that there
is something virtuous in the mere barren admiration of
some eminently virtuous character, and deep reverence
for it, without any effort to imitate it.
Sometimes, indeed, a man will even flatter himself
that there is a laudably modest humility in not aspiring
to the same high moral excellence with some eminently
virtuous men that are mentioned in history, or actually
living among us. And yet perhaps you may hear these
spoken of as men of exemplary character ; though it
is plain no one can be, to us, exemplary, unless we en
deavor to follow his example. The more we admire
any virtuous conduct, if we do not strive to copy it, as far
as is suitable to our situation, the more we condemn our
selves. And it is not humble modesty, but rather pre
sumptuous confidence, if we are satisfied without doing
our utmost to attain the highest degree of moral excel
lence that is within* our reach.
LESSON XII.
IMITATION OF JESUS.
1. Example of our Saviour.
As for the imitation of the Lord Jesus himself, to
which we are exhorted in the Scriptures, that is some
thing intermediate between the imitation of the divine
goodness (spoken of above), and the imitation of mere
human Beings. So far forth as He was a divine per
son, we can imitate only his acts ; but considered as to
his human nature, we are told, " Let the same mind be
in you which was also in Christ Jesus " ; and thereupon
we have his humility and obedience held up for our imi
tation. And again, we are told that we " have not a
high-priest who cannot be touched with a feeling of our
infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are,
yet without sin."
Now, though of course He had no evil propensities,
we should remember, that, if He had not those human
feelings and inclinations which are not in themselves
evil, He could not have been " tempted \i. e. tried] like
as we are " ; or indeed tempted at all.
And it is to be observed, that there are many human
feelings which become evil when wrongly indulged, but
which are not so when properly controlled. For in
stance, it is no sin for one who is fatigued by labor of
96 LESSONS ON MORALS.
any kind, to long for repose ; only, he would be wrong
to indulge this desire when duty calls on him to rouse
himself to exertion.
So also, it is no sin for any one to be glad of the love
and approbation of his friends and countrymen ; pro
vided he does not sacrifice duty for the sake of their
favor, or do anything on purpose to gain applause for
its own sake. And the like in many other cases.
2. Jesus had Human Feelings.
There is no reason, therefore, to suppose that the
Lord Jesus was indifferent to the good opinion of his
countrymen ; which He might have obtained by falling
in with their wishes and expectations. And they would
have welcomed Him with open arms, if He would have
allowed them to " make Him a king," to deliver them
from the yoke of the Romans, and found a triumphant
and splendid temporal empire. Instead of this, He ex
posed himself, by disappointing their hopes, to their
hatred and scorn, to insults and tortures, and a most
ignominious as well as cruel death.*
We have no reason to think that He did not feel all
this, even more than his bodily sufferings. And, accord
ingly, we are told that He " endured the cross, despis
ing the shame "; and we are exhorted to " consider Him
that endured such contradiction of sinners against him
self." (Ileb. xii.)
Again, if any one should feel weariness and disgust in
laboring long and painfully at the task of instructing ig-
j norant, narrow-minded, and perverse learners, and slow-
* See Lectures on Good and Evil Angels.
IMITATION OF JESUS. 97
ly overcoming their prejudices ; this would be no sin, ,
provided he did not shrink from the task, if duty im
posed it, nor suffer any impatience to break out. And
when, therefore, we see our blessed Master condescend
ing to labor, day after day, and year after year, in grad
ually enlightening the minds of humble fishermen and
peasants, and in correcting their errors, we have here
an example, in all respects for our imitation, of patient
and humble assiduity.
Again, there is nothing sinful in feeling displeased
with persons who manifest stubborn ingratitude, and re
pay kindness with bitter insult and cruel persecution.
The sin would be in allowing ourselves to indulge re
vengeful feelings ; " rendering evil for evil, railing for
railing." And accordingly, the Apostle Peter holds up
to us the example of our Lord Jesus in this point also,
who " did no violence ; who, when He was reviled, re
viled not again ; when He suffered, He threatened
not " ; and who, as we read in the Evangelists, prayed
for his murderers.
These points are here noticed merely as specimens.
There are many others which every attentive reader of
the Gospels cannot fail to be struck with, in which the
excellences of our Lord s character as a man plainly
appear, and are suitable for our imitation.
3. The Nature of the Lord Jesus mysterious.
But some persons, though far from indifferent to the
subject of religion, do not pay sufficient attention to that
important portion of it which is now before us, the
example of Jesus as set forth in Scripture for our imi
tation. Instead of this, they have occupied themselves t
9
98 LESSONS ON MORALS.
. in discussing questions as to several mysterious points
on which Scripture reveals nothing. In what manner
the divine nature was united with the human in the per
son of our Saviour, and what was the precise charac
ter of his inward feelings, all these and other such
questions are what the Sacred Writers have left unex
plained. And we cannot doubt that, if an explanation of
these had been possible, and needful for us, it would
have been given. Yet these are questions which some
persons presume freely to discuss ; as if the speculations
of human reason could enlighten us on matters not re
vealed to the Apostles ; or at least not revealed by them.
And such rash speculations have often drawn off men s
attention from what is plainly set forth in Scripture for
our practical benefit.
How the human body and mind act on each other, we
cannot explain or understand ; but we know that they
do ; and we can make a practical use of that knowledge.
We know not the nature of the sun ; we cannot explain
how it is that it continues to throw out light and heat
without being, as a candle is, consumed in so doing : but
we can see by its light, and enjoy its warmth.
And even so, we can benefit by the teaching and the
example of the Lord Jesus, though we have a very
dim and imperfect notion of his real nature. To turn
aside from a practical benefit that is placed within our
reach, and occupy ourselves instead with speculative in
quiries about matters beyond our reach, would be like
the folly of our first parents, who, when permitted to
" eat of the tree of life," turned to the forbidden " tree of
knoivledge."
Some people, again, allow their veneration for Christ
IMITATION OP JESUS. 99
and his Apostles to vent itself on tangible objects, such fl
as " relics," or on supposed holy places, to which they
make pilgrimages. We are told that our divine Master
left us an " example that we should follow his steps,"
instead of which they go to Jerusalem to tread literally
on the ground He trod. Instead of " putting on Christ,"
as the Apostle exhorts us, they venerate a tunic He is
supposed to have worn, or bits of wood of the supposed
"true cross"; or procure a bottle of water from the
river Jordan, for baptizing their children. Instead of
being " followers of the Apostles, even as they were of
Christ," they bow down before fragments of their bones,
or locks of their hair, etc.
All this is as if some one, when shown a tree bearing
delicious and wholesome and nourishing fruit, should
neglect the fruit, and try to feed on the leaves or bark ;
or as if, when he had received a package of most valu
able goods, he should lay them by, and make no use of
them, but wear with much pride the canvas wrapper in
which they were packed up.
4. Jesus a Faultless Model.
The great advantage of our Lord s example, as com
pared with any description of an imaginary person
an ideal perfect man is its reality. We know that
He did actually live on this earth, and that what is re
corded of Him is not fiction or supposition, but what was
really said and done.
But again ; his example has the advantage over those
of all other actually existing persons, of being absolutely
perfect. The greatest, and noblest, and purest of all
merely human characters have their imperfections ; and
100 LESSONS ON MORALS.
these an imitator might be led into, through his admira
tion of their excellence.
And it may be observed, by the way, that this is a
mistake some people may be in danger of, in reference to
the characters in the Old Testament history. They may
suppose that every person mentioned with any degree of
commendation, and especially those who were endowed
with any prophetical powers, or received any other mark
of divine favor, are to be looked on as perfect models,
held up for our imitation throughout ; though many of
them were undoubtedly guilty of faults deserving much
censure, even considering the rude age in which they
lived. And all of them did live in such a half-civilized,
half-barbarian state of society, as requires great allow
ances to be made for those brought up in it. Their
comparatively gross and uncultivated intellectual and
moral condition is what our Lord alludes to in his ex
pression " hardness of heart." (Matt. xix. 8.)
Even the best, however, of these men, are not to be
imitated as if they could be reckoned faultless. But in
imitating our divine Master, whatever errors we may
fall into by our own injudicious imitation, we cannot be
led into any, by imperfections in the model itself.
And in studying the life of our Lord, in conjunction
with that of the earliest disciples, we have the advan
tage of seeing not only a perfect model, but also an ex
ample of the copying of that model. We not only see
the original pattern, but are also shown how it was first
imitated. "Be ye followers," says the Apostle Paul,
" of me, even as I am of Christ Jesus." We thus have,
as it were, before us, not only a perfect human jiyure,
but also a statue made from it by a first-rate sculptor.
t
IMITATION OF JESUS. 101
5. Danger of Erroneous Imitation.
But, as has just been said, it is possible to fall into
mistakes by our own injudicious and improper imitation
of a faultless example, or indeed of any example. If
some one s conduct is perfectly right for him, or under
his circumstances, we may be altogether wrong in copy
ing it if we are placed in quite different circumstances.
If a king, for instance, or any one else in high au
thority, conducts himself in the best possible manner, it
would be absurd, and a criminal usurpation, for a pri
vate citizen to pretend to follow his example by assum
ing regal state and power. And so it would be, if a
pupil were to take upon him the office of a master, and
pretend to give instruction in the school where he is
placed to receive it. The way in which a subject should
follow the example of a good king, is by cpnducting him
self as a good subject ; and then each of them alike will
be acting in a manner suitable to his own position.
Accordingly, there are many parts of our Lord s con
duct which would have been unsuitable for the Apostles
to imitate; and many parts, both of his conduct and
theirs, that would be unsuitable for us.
For instance, we read " that He taught as one having
authority, and not as the scribes " ; that is, instead of
confining himself to the expounding of the Mosaic
law, and reasoning upon that, (which was the practice,
and the proper office of the scribes,) He spoke as hav
ing a direct commission from Heaven, saying, " / say
unto you " so and so ; and appealing not to arguments,
but to the miracles He wrought, as a proof of his com
ing from God.
9*
102 LESSONS ON MORALS.
And again, you should observe that lie does not use
the language of the prophets, who had been accustomed
to say, " Thus saith the Lord," each of them having
been charged with certain specific messages ; but God
gave not the Spirit by measure unto Him. He came
not only with authority, but with full, unlimited au
thority ; and his language was, " I say unto you."
Now, of course it would be profane as well as absurd
for any one of us to teach as " having authority " ; that
is, as demanding assent and submission to what we say,
because we say it.
LESSON XIII.
IMITATION OF THE APOSTLES.
1. How far the Apostles are to be imitated.
As for the imitation by the Apostles of their divine
Master, and again our imitation of them, you must re
member that they were in some respects in a different
position, both from Him, and again from us. They
spoke and acted as his messengers, (which is the mean
ing of the title " Apostles,") and commissioned by Him
as ambassadors. They accordingly kept closely to the
instructions they received from Him, either by word of
mouth, or by the inspiration of his Spirit. Thus, we
find Paul saying that on one point " he has no com
mandment from the Lord" ; and again, in another place,
that it is not he that gives the commandment, but " the
Lord." And the reality of this their commission from
Christ, they prove by the miracles done in his name,
which they expressly call the " signs of an Apostle."
Now, any one among us may indeed be allowed to
bring arguments to convince the Reason, that so and so
is the meaning of a certain passage of Scripture, or that
his views on some point are right. But if, instead of
this, he demands assent to what he says, on his bare
word, declaring that he is inspired [or "moved"] by
the Holy Spirit of God to say it, you may fairly ask
104 LESSONS ON MORALS.
him to prove this by the display of some sensible
miracle.
This demand was made and justly made of Jesus
and his Apostles ; and they did display miraculous pow
ers. But any one who thus pretends to inspiration, and
yet fails to give this necessary proof of it, is imitating
the Apostles only in the same way in which a man
might be said to imitate a real ambassador from some
king, by pretending to have a commission from him,
when he had no credentials to produce.
2. How far the Example of our Lord is not to
be followed.
Again, our Lord spake to the multitudes in parables,
which most of them did not understand, and reserved
the explanation of " the mysteries of the kingdom of
heaven " for his disciples. And this was, in his case,
quite reasonable ; since his disciples were all who
chose to be so all who were convinced by his
" mighty works " that He was a real prophet, and that
therefore they were bound to place themselves under
his instruction, even before they understood it " We
know," says Nicodemus, " that thou art a teacher sent
from God ; for no man can do these miracles which thou
doest, except God be with him."
All that were thus candid and docile became his dis
ciples, and received the explanations they needed ;
while those who " were without " the circle of his dis
ciples, and came to listen out of idle curiosity, or with
design to watch for occasions of accusations against him,
were left uninstructed. For " he that hath," said Jesus,
" to him shall be given ; and lie that hath not, from
him shall be taken away even that which he hath."
IMITATION OF THE APOSTLES. 105
The Apostles, however, by their Master s direction,
spoke not in parables, but declared openly and plainly
to all, what they were commissioned to teach. " If our
gospel be hid," says Paul, " it is hid to them that are
lost," [ in the way to be lost," according to the origi
nal,] " whom the god of this world hath blinded " ;
and again, " I am pure from the blood of all men ; for I
have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of
God." And this was in conformity with our Lord s in
junction, " What I have told you in secret, that preach
ye openly ; and what ye have heard in the ear in clos
ets, that proclaim ye upon the house-tops."
3. False Imitation of the Lord Jesus.
It would be doubly absurd, therefore, for any re
ligious or moral teacher among us to think of imitating
our Lord s example by delivering obscure precepts to
the people, and offering to give explanations of them
to those who would enroll themselves as his disciples.
" Why should we," they might answer, " become your
disciples ? We have no means of judging whether what
.you teach is right or wrong, till we understand what it
is, unless you give, like Jesus, a miraculous proof of a
divine commission." For He said, " If I had not done
among them the works which none other man did, they
had not had sin."
But if any one pretends to infallibility without giving
such proofs of it, the sin would be, not in denying his
claim, but in admitting it. His imitation of our Lord
is like the imitation of a true coin by a piece of base
metal, which will not stand a trial by the touchstone.
You see, therefore, that men may fall into grievous
106 LESSONS ON MORALS.
mistakes by endeavoring, or pretending, to follow some
one s example, while they do what is for him quite right,
but for them, who are in a different situation, quite
4. Mistakes as to the Conduct of the Apostles.
But besides the danger of this kind of error, there is
also another to be guarded against. For some people
make mistakes as to what the conduct really is, of the
model they wish to copy ; and therefore imitate it im
properly, even in points wherein it ought to be followed
exactly.
For instance, we find the Apostles and other early
disciples submitting to stripes and imprisonments, and
encountering hunger and thirst, and dangers and perse
cutions of every kind, in their Master s cause, and while
engaged in preaching his Gospel (2 Cor. vi. 4-10).
And we admire, very justly, the patient fortitude they
displayed. And in all cases, the more hardships and
privations and sufferings of any kind a man encounters
in the discharge of his duty, the more we admire his
virtue. Now the admiration of such virtuous fortitude
has led many persons, in various ages and countries, to
imagine that there is something virtuous in self-inflicted
sufferings, that have no further object ; and that to ex
pose one s self to various hardships and privations, mere
ly as a display of fortitude, is something in itself accept
able to the Deity.
Among the Hindoo idolaters, for instance, there are
many devotees who plunge iron hooks into their flesh,
and practise a variety of even more extravagant pen
ances, which they imagine to be an acceptable service to
IMITATION OF THE APOSTLES. 107
the gods they worship. If we go to the opposite side of
the globe, we find tribes of American Indians practising
like cruelties on themselves. And in many Churches
professing to be Christian, persons who aspire to be
"saints" place great part of their service of God in
scourging or half-starving themselves, lying on beds of
rugged stones, shutting themselves up in uncomfortable
cloisters, wearing filthy garments, and in various other
ways inflicting self-torture ; as believing the endurance
of suffering for its own sake, and without any further
object, to be a Christian virtue,
Now all this is as great an error as if any one should
think to attain the character of a good soldier by wan
tonly shooting or stabbing himself. We admire, and
with reason, the valor of a soldier who boldly mounts
a breach amidst a shower of bullets, or rushes on a line
of bayonets, at the command of his leader, in the ser
vice of his country. But this is because he encounters
the danger in doing his duty, and could not avoid the
danger, except by shrinking from duty. But to expose
himself to wounds or death for no object^ is far from
being a soldier s duty.
5. TJie Apostles never tortured Themselves.
And such self-torturers as we have been speaking of
are equally far from really imitating the conduct of the
Apostles. For they never exposed themselves to perse
cution, or suffering of any kind, needlessly and wanton
ly ; though there was none that they shrunk from, in
the discharge of their duty. They submitted to cruel
scourgings, rather than forego the preaching of the
Gospel ; but they never scourged themselves. Paul
108 LESSONS ON MORALS.
himself repeatedly pleaded his privilege as a " Roman
citizen," to save himself from illegal scourging. And
when shipwrecked on the island of Melita, he took all
the careful precautions for safety, that the most tim
orous lover of life could have done ; ready as he was
" not only to be bound, but also to die, for the name of
the Lord Jesus." All this is what the Apostles under
stood, and doubtless rightly understood, by their Mas
ter s declaration, " If any man will be my disciple, let
him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow
me " ; his cross, that which is laid upon him by his
Christian duty, not one of his own imposing
And the " mortification " to which Paul exhorts his
converts, is not self-torture of any kind, or at all what
the word "mortification" means, in its ordinary use
among us now ; but the putting to death (that is the ex
act sense of the word in the original) of evil habits and
desires. " Mortify," says he, " your members which are
upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness, inordinate af
fection, and covetousness " ; and " they that are Christ s,
have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts."
But as for hair-shirts, and beds of flints, and all kinds
of gratuitous suffering purposely undergone for its own
sake, there is nothing, either in the teaching or the ex
amples of the Apostles, to show that they practised or
recommended, or at all approved, of anything of the
kind.
6. Goods of Christians not Common.
Again, there have been persons who have imagined
that Christians ought not to possess any private prop
erty, but to " have all things common " ; as a supposed
IMITATION OF THE APOSTLES. 109
imitation of what is recorded (in Acts) of the earliest
" believers."
But it is quite a mistake to suppose that any such
system was established as a general rule for Christians,
even at the very first. This is plain from the words of
Peter to Ananias ; whose sin the Apostle declares con
sisted, not in retaining his property, but in " lying to the
Holy Ghost." As for the land, that, he reminds him,
and the price of it, has been " his own," and " in his own
power " ; which clearly shows that he was not required
to give it up on becoming a disciple.
The case, no doubt, was this : that our Lord s imme
diate attendants while He was on earth, and also those
who after his departure were engaged in the ministry,
were required to throw any property they might possess
into a common stock, from which all so engaged were
maintained, and the poor relieved out of the surplus.
And it need not be wondered at, considering the im
mense work then to be begun, of preaching the Gospel
to many millions, that all the very earliest of the con
verts should have been needed, and all ready, to take
part in this ministry.
Ananias and his wife seem to have designed to par
take of this common stock, while they fraudulently re
tained a portion of private property ; the resigning of
which was a condition, not of their embracing Chris
tianity, but of their being entitled to maintenance out
of the common stock.
But it is quite clear that no such system as a general
community of goods among Christians ever existed.
This is proved, not only by what was said to Ananias,
but also by the " charge " given to " them who are rich
10
110 LESSONS ON MORALS.
in this world, to be ready to give, and glad to distrib
ute " ; and from many other passages of Scripture :
among others, one already mentioned, " Let him that
stole, steal no more ; but rather let him labor, that he
may have to give to him that needeth."
Those therefore who would forbid men s possessing
private property, would not be really following the ex
ample of the Apostles.
These instances may serve as specimens, to show
what errors men may commit by inconsiderately and
unwisely attempting to imitate the best examples.
LESSON XIV.
SINGLENESS OF VIRTUE.
1. Various Treatises on Morals.
are severaL-teeatises on Morale, by various
writers, in several languages ; hv which you will find an
enumeration of what are called the different virtues;
such as ibrtitude, temperance, justice, .liberality, gentle
ness, etc. And there is much that may be studied with
profit in some of these treatises. ButJa. studying Ihem
you must be very careful to avoid the mistake of srap-
,.posing these virtues to be so many dt-stinct habits, intle-
other, like the several different sciences
and arts.
TQini. is likp.Iy to tend to this mistake is,
like the several sciences and arts, cpnverA
ferent kinds o.JJu&&* As Arithmetic, for instance, re
lates to numbers, and Grammar to language, and Music
to certain sounds, etc., which are things of quite different
kinds; so, ^ortitiulc is .concerned about dangera- and
pains, and Liberality, about money and other property,
^andTemperance, aboiU sensual indulgences,. etc. And
hence a person might fall., into the mistake of consider-
"JogjeiicTi virtue to be a habit as distinct from the rest,
jind unconneefejfl ^flfr *^ as Music, for instance,
from Grammar or Mathematics.
112 LESSONS ON MORALS.
A man may, we know, be a mathematician without
being a classical scholar ; or he may be a painter with
out understanding music ; and so of the rest. And those
who do possess a knowledge of several different arts or
sciences, will usually have learnt them from so many
different teachers. But.itJ_s.jQQt-so with ^diat^u^-^alled
the different moral . habits. These,
about different kinds of things, are, -property, oly
branches of the one habit of virtue>-whiek- 4s, as has
been above explained, the habit of doing whatever is
whole conduct and character by
an enlightened Conscience, and keeping every, part of
our nature in subjection to that.
2. Virtues not distinct, like the Arts.
When we apply the word "art" to Agriculture, for
instance, and to Navigation, and to Architecture, etc.,
we are only using that term to denote a class which
comprehends several things of different kinds, each of
which may be properly called " an art," and is inde
pendent of the rest. But we.ought 4aot r s& itly--&peak-
t .temperance, for instance, k "tg -virtue " ;
uth, apart of virtue : it consists in ptrrfbTrning
of our duty ; and duty extends to the proper
regulation of our actions and inclinations throughout ; -irr
-sta t, 4o the whole character.
As for the various arts and sciences, they not only
are conversant about different kinds of things, but-they
depend on diffcrcnJL. faculties in the mind ; rmd thvs it it
..that makes them quite distinct kud ^de])emlejiLflLeach
(.[her. The [tower, for instance, by which a man cal
culates, and that by which he learns a language, and
SINGLENESS OP VIRTUE. 113
that by which he constructs a machine, are quite dis
tinct. You may, if you will, apply the one word " un
derstanding " or " intellect " to every one of these facul
ties ; but this would be only applying one name to
several different kinds of powers. In like manner, the
one word " sense " may be applied to hearing, sight, and
smell ; but they are quite distinct senses ; and we could
not use the eyes for hearing, or the ears for seeing. But
3 rot fifiv prn1 ; nn ^ we are bonnd
el. ? different as these are from each other, under the
one_cpntrol, of that one which we have called con
science.
3. Apparent, but not Real Virtues.
But what helps to mislead people us to this point i&,
quite nnfnnnrctH with ftnrh nthfr
man who .ia_aQbM> from-^U^g^cot>
ance would bring sickness, im
appear to be practising the virtue of remp
be a cheat, and a liar, etc. He may, per
haps, be a member of what is called a " Temperance
Society," the rule of which binds a man as to one point
only; and he may never think at all of that society
called a " Christian Church," the members of which are
bound to "fight manfully under the banner of Christ
crucified against sin " ; and which, accordingly, is both a
" Temperance Society," and also an " Honesty Society,"
and a "Veracity Society," and a "Benevolence So
ciety," etc.
Or, again, take the instance of courage ; a man of con-
10*
114 LESSONS ON MORALS.
stitutional intrepidity and firmness, with a great desire
of glory, and perhaps a strong attachment to his country,
will be likely to make a good soldier, though he may be
covetous, and cruel, and tainted with many other vices.
And accordingly the most formidable armies have been
often made up of men whom no one would call virtuous
characters. But the courage of such a man is only an
apparent, not a real virtue. For virtue consists in doin^
one s duly, because it is duty, and on a right principle,
a principle \\Lidi extends to all points of duty alike.
A man is rightly called " an artist " who is master of
even any one art, though he may be ignorant of the
rest. Dui nu unei is-a-good. man who does uol strive
ta -dflL-wLat. is -right? -and abstain from what is wrong,
throughout.
4. The Sacred Writers, and the Heathen Philoso
phers, agree on the Oneness of Virtue.
And this is in conformity with what the Apostle
.James says: "Whosoever shall keep the whole law,
yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. JEor. that
Jaw which said,* Do not commit adultery, said also, Do
jaot kill. y^vJOhoii- commit jro^adulter-yy-yet if thtm
.kill,- thou art become a transgressor .of-the 4aw." (James
ii. 10, 11.) Undoes not mean that a gingte sin is as
bad asjmany, or jthat alj_ sins jire equal. Nor can it be
supposed that, when our Lord bids us " be perfect," sr
lather, according to the original, "complete,") "even-as
our Ileavenly Father is perfect," He means that nothing
short of god-like, sinless goodness would be accepted.
* This is the marginal reading of our Bibles.
SINGLENESS OF VIRTUE. 115
But He andjii? Apm-t1" g """^"t nrt ^y, that a mnr>
on a right principle, according to the best of his own
mojill jndgmonti nnrl diirrrtinn j (wkat-James calk. the
".perfect^ law of liberty,") will not pass over altogether,
jmd wilfully neglect^ amc- port ion of fluty fjjn^f t.hp. snmp
principle extends to _the \v ;holej jaiid^ . consequently,, eYfiry
..transgressor is a " transgressor of the law" altogether.
But if. QLL.tbe-eontrary. thei e- were as many distiuct^ia-
depciulcnt. and unconnected rules laid down, as there
^re tilings to be done and to be avoided, then, a man
who should have violated urn of these rules would have
dojie_jiDthing against the rest. As it is, our obedience
to the law of conscience, however imperfect t in one
.sense, it may be, is not, they teach us, to Impartial and
^So, also, f hg A pnstl n T^i 1 tlh " g that a he. that
loveth another hath fuliilled the law" (meaning, of
course, Q s far ns rggnHn nnr-V-iHgh^rp) ...ff. For. this,
Tlipu shalt not kill, Thou shalt not commit adultery,
Honor thy father and thy mother ; and if there be any
omer .onniia4idient, it is briefly comprehended in this,
Thou shalt ~love-4kyHftsighbor as. thyself. Love work-
eth no ill tn )^ia neighbor ; therefore love is the fulfilling
tf thn Iftir." "Rft^i xiii. 8 -10.
It kugemarkablft i^hat t^pj y^vy ^^^ ifontrinttj in thin _
respect, with that of the Apostles, is nia-intaiunl by the .
most yTnir^pnt nf ffrp nnoinnt hnnthrn mnrnl pliilu uplni
A^mnn p r nrinot, nrrnnling to Ariatotlfv (Eth. Nicom. b.
vi.), be said, in the strictest f?o"so 7 to possess n tifi virti 10 ;
and to be destitute of the rest; since the principle
which he calls right Ileason [phronesis], on which a
truly virtuous num acts, must extend tu uxry. poit-ef
duty.
116 LESSONS ON MORALS.
5. Consistency.
Whatever principle, then, or system of conduct, you
lay down as morally right, you should go through with
it, and follow it out consistently, without making arbi
trary exceptions according to your own taste and conven
ience. It might indeed be said, that, strictly speaking,
any fault, however small, is an "inconsistency" in a
man whose life is on the whole virtuous. But what we
mean when we speak of an inconsistent character is,
that his course of life is inconsistent. It might be said,
in like manner, that every single weed in a cultivated
field, or in a whole farm, is an " inconsistency " ; and
yet you would hardly find, even among the best kept
farms, any one that had not a single weed. But a farm
er would then, and then only, be reckoned inconsistent,
if he attended carefully to one portion of his crops, and
left another to be spoiled through neglect; or if he
sowed one half of a field with wheat, and the other half
with thistles and rag-weed.
Act, therefore, throughout, on whatever principle you
have adopted as right ; or, if you find that to do so would
lead to something wrong or absurd, you should take this
as a proof that the principle itself which you had adopt
ed must be erroneous, and requires to be changed. But
a person who does fairly follow out even an erroneous
rule of conduct, which he has mistaken for a right one,
is in a fair way to discover in time his own mistake.
And moreover he is deserving of less blame than one
who (as the phrase is) " plays fast and loose " with his
principle ; acting on it in one case, and laying it aside
in another just as suits his inclination.
SINGLENESS OF VIRTUE. 117
If, for instance, you are fully convinced that such pre
cepts as " Resist not evil," etc., are to be taken liter
ally and strictly, as forbidding all self-defence, then you
should make a point of never resorting to the aid of law,
or of any magistrate, officer of law, or civil governor of
any kind. For it is plain that all human laws and hu
man government must rest ultimately on physical force.
The ruler " beareth not the sword in vain," but " is or
dained for the punishment of evil-doers." A law that
should merely exhort men to pay their just debts, but
should denounce no penalty for non-payment, nor be
supported by any power of arrest or seizure of goods,
would be a mere jest. On the above principle, there
fore, you would be bound to leave it to the choice of
your tenants and other debtors whether they should pay
you or not. Nor would it be allowable for you to call
in the police to help you against robbers. For it would
be absurd to pretend, that, though it is a sin to employ
force yourself, it is no sin to employ others to do it for
you.
Again, if you are convinced that the Mosaic law, or
that a certain portion of it, is binding on Christians, then
you should observe every one of its commandments, or
every one of that portion of its commandments, exactly
as they were given, without presuming to leave out or
to alter any particle. Or if you find that this would
not be right, or that it would lead to some absurdity,
then you should not profess to take the Mosaic law for
your rule.
6. Men apt to trust in one Supposed Virtue.
It is worth remarking here, by the way, that none are
118 LESSONS ON MORALS.
so likely to fall into the error (formerly noticed) of
thinking to deserve and earn reward by the supposed
merit of their good works, as those who consider each
(so-called) virtue to be a separate habit ; and that they
may, and do, practise some one or two virtues, on which
they rely and pride themselves. They trust to these
as not only compensating for all failures in other
points, but as entitling them to reward. For a man is
called " an artist " (as was observed just above) who is
master of any one art ; and a tailor, for instance, may
say, "I know nothing about cultivating the land, or
building houses ; those matters are no business of mine :
making clothes is my trade, and that is enough ; it is by
that I earn my living" And a carpenter or a smith,
etc., might say the like. And so also those who alto
gether mistake the whole nature of moral virtue, consid
er that a man may, in like manner, be considered vir
tuous who practises any one virtue. To guard against
such a mistake, it is best to avoid the kind of language
that leads to it, and, instead of speaking of several
distinct virtues, to say that there are so many distinct
branches of duty ; and that Virtue consists in earnestly
setting one s self to the performance of every duty.
LESSON XV.
EASIER AND HARDER DUTIES.
1. Differences in Men s Dispositions.
You have seen, then, that no one should think of such
a thing as possessing one virtue and not others. But it
is, nevertheless, true that different parts of duty will be
easier or harder to practise, some to one person, and
some to another, according to each man s original dispo
sition or early education. Suppose, for instance, the
case of a person who is naturally of a covetous dispo
sition, but of a calm, mild, and gentle temper ; and an
other, who is naturally careless of gain, and liberal, but
irritable and passionate. The one of these will have to
exercise much self-control, in acting always honestly and
liberally, which would cost the other little or no effort,
though he would scarcely at all feel such provocations
as the other would find it very difficult to bear with
patience.
One man, again, may find it cost him a severe strug
gle to resist the temptations presented by a desire for
applause, and dread of censure, but will encounter pain
and danger readily ; while one of an opposite disposi
tion will find it much easier to forego applause, and even
to undergo scorn, than to face danger. And there are
many other such differences.
120 LESSONS ON MORALS.
Any one who is disposed to complain of the labor
and pain it costs him to do what some others do with
ease, should reflect that, on the other hand, they perhaps
find a great difficulty in something that is, to him, much
easier.
2. Analogy of Bodily Constitutions.
There are much the same kind of differences in what
relates to bodily health. One, for instance, can perhaps
undergo much bodily labor, and be even the better for
it, but has a weak digestion, and is obliged to be very
particular about his diet ; while another may find scarce
ly any kind of food disagree with him, but is easily over-
fatigued. And the like in many other cases.
But no one would consider himself in good health, if
some part of his body were disordered, though the rest
might be quite sound and healthy. Nor, in like man
ner, can any one be in a healthy moral state, if he
allows himself in any kind of sin, or neglects a portion
of his duty. For as a good digestion, for instance, is
not good health, but only a part of good health, so (as
was above remarked) Temperance, or Fortitude, etc.,
is not virtue, but only a part of virtue.
And, again, you may observe, that, with respect to
bodily health, every prudent man is especially careful
to guard against those particular diseases to which he
knows his own constitution is the most liable. But in
moral conduct there is a temptation to reverse this
course ; to bestow the chief attention on those duties
which are most agreeable to our own nature, and to
feel the least dread of the faults we are the most in
clined to. A man, for instance, of an open-handed and
EASIER AND HARDER DUTIES. 121
benevolent disposition, but inclined to indolence and to
sensuality, will be likely to regard these as far less
odious faults than avarice. .And one who is naturally
disposed to be active, frugal, and temperate, but parsi
monious, and fond of gain, will abhor sloth and intem
perance much more than love of money. And the like
in many other cases.
And it may sometimes happen that your having
some strong tendency in your own character will cause
you to perceive it not in yourself, but in your neighbors.
If, for instance, you are disposed to covetousness, your
over-anxiety to buy cheap, and sell dear, may make
you think others covetous ; because they will ask more,
and offer less, than, to you, will seem reasonable.
If, again, you are of a quarrelsome temper, this may
cause you to think others quarrelsome; or even to
make them so, in their dealings with you ; because you
will be apt to say and do such things as are likely to
irritate them.
Or if you are disposed to be obstinate and opinion
ated, or proud and overbearing, others will appear to
you to be obstinate, etc., because they will not give
way to you as you will think they ought.* ^
And it is the same with Vanity, and several other
kinds of disposition.
3. Care of Bodily Health and of Moral
And, again, a person whose natural tendency is.to-
* A man of this character is said to have complained of his ill-luck,
inasmuch as, whenever he was placed on a jury, he always found him
self joined with eleven obstinate men who would not hear reason.
11
122 LESSONS ON MORALS.
wards some extreme, suppose, an excessive desire of
applause and dread of censure will perhaps take
great- pains in proving (what no one denies) that it is
neither right, nor possible, to root out completely this
feeling ; and that we ought not to be, nor can be, wholly
indifferent to the good opinion of our neighbors. He
might be answered, " It is for you to take all possible
care to keep down that feeling ; and be assured there is
no fear but you will have enough of it left. Treat it as
you do the grass or. a lawn, which you mow down as
close as you can every week ; not with the hope, or the
wish to destroy the grass, but quite secure that it will
grow up again fast enough."
Some again excuse or palliate their faults by saying
that such conduct is natural to persons of their age,
or station, or bodily constitution, etc. As if nothing
could be a sin to be guarded against, except something
to which we are not naturally inclined !
You should imitate, then, the conduct of a prudent
man in the care of his health ; using double watchful
ness and exertion in guarding against those faults in
particular which your own character is the most prone
to, and in fulfilling those duties which you are the most
inclined to neglect. And you should imitate the pro
cedure of builders in straightening a piece of timber
that is warped ; who bend it a little beyond the straight
line in the contrary direction.
Some people, indeed, carry this too far, and, in their
excessive dread of one extreme, fly to the opposite ; to
penuriousness, for instance, in their dread of prodigality ;
or to rashness and hurry, through dread of over-cautious
ness and hurtful delay ; or the contrary. This kind of
EASIER AND HARDER DUTIES. 123
error you should of course avoid ; but still your first and
chief care should be to guard against the extreme to
which your own disposition most inclines you.
And as the advice of a good physician may be of use
in helping you to understand your own bodily constitu
tion, so a judicious friend may perform a like service in
the important point of self-knowledge. For many a
one deceives himself as to what really are his own
natural tendencies. For instance, one who is some
what inclined to the love of money, may fancy himself
remarkably liberal ; because every act of liberality will
have cost him such an effort, that he will think much of
it, as a most heroic sacrifice. A man, again, who has
much self-esteem, may fancy himself peculiarly modest
and humble ; because he will view, as . it were, through
a magnifying-glass, any act of condescension ; and will
seem to himself to be lowering his own just pretensions
when he is taking upon himself less than he thinks he
has a fair claim to, though, in reality, more than is right.
And so in other cases.
A wise and candid counsellor may help to guard you
against this kind of self-deceit.
4. Enumeration of Virtues not necessary.
As for such a set of precise rules as should at once
apply to every case that can arise, it is what not even
the longest Treatise could contain. And an enumera
tion of what are called the several " Moral Virtues "
that is, the branches of virtue would be unsuitable
for introductory Lessons like these ; and, for the reasons
above given, cannot be necessary.
If, indeed, each Virtue were a distinct Habit, hide-
124 LESSONS ON MORALS.
pendent of the rest, and if Man had no Moral Faculty
to guide his conduct in each kind of matter, but de
pended wholly on the particular instruction he received
on each particular branch (as is the case with the sev
eral Sciences and Arts), then, to omit the description of
any one Virtue, would be to leave the learner, as far as
regarded that one, entirely at a loss. Thus, if in train
ing a youth for the Medical Profession, for instance, you
were to teach him Chemistry and Botany, etc., but to
leave out Anatomy, his course of study would be imper
fect. Or if, again, in a treatise on Agriculture, you were
to find full instructions for the cultivation of corn, but
nothing said about green crops, or about cattle, you
would find fault with the work, as imperfect.
But in what relates to moral conduct, since Man does
possess a Faculty which is designed to be applied to the
guidance of the whole life, no one can justly complain
that he has received imperfect or insufficient moral in
struction, on the ground that some particular point of
duty, or some particular sin, has not been specified. If
you have been supplied (to refer to a former illustra
tion) with a Clock or Watch, and also with a Sun-dial
by which to regulate it, together with directions (such
as are to be found in Almanacs) as to the allowances to
be made of differences between them, there is no need
that you should be reminded again and again of each of
the several engagements you have at such and such
hours.
5. Mode of Instruction in the New Testament.
And accordingly, the New Testament Writers (as
was above observed) do not undertake to enumerate all
EASIER AND HARDER DUTIES. 125
points of Christian duty, and to enjoin and forbid each
kind of right and wrong act ; but exhort men to the cul
tivation of good dispositions and the practice of Virtue,
generally, and to the imitation of their Divine Master ;
giving, however, some particular admonitions on those
points on which the particular persons they happened
to be addressing were the most likely to fail.
And they designed, no doubt, that, in after ages also,
Christian moral teachers should pursue a like plan ; ex
plaining the principles of Morality, and giving also such
particular cautions as might seem best suited for their
own Age and Country, and for the class of hearers they
were instructing.
And a few cautions of this kind will be all that are
necessary in these introductory Lessons. Let the Chris
tian dwell on what the Lord Jesus said and did, and act
with a full sense that Ms eye is upon us, and that He
requires us to love and to imitate Him, and has prom
ised to " come unto such followers, and to make his
abode with them," and has gone " to prepare a place for
them " ; and then the Christian will not seek, or need,
any set of exact and full-written rules for each par
ticular point of conduct.
11*
LESSON XVI.
MISCELLANEOUS CAUTIONS. PART I.
A FEW miscellaneous hints and cautions, as to points
on which mistakes are apt to arise, may be more useful
(for the reasons above given) than an enumeration and
description of what are usually called the several Moral
Virtues.
1. The Matter to which our Conduct relates should
be well understood.
You must remember that you are bound not- merely
to do what appears to you to be right in each case, but
also to take pains to understand the subject relating to
each duty you are called on to perform. It would not
be enough, for instance, for a man holding some public
situation, merely to have a desire to promote his Coun
try s welfare ; he is bound, also, to take all possible care
to learn in what that welfare consists, and what are the
best measures for promoting it. For if, through want
of such care, he does mischief instead of good, it is no
sufficient excuse to say that " he meant well."
Or again,- to take one of the commonest and most
obvious cases, that of charity to the poor, you are
bound not merely to seek to relieve distress, but to in
quire diligently, and consider attentively, in what way
MISCELLANEOUS CAUTIONS. 127
you can do this the most effectually, so as to do the
most good, and the least harm. For there can be no
doubt that careless, indiscriminate almsgiving does far
more harm than good ; since it encourages idleness and
improvidence, and also imposture. If you give freely to
ragged and filthy street-beggars, you are in fact hiring
people to dress themselves in filthy rags, and go about
begging, with fictitious tales of distress. If, on the con
trary, you carefully inquire for, and relieve, honest and
industrious persons who have fallen into distress through
unavoidable misfortune, you are not only doing good to
those objects, but also holding out an encouragement,
generally, to honest industry.
You may, however, meet with persons who say, " As
long as it is my intention to relieve real distress, my
charity is equally virtuous, though the tale told me may
be a false one. The impostor alone is to be blamed
who told it me ; I acted on what he said ; and if that is
untrue, the fault is his, and not mine."
Now this is a fair plea, if any one is deceived after
making careful inquiry; but if he has not taken the
trouble to do this, regarding it as no concern of his, you
might ask him how he would act and judge in a case
where he is thoroughly in earnest, that is, where his
own interest is concerned. Suppose he employed a
Steward, or other Agent, to buy for him a house, or a
horse, or any other article, and this Agent paid an ex
orbitant price for what was really worth little or nothing,
giving just the same kind of excuse for allowing his em
ployer to be thus cheated ; saying, " I made no careful in
quiries, but took the seller s word; and his being a liar and
a cheat is his fault, and not mine " ; the employer would
128 LESSONS ON MORALS.
doubtless reply, " The seller indeed is to be condemned
for cheating ; but so are you, for your carelessness of
my interests. His being greatly in fault does not clear
you ; and your merely intending to do what was right,
is no excuse for your not taking pains to gain right
information."
]Sow on such a principle we ought to act in our chari
ties : regarding ourselves as Stewards of all that Provi
dence has bestowed, and as bound to expend it in the
best way possible, and not shelter our own faulty negli
gence under the misconduct of another
And here it may be remarked, by the way, that you
should never allow any one least of all, yourself
to put forward the very common excuse of " it is such
a one s fault " ; as if only one person could be in fault
in any one transaction. Thus, when you point out to
some ignorant people something erroneous in their re
ligious belief or practice, they will often reply, " Well,
this is what the Church teaches and orders, as the
Priests tell me ; if there is anything wrong in it, they
must bear all the blame, and not I. I say and do just
what they bid me; and they must answer for me."
This is just the sort of excuse that Adam resorted to
for his transgression of the Divine command. He laid
the blame upon " The Woman " ; and the answer he
received was, " Because thou hast hearkened unto the
voice of thy wife," etc.
2, Right Principles not to be reserved for Great
Occasions.
Do not reserve the exercise of virtuous principle for
grand occasions, neglecting small matters of daily occur-
MISCELLANEOUS CAUTIONS. 129
rence ; but remember that there may be great faults in
relation to small things, and an important exercise of
virtue in matters of little importance in themselves.
Do not, for instance, satisfy yourself with generously
forgiving some great injury, while you allow .yourself
to be impatient and irritable under the various petty
provocations that are perpetually occurring. And be
not content with making some grand sacrifice of your
own interest or enjoyment to a sense of duty, yet giv
ing way to unjust selfishness, and disregard of the rights
and the feelings of others, in every-day matters. For
you should remember, that it is for the sake of our own
moral discipline and improvement that virtuous conduct
is required of us, not for the intrinsic value of any good
works of ours; and that it is by frequent practice,
rather than by some great and rare efforts, that a habit
is acquired.
3. Self-love and Selfishness.
The mention of Selfishness leads me to remind you
not to confound that with Self-love, which is quite a
different thing. Self-love is (as was formerly remarked)
a rational, deliberate desire for our own welfare, and for
anything we consider likely to promote it.* It exists
in various degrees in different persons ; but it is im
possible to conceive a rational Being completely desti
tute of it. No one can be completely indifferent about
* Sometimes the word self-love is used to signify self-partiality,
a tendency to overrate the excellence or the importance of our
own performances. But properly, and according to the usage of
those who are the most accurate in their language, it signifies " the
desire for our own welfare, as such."
130 LESSONS ON MORALS.
his own happiness, who is but capable of forming an
idea of happiness.
And Self-love, you should observe, is quite distinct
from all our other desires and propensities, though it
may often tend in the same direction with some of
them. One person, for instance, may drink some water
because he is thirsty ; and another may, without thirst,
drink suppose from a mineral spring because he
believes it will be good for his health. This latter is
impelled by self-love ; but not the other.
So, again, one person may pursue some course of
study, in order to qualify himself for some profession
by which he may advance in life, and another, from
having a taste for that study, and a desire for that
branch of knowledge. This latter, though he may per
haps be, in fact, promoting his own welfare, is not
acting from self-love. For as the object of thirst is
not happiness, but drink, so the object of curiosity is
not happiness, but knowledge. And so of the rest.
Self-love may, of course, like any of our other tenden
cies, be excessive, or improperly indulged, or ill-directed ;
but it is nothing evil in itself. And for one person who
goes wrong through excess of self-love, there are ten
who do so for the sake of gratifying some appetite or
passion. A drunkard, for instance, or a gambler, or a
quarrelsome man, etc., do not lead the life they do from
calculating that this will conduce to their happiness;
but the one from his craving for strong drink, another
from covetousness, and another from pride and malice.
Selfishness, on the other hand, (which is a thing bad
in itself,) consists not in the indulging of this or that
particular propensity, but in disregarding, for the sake
MISCELLANEOUS CAUTIONS. 131
of any kind of personal gratification or advantage, the
rights or the feelings of other men. It is therefore a
negative quality ; that is, it consists in not considering
what is due to one s neighbors, through a deficiency of
justice or of benevolence. And selfishness accordingly
will show itself in as many different shapes as there are
different dispositions in men.
You may see these differences even in very young
children. One selfish child, who is greedy, will seek
to keep all the cakes and sweetmeats to himself; an
other, who is idle, will not care what trouble he causes
to others, so he can save his own ; another, who is vain,
will seek to obtain the credit which is due to others ;
one who is covetous, will seek to gain at another s ex
pense, etc. In short, each person, you should remem
ber, " has a self of his own." And, consequently, though
you may be of a character very unlike that of some self
ish person, you may yet be, in your own way, quite
as selfish as he. And it is possible to be selfish in the
highest degree, without being at all too much actuated
by self-love, but unduly neglectful of others, when your
own gratification, of whatever kind, is concerned.
Even the most amiable feelings require to be watched,
with a view to this fault. A liberal and benevolent
man, for instance, may be tempted to wish to keep
entirely to himself some work of beneficence, in which
others may desire, and reasonably desire, to have a
share. And a brave and public-spirited man may be
tempted to wish to be the sole performer of some great
exploit, to the unfair exclusion of others.
The great safeguard against selfishness is to apply
the " Golden Kule," and imagine yourself in another s
place.
132 LESSONS ON MORALS.
4. Retiring from the World.
You must guard against the mistake of imagining
that there is anything virtuous in seeking to escape
temptation by what some call " renouncing the World " ;
that is, withdrawing from active life into a Hermit
age, or a Monastery, or some such retreat. Those
who thus fly from the World s dangers, generally fly
from many of its duties also. And, after all, though
they may thus escape some kinds of temptation, they
will meet with others of some different kind instead.
And we cannot have the same ground of hope for
Divine support against temptations that are of our own
creating, and which we have gone out of our way to
encounter, as against those occurring in the ordinary
course of life marked out for us by Providence.
Again, the prospect of being engaged in some great
and important good work, must not be allowed to draw
you off from definite duties that are especially appointed
for you. A good soldier will not quit without orders
the post where he has been stationed, to go and perform
some exploit against the enemy elsewhere.
A man would be to blame, for instance, who should
leave his children to the mercy of chance, while he went
about attending public Meetings for some good object, or
travelled as a Missionary in foreign lands.
As for our Lord s immediate followers, when some of
them left homes and parents to act as his attendants, or
his messengers, this was at the command of Him who
knew perfectly all the particulars of each case, and
who had an undoubted right to their services. But no
one is justified in giving up his own definite duties on
his own fallible judgment.
MISCELLANEOUS CAUTIONS. 133
5. Occasions for doing Good to be looked out for.
On the other hand, be not satisfied with being able to
say to yourself, " I am doing no harm" if there is any
good left undone which you could do without desert
ing your own proper duties. Suppose it is something
that is not more your particular business than that of
several other persons ; instead of saying, " Why does
not one of them undertake this good work ? " you should
say, " If it be a thing right to be done, it must be right
that somebody should do it ; is there any reason why I
should not be that somebody ? "
A man who is eager for gain is continually on the
look-out for some profitable employment of the time
or the capital he may have to spare, even though it
may not exactly be in his own line of business. He
will never willingly let his money or his hands remain
idle. And if there be some scheme of profit which
several other persons might engage in as well as he,
this will only make him the more anxious that none
of them should outstrip him in industrious enterprise.
Now this conduct of " the children of this World " who
are " wise in their generation," should serve as an ex
ample to " the children of light."
12
LESSON XVII.
MISCELLANEOUS CAUTIONS. PART II.
r
1. Veracity and Fidelity.
ALL would agree that it is a duty to tell truth, and
to keep promises ; but there are several mistakes afloat
respecting this branch of duty.
Remember, then, that we must look to the sense which
the words spoken on any occasion may be expected to
convey, and not to any other which they might gram
matically bear. Hence, if you say something that is in
the literal sense true, but which you know, or believe,
will be otherwise understood, you are just as much
morally guilty of falsehood as if the expression itself
had been altogether false.
If, for instance, in some Mahometan country, you
were to describe yourself as " a true believer" without
giving any explanation of your meaning, this would be
a deception ; because it is well known that those words
are (there) understood to mean a Mahometan. And
it would be the same kind of deceit if you were to call
yourself " a Catholic," when speaking to those who, you
knew, would understand by that (however improperly)
, a member of " the Church of Rome."
So also, when our Lord said, " My kingdom is not
MISCELLANEOUS CAUTIONS. 135
of this world," the expression might, indeed, be inter- I
preted to mean " it is not so now ; but I intend that it
shall be such, hereafter." But if this had been his
meaning, and He had designed that, as soon as ever his
disciples should become powerful enough, they should
rise in arms, and put down all idolatrous princes, and
enforce the profession of Christianity, or at least secure
to themselves a monopoly of all civil power, and civil
rights, in that case, He would have been guilty of a
deception no less than if his declaration had been lit- ,
erally false. For He was vindicating himself before
Pilate from the charge of " speaking against Caesar " ;
and therefore must have known that He could not have
been understood in the above sense ; since that would
have been to admit the charge.
And the same may be said of all the declarations of
the Apostles, about " submitting to every ordinance of
Man," etc. If they were honest men, they must have
really meant what they could not but be certain they
were understood at the time to mean ; namely, a renun
ciation of all design, of themselves and their followers,
to subvert by force any political institutions, or to en
force the profession of their own religion ; or to monop
olize for Christians civil rights.
2. What constitutes Moral Truth and Falsehood.
On the other hand, there is no moral falsehood in
saying what is literally untrue, when we know that it
will not be literally understood. Thus, Fables [or
Parables] and, in short, all avowedly fictitious tales,
are no violation of veracity. And when any one signs
himself " your obedient servant," every one knows that f
136 LESSONS ON MORALS.
this is merely the customary expression of civil cour
tesy.*
Again, when, in war, a General seeks to mislead the
enemy as to the numbers or the position of his troops,
or when a ship of war is disguised as a merchantman,
to entice a Pirate or a Slaver within reach, or when
a Policeman dresses in plain clothes, or some other
disguise, in order to detect thieves, in such cases
there is no fraud, because the parties are aware that
every kind of artifice will be resorted to against them ;
and no confidence is violated where none is placed.
But when a Flag of Truce is displayed, or Signals of
Distress hoisted, any deception is unjustifiable ; because,
according to the custom of all nations, these are under
stood as demands of confidence, and promises of good
faith.
Every assertion, then, or promise, or declaration of
whatever kind, is to be interpreted on the principle that
the right meaning of any expression is that which may
be fairly presumed to be understood by it. This may
chance to be different from what the other party ac-
tually did understand ; for you are not bound to be an-
^* It is necessary, in each country, to be acquainted with the cus
tomary forms of expression of this kind ; else you may be greatly per
plexed yourself, and may perplex others. In Spain, for instance,
the common form of civility to an acquaintance is to ask him to din-
ner, which he is expected civilly to decline ; to accept such an in
vitation the first or the second time, would astonish and perplex a
Spaniard as much as it would us if any one should understand liter
ally the phrase " your obedient, humble servant," and should there
upon desire you to black his shoes. If a Spaniard really means to
invite you to dinner, he repeats the invitation a third time, and then
he is understood to mean it literally.
MISCELLANEOUS CAUTIONS. 137
swerable for his mistakes. And again, it may be dif- >
ferent from what you yourself inwardly meant, if you
were designing to mislead the other by an equivocation,
or if you expressed yourself carelessly and inaccurately.
But in whatever sense it might reasonably be expected
that a declaration of any kind will be understood, this
is to be regarded as the true sense, and that to which
you are bound.
3. Implied Promises.
And it is plain that the same rule applies to acts as
well as to words. If, for instance, you asked any one
the way to some place, and he pointed with his hand in
a wrong direction, he would be acting a lie. And if any
one should take some child into his family, and bring
him up as a son of his own, he would be bound to pro
vide for him. If he left him without any provision, he
would be guilty of a breach of promise, though he might
never have actually said anything on the subject. For
the very reason why any promise is binding, is because
he who knowingly excites expectations is bound to fulfil
them.
So, also, if you should induce some laborers to come
and settle on your land, and work for you, conforming
to certain rules, with full permission to them to go to
their own church or chapel on Sundays, then if you
should afterwards withdraw this permission, and estab
lish a new rule on the subject, you would be a deceiver,
even though you had never said that the original rule
was not to be changed, because you must have known
what were the expectations you had raised, and which
had induced them to accept your proposal.
12*
138 LESSONS ON MORALS.
Again, if some College, or School, or other such In
stitution, were established with a declaration that it was
to be open to all, of whatever religious persuasion, and
that none were to be excluded or expelled from it on
account of their religion, this would of course be under
stood to mean that the pupils should not be obliged to
learn or to practise anything against their religious con
viction, however erroneous that conviction might be.
For else some might be virtually excluded who might
fairly claim, according to the original declaration, to be
admitted.
Or again, if persons are invited to bestow their money
and time and labor in establishing some Hospital or
Dispensary, or some School, College, Public Library,
etc., and are promised aid from a public fund on condi
tion of keeping to a certain system, they have a fair
claim to that aid as long as they conform to the system.
If certain rules have been laid down as to the medicines
to be administered, the books to be employed, or the
plan to be followed, and then material alterations in
these rules, etc. are afterwards introduced, and quite
different ones enforced, this might be justly complained
of as a fraud. Though no express promise had been
made that the system should not be changed, both par
ties must have been fully aware that the invitation
which was given, and accepted, would have been no in
vitation at all, but for the expectation that the system
originally set forth was to remain the same.
Sometimes it is an understood condition of some
promise that the fulfilment shall be possible, and that
the promiser is only bound to do his very utmost ; in
which case he is not to be blamed for an unavoidable
MISCELLANEOUS CAUTIONS. 139
failure. But it is best that, whenever this is designed, >
the condition of " if possible " should be distinctly ex
pressed, so as to make sure that both parties shall be
fully aware of it. For whatever you promise uncon
ditionally and absolutely, you are absolutely bound to
make good ; and you should not have made such an
engagement, unless you were not only designing to use
your best endeavors, but also absolutely certain of suc
cess ; because it was you that induced the other party
to rely upon it absolutely.*^
^* Dr. Paley lays it clown as " evident " that a promise is not bind
ing where performance is impossible ; except only when the impossi
bility was known beforehand to the promisor. As, for instance, if
you promise to procure a man a certain situation, knowing privately
that it is already disposed of. And it is very common to hear people
say, " Such a one is not to be blamed for not having made good what
he promised, because he did his best, and it was found to be impossi
ble." And yet every one knows that this rule does not hold good. For
instance, if a merchant or manufacturer contracts to deliver such and
such goods by a certain day, and fails, he is always held bound to
make good the damage to the other party ; though the failure may
have been caused by the wreck of a ship, or by a strike among his
workmen. He is never allowed to plead that it was out of his power
to fulfil the contract, unless a condition to that effect was expressly
inserted in it. The other party may choose to forego his claim, out of
kindness and compassion, if he thinks the case one of peculiar hard
ship But that he has the claim to compensation, just the same as if
the failure had been wilful, no one doubts.
For he who makes an engagement unconditionally, is uncondition
ally bound to fulfil it.
If, therefore, a Minister of State, for instance, induces persons to
vote for a certain measure, by the assurance that it will lead to such
and such good results, he ought not to be allowed afterward to plead,
that, on trial, he found it impossible to accomplish that object. Hav
ing led them to place full confidence in him, he must bear the whole
blame of their disappointment,
140 LESSONS ON MORALS.
4. Oases in which a Promise is not binding.
In any kind of assertion, then, or profession or prom
ise, we are to look to what is reasonably to be under
stood ; which may be something not distinctly stated in
words. You are bound to nothing less than this, and to
nothing more. For instance, if a man comes to you
with a tale of distress, and you promise to relieve him ;
if you afterwards discover that he is an impostor, you
are not bound by the promise : not merely because, if
you had known this before, you would not have made
the promise, for this is not enough ; but because he
himself must have understood your promise of relief to
jwoceed on the supposition of his tale being true.
According to this rule, therefore, the Israelites,
though they thought fit to spare the Gibeonites, were
not bound to do so by their promise ; because that was
made, as the Gibeonites themselves well knew, on the
supposition that they were a People of "a very far
Country."*
* Afterwards, indeed, the Israelites ratified the promise they had
been thus tricked into, and thus, in fact, entered into &fresli engage
ment with the Gibeonites, with a full knowledge of the circumstan
ces. This new engagement, therefore, was binding. And it was for
n, violation of this engagement that Saul incurred guilt in slaying the
Gibeonites.
Sometimes the unwary are tricked into a promise of secrecy by an
art which they ought to be well on their guard against ; since they may
thus be brought into situations of much difficulty. A person gives
you an account of some secret transaction or design, and then says,
" Of course you will not mention this to any one." If you are in
experienced and incautious, you will be likely to answer hastily, "
certainly not" ; and then you arc pledged to secrecy ; and thus, per
haps, made a party to some dishonorable transaction, or at least in-
MISCELLANEOUS CAUTIONS. 141
In no case, in short, can any one be reproached with
breach of a promise, who has been tricked into mak
ing it by a false representation of the matter it relates to.
If, for instance, you were to be shown a pretended letter,
or will, of your father, and were induced, by a regard
for his supposed wishes, to make some promise, you
would of course be freed from it as soon as you detected
the forgery. So also if you had been induced to promise
your assistance in arresting, and delivering over to death,
a supposed heretic, or if you had been persuaded to
make a vow of celibacy, or of implied obedience to the
Superior of some Convent, from having been taught to
believe that such is the will of God, then, if you were
afterwards fully convinced that this is contrary to the
truth, you would not be bound by any such engagement
or vow.
As for such a case as that of King Herod, who had
promised the daughter of Herodias to " give her what
soever she should ask," a wise and upright counsellor
would have advised him to answer her, " You under
stood or ought to have understood that the promise
was, of anything rightfully mine to give, and did not
extend to- the commission of a crime."
volved in much perplexity. You ought to answer, " I shall act ac
cording to my own discretion ; I shall conceal the matter, or divulge
it, as I may see fit. If you had meant to secure my silence, you should
have asked me for the promise before you made the communication ;
and I should probably have declined to pledge myself, in which case
you might have told me nothing ; but I will not have a confidence
forced upon me without my own consent. As it is, you have thought
fit to make this communication at your own risk, without previously
exacting any promise. I have made none ; and I decline to make
any."
142 LESSONS ON MORALS.
As for the oath in this, or indeed in any case, that, it
is plain, has nothing to do with the question as to the
fair interpretation of what is said. It only marks the
promise or the assertion as a deliberate and solemn one.
And a truly upright and pious man will consider him
self to be always on his oath when he is speaking delib
erately and solemnly. For such expressions as " calling
God to witness," etc., can only mean, reminding yourself
that He is a witness, and a judge, of all that you say or
do : since it would be absurd to imagine that our acts
are not known to Him unless we invite Him to notice
them ; or that He needs our permission to punish a
wrong-doer.* But in all cases, a promise can be no ex
cuse for doing anything that is in itself wrong ; because
you were already bound to the contrary. If, therefore,
you have been drawn in to promise something unjustifi
able, there was one sin in making the promise, and there
would be another sin in keeping it.
5. Falsehoods of Suppression.
It follows from what has been above said, that there
may be lies of omission. For if, when it is understood
that you are giving a fair and full statement of any mat
ter, you suppress some important circumstance, you are
* With respect to the " Coronation Oath," and the rest of what we
call " oaths of office," it has been explained in the " Lessons on the
British Constitution," that they bind no one to anything which he
was not already bound to by the very act of accepting the office.
Perhaps, therefore, it would be better if this were made more clearly
understood, by omitting altogether all promissory oaths and declara
tions of this kind, and, instead of these, explaining to each person
what are the duties of the office he is undertaking, and solemnly
warning him that he is morally bound to fulfil those duties.
MISCELLANEOUS CAUTIONS. 143
guilty of a deception, though all you do say may be quite
true. Accordingly, witnesses in a Court of Justice
swear to tell "the truth and the whole truth." For
half the truth may amount to a falsehood.
If, for instance, an ignorant rustic is told that the Sun
stands still, but is not informed, or cannot be made to
understand, that the Earth turns round, he will be
more at a loss than ever to understand the changes of
day and night.
Again, an inscription, we learn, has been discovered
at Nineveh, recording King Sennacherib s invasion of
Judoea ; stating that, after having taken several cities, he
returned home. All which is true ; but no mention is
made of his having lost nearly two hundred thousand
men before Jerusalem, which compelled him to make a
hasty retreat. This, therefore, is a false record, accord
ing to the principle above laid down, that everything is
to be understood as meaning what is fairly to be under
stood from it. For a professed narrative of any trans
action is understood to give us all the essential parts of it.
So also, if one person sets forth all the moral precepts
of the Gospel, and keeps back all mention of redemption
by the sacrifice of our Saviour, and another preaches to
his People justification through faith, and omits all notice
of good works, each of these, though saying nothing that
is not true, or that is not Scriptural truth, is falsifying
the Gospel. t
6. Connivance at Deceit.
It is to be observed also, that whoever connives at or
takes advantage of a falsehood, makes himself a part
ner in the guilt of it. Suppose, for instance, you were a
144 LESSONS ON MORALS.
candidate, or a supporter of a candidate, for a seat in
Parliament, or some other office, and that you found a
report had been spread that the rival candidate had
been guilty which you knew he was not of some
atrocious crime ; if you allowed this report to remain
uncontradicted, so that men would vote against him
from having been thus misled, you would be a partaker
in the guilt of this falsehood, though you had not your
self invented it. Indeed, such conduct corresponds
closely with the receiving of stolen goods ; which is de
scribed by the Psalmist, saying, " When thou sawest a
thief, thou consentedst unto him." For the like rule
applies to both cases. He who says, " It was not I that
invented and circulated this calumny," might equally
well say, " It was not I that stole these goods ; but they
were offered me for sale, and I bought them."
One way in which some who are far from being quite
indifferent about duty are apt to fail in that most im
portant and difficult virtue, strict Justice, is, by mistak
ing the question to be decided, and fancying themselves
right because they have judged rightly on some point
that was not really the one in question. What we mean
may be illustrated by the well-known story of Cyrus
and the two coats. The famous King Cyrus was, as the
tale goes, when a boy, punished by his master for giv
ing an unjust decision. One of his schoolfellows, who
was tall and stout, had a coat that was too small for
him; and proposed to a smaller boy, whose coat was
much too big for him, to make an exchange. But the
other refused ; whereupon the bigger boy took away
the coat by force, and left his own in exchange ; and
Cyrus, on being appealed to, decided in favor of the ex-
MISCELLANEOUS CAUTIONS. 145
change. He had judged rightly which coat best fitted
each boy ; but this was not the real question ; which
was, whether it was right to take away another s prop
erty without his consent.
So, in the case above alluded to, you may perhaps
have judged rightly that the candidate against whom a
false charge had been circulated was not the fittest per
son to be elected : but this does not justify you in suf
fering him to be injured by a false charge.
So also, if you compel -a man to vote at an election
for the candidate you think the best, or to spend his
money in what appears to you the wisest manner, or to
bring up his children in what you judge to be the truest
religion, you are guilty of a wrong, even though your
judgment on all these points should be right ; because
the real question is, not whether your opinions or his
are the better, but whether he should be left to follow
his own judgment and conscience, or be forced to follow
yours.
So also, supposing you judged rightly in thinking
that some falsehood which you propagate, or connive at,
will lead to a good consequence, and that people may
in such a case be deceived to their own advantage, still
that is not the real question before you, but whether
you have any right to deceive them at all. But by
mistaking the real point to be decided on, men often
justify to themselves the use of fraud (as well as of un
just force) for attaining what they consider a good end.
7. Pious Frauds.
There is accordingly no case in which men are oft-
ener tempted to connive at falsehood, than where Relig-
13
146 LESSONS ON MORALS.
ion and Virtue seem to be concerned. Some there are,
indeed, who are directly guilty of what are called " pious
frauds " ; such as circulating false stories of miracles,
pretensions to inspiration, etc. The supposed goodness
of the end blinds them to the sinfulness of the means ;
and they " do evil that good may come." But a truly
pious as well as honest man will regard a " pious fraud "
as the worst of all frauds, because, besides the sin of
lying, it has also that of presumptuous profaneness. To
suppose that the God of Tritfh can be served by false
hood, and can approve of it, is to attribute to Him the
character of the Evil One, who is called in Scripture
" the father of lies." What is called a pious fraud,
therefore, is really an impious fraud.
Some, however, who would scruple distinctly to assert
what they know to be untrue, will think it allowable and
right to avoid undeceiving those who are under some
(supposed) salutary delusion, for fear of what is called
" unsettling their minds." * For instance, there are
a good many readers of the Bible who are ignorant that
the divisions into Chapters and Verses were not made
* It is a most important point of prudence, not to give unnecessary
offence to any one, by expressing your opinions in a paradoxical and
revolting form, or with an air of arrogant disdain; nor to agitate
men s minds, for no object, by dragging in discussions of doubtful
questions that have no necessary connection with the matter im
mediately in hand. Thus, if you were giving religious instruction,
to some pei-sons who thought very differently from you on some points
of politics, or medicine, or natural philosophy, not essential to the
subject you were engaged on, it would be very unwise to go out of
your way to alarm or disgust them, or agitate their minds with
doubts by introducing, unnecessarily, disquisitions on those points.
It is under the disguise of this kind of prudence that the disingenuous
procedure we are speaking of has usually crept in.
MISCELLANEOUS CAUTIONS. 147
by the Writers, but were introduced, long afterwards,
for the sake of reference. Now there are some persons
(of the character just described) who would indeed
scruple to tell people that the Sacred "Writers made
those divisions, but wish that the ignorant should be left
in that mistake ; and would even take care to sup
press any correction of it, for fear of " unsettling their
minds."
This particular mistake, many would regard as of
very small importance ; though it is of much more than
they suppose ; since it causes many readers to misunder
stand, or imperfectly understand, several parts of Scrip
ture which would otherwise be quite clear.* But if you
* It should be remembered that the division into chapters and
verses is not the work of the Sacred Writers themselves. They did
not divide their writings into chapters and verses at all. Those di
visions were made many hundred years afterwards, for the conven
ience of reference ; because, as the pages of different Bibles do not
correspond, we could not have found any passage we might want
by looking to such and such a page, as we do in other books. But
the chapters and verses have not always a reference (as some seem
to suppose) to the sense of the Sacred Writers: on the contrary, they
often interrupt and obscure the sense. In many parts of Scripture,
for instance, a chapter will end, and a new one begin, just in the mid
dle of a discourse. As, for instance,
At the end of the 19th and beginning of 20th Matt.
" " 24th " " 25th "
" " 2d " " 3d John.
18th " 19th Acts.
" " 7th " " 8th Rom.
" " 10th " " llth 1 Cor.
" " 12th " " 13th "
" " 3d " " 4thColoss.
Note top. 10, Dublin edition, of a Tract on Self-Examina
tion, for the Use of Persons who have been confirmed.
And hence a person who reads the two chapters separately, at per-
148 LESSONS :>N MORALS.
once bring yourself to disregard truth in matters that
seem to you of no great importance, you will gradually
slide further and further into disingenuousness and
double-dealing.*
8. Consequences of Deception.
And, moreover, any deception you may have propa
gated or connived at will be likely to lead to far greater
evil effects than in what regards the particular point
that is immediately concerned. For when it is detect
ed as deceptions generally are, sooner or later
men s confidence is shaken as to everything that comes
from the same quarter. " This man," they will say,
" has led us, or left us, to believe something that he
knew to be false ; how can we trust him when he tells
us that our Bible is faithfully translated from the Origi
nal ? or indeed that there ever was any Original ?
How can we be sure that he is not deceiving us through
out ? " And thus it often happens, according to the
Proverbs, that " a liar is not believed even when he
haps several days interval, will be very likely to understand but lit
tle of either; or perhaps even to make some dangerous mistake as to
the Sacred Writer s meaning. Some of the plainest passages in
Scripture have, I believe, been commonly misunderstood, merely
through the mistaken attention paid to the division into chapters and
* Accordingly, we have seen, of late years, persons venerated as
" holy men " who have not only practised, but openly advocated, the
system of what they call " reserve " or " economy " ; that is, teach
ing something different from what they inwardly believe; and who
have even acknowledged without shame that the strong censures ut
tered by them on some person or Church were what they did not
themselves believe at the time to be just! See No. XIII. of Cautions
for the Times.
MISCELLANEOUS CAUTIONS. 149
tells truth," and that " Frost and Fraud both end in
foul."
Accordingly, pious frauds have (as Dr. Paley re
marks) done more damage to Christianity than all other
causes put together.
But to perceive the expediency, in the long run, of
keeping scrupulously to truth, is a thing not given to
those who do not venerate truth in itself, and adhere to
it on moral grounds. The maxim that " honesty is the
best policy," is one that you will find no one habitually
acting on ; for a truly honest man is always before it,
and a knave is generally behind it. Those, that is, who
merely look out for what is " the best policy," generally
fail to find out, till too late, that honesty is really the
best policy. And a really honest man, who does what
is right, not on grounds of policy, but on moral prin
ciple, will usually be rewarded by finding that his
course turns out to have been really the most politic.
13
LESSON XVIII.
MISCELLANEOUS CAUTIONS. PART III.
1. Coveting.
THE sin of coveting, in the sense in which it is for
bidden in the Tenth Commandment, is one concerning
which some people fall into mistakes.
There is no sin in your wishing for a house, or a
horse, or any other article, belonging to your neighbor,
if you are willing to pay him a fair price for it ; else
indeed all buying and selling would be a sin. As it is,
each party obtains an advantage, when there is fair deal
ing For he who buys a horse shows that he prefers
the horse to the money ; and he who sells it, that he pre
fers the money to the horse.
But the sin of coveting consists in desiring to obtain
another s property ivitkout an equivalent , in short,
to gain by his loss.* And this is what is done in gam-
* A man may indeed have such nn excessive and absurd fancy for
some article belonging to another, as to be willing to pay even more
for it than it is really worth, or more than lie can properly afford.
This would be a piece of extravagance and folly; but no breach of
the Tenth Commandment, if he did not wish to obtain it without an
equivalent.
Again, a man may be said, in a certain sense, to gain by another s
loss, if he sets up a shop in some place where there had before been
MISCELLANEOUS CAUTIONS. 151
ing ; including under that name all kinds of betting.
Of course, any one who robs or (which comes to the
same thing) cheats his neighbor, is also guilty of covet
ing : but then he is guilty of stealing too. He breaks
both the Tenth Commandment and the Eighth. But
in the case of gaming, where there is fair play, it is only
the Tenth Commandment that is broken.
You may meet with treatises and tales directed
against gaming, in which the writers speak all along
not of fair play, but of cheating. And hence there is a
danger of their leading the reader to think that where
there is no cheating there is nothing wrong. Again,
some of these writers draw lively pictures of the ruinous
losses men have suffered in gaming ; and this may mis
lead people into thinking that, as long as they proceed
prudently, and do not stake more than they could afford
to lose, they are doing nothing wrong. Sometimes again
the waste of time is dwelt on ; and hence the reader
may be led to infer that he is merely required to game
in moderation.
But all these admonitions and cautions have nothing
to do with Gaming in particular, and as a thing evil in
itself. For in buying and selling, and other such trans
actions, there may be cheating, or fair dealing. And
there may be prudent or, imprudent speculations in
Mining, or Farming, and various other concerns. There
may also be excess or moderation in every kind of
but one, and draws off a portion of the custom from him who had
been enjoying a kind of monopoly. But there is evidently no sinful
coveting in this; since what he desires to gain, and does gain, is the
money of his customers in return for the goods they buy of him ;
not anything that was the property of the other shopkeeper.
152 LESSONS ON MORALS.
recreation ; as in Music, or in Field-sports, or the cul
tivation of a flower-garden, etc. All those admonitions,
therefore, which are usually given, have no peculiar
relation to Gaming. But what does especially belong
to it is, that it is a breach of the Tenth Commandment,
though not of the Eighth ; being an attempt to obtain
another s property without an equivalent, to gain by
his loss.*
Gamesters, it is true, do very often fall into the
hands of sharpers, or become sharpers themselves;
and many squander their time, or their fortunes, at the
gaming-table or the race-course. But hardly any one
begins with such a design. They begin by designing to
play fairly, and to associate with none but fair players,
and to game moderately, and prudently. And they have
been taught to think that the only evils of gaming
consist in a departure from these rules. Afterwards
they are led on, step by step, into utter ruin. But they
would not have taken the first step, if they had been
taught from the first that gaming is bad in itself.
There is reason to think, therefore, that those treatises
and tales, etc. above alluded to are likely to do at least
as much harm as good.
Those who attempt to defend Gaming say, "I do
the other no wrong, for I have his consent : he agrees
* It is true the Ten Commandments, as indeed the rest of the
Mosaic Law, were addressed to the Israelites alone, and that Law
has not in itself any binding force on us. (See " Lessons on Religious
Worship.") But all moral precepts of which the Tenth Com
mandment is manifestly one are (as was observed above) binding
on every man from their own nature. Coveting and the same may
be said of theft, murder, etc. is not wrong became it was forbid
den, but was forbidden because it is wrong.
MISCELLANEOUS CAUTIONS. 153
to risk his money for the chance of winning mine ; and
I do the same." Why, if this were not the case, it
would be the same thing as stealing ; and we do not
charge you with a breach of the Eighth Commandment,
but only of the Tenth. But it is plain that you are, each
of you, wishing and seeking to profit by another s loss ;
and if this be not the sin of coveting, what is ?
Of course, if the sum staked on some game or bet
be so utterly insignificant to the players that it makes
no perceptible difference whether they win or lose it,
there is no sinful covetousness in the case. And ac
cordingly, that might not be Gaming to one person
which is so to another. For a few shillings would be,
to a man of fortune, a mere nothing ; though as many
pence would be a serious loss or gain to a poor laborer.
But if your example leads any one to play for a stake
which is to him (though not to you) of some conse
quence, you will have been encouraging him in the sin
of Gaming.*
2. Personal Injuries.
Generous forgiveness of injuries is a point of Chris
tian duty respecting which some people fall into con
fusion of thought. They confound together personal re
sentment and disapprobation of what is morally wrong.
A person who has cheated you, or slandered, or other-
* As for the scruple felt by some persons about games of chance,
because they consider a lot as something sacred, that, it is plain, has
nothing at all to do with the present subject. For people may,
and often do, play at games of chance without any stake at all.
And again, at billiards, which is altogether a game of skill, much
gambling often takes place-
154 LESSONS ON MORALS.
wise wronged you, is neither more nor less a cheat or a
slanderer, than if he had done the same to a stranger.
And in that light he ought to be viewed. Such a person
is one on whom you should not indeed wish to inflict
any suffering beyond what may be necessary to reform
him, and to deter other wrong-doers ; and you should
seek to benefit him in the highest degree by bringing
him to a sense of his sin. But you ought not to choose
such a man as an associate, or to trust him, and in all
respects treat him as if he had done nothing wrong.
You should therefore take care, on the one hand, that
the personal injury you may have suffered does not lead
you to think worse of a man than he deserves, or to
treat him worse ; and, on the other hand, you should
not allow a false generosity to destroy in your mind the
distinctions of right and wrong. Nor, again, should
the desire of gaining credit for great magnanimity, lead
you to pretend to think favorably of wrong conduct,
merely because it is you that have suffered from it.
None but thoughtless or misjudging people will applaud
you for this. The duty of Christian forgiveness does
not require you, nor are you allowed, to look on injus
tice, or any other fault, with indifference, as if it were
nothing wrong at all, merely because it is you that have
been wronged.
And, universally, you should take care not to con
found together tenderness and kindness towards the per
sons who are in error or in fault, and indifference about
the faults themselves. A charitable disposition is chiefly
shown in making due allowances for those whom we
do think in the wrong ; not in persuading ourselves that
they are right, or that it is of little consequence whether
MISCELLANEOUS CAUTIONS. 155
a man thinks and acts rightly or wrongly. Faults and
errors, you should be careful neither to overrate, nor to
underrate ; and the persons who may have fallen into
them, you should be careful not to judge too harshly,
yet without destroying in your own mind the distinc
tions of true and false, or of good and evil.
3. Christian Humility.
There are also mistakes afloat respecting the duty of
Christian Humility. (1.) It is a mistake to suppose that
it is a part of Christian Humility to renounce the use
of your Reason, and give yourself up to be led by your
feelings ; or to follow blindly some human leader.
Of course, it would be a fault to be over-confident
in your own judgment, or to employ your Reason on
matters above human reason, or to refuse to listen at
tentively to those who are able to give you good advice
and instruction. And young people especially ought to
follow the guidance of those older and wiser than them
selves. But they should endeavor also to learn to
understand the instructions they receive ; in order that
as they grow up they may become capable of guiding
themselves, and not remain children all their lives. " Be
not," says the Apostle, " children in understanding :
howbeit, in malice be ye children, but in understanding
be men."
But to resolve to give yourself up, to follow, all your
life, as a safe guide, some person or party who can show
no miraculous proof of infallibility, is to humble your
self, not before God, but before Man.*
* You will observe that the Apostle Paul (1 Cor. chap, iii.) calls
156 LESSONS ON MORALS.
And there is no Christian humbling of yourself
though debasement there is in resigning yourself to
your feelings, and following what some call " the dic
tates of the Heart," instead of what Reason shows to be
true and right ; because your Feelings are as much a
part of your self as your Reason is ; so that this is only
humbling one portion of yourself before another por
tion.
The disciples, you should remember, were led by
the sober decision of a sound understanding to say,
" No man can do these miracles except God be with
him " ; and thence to trust and believe Jesus implicit
ly ; but Peter was led by his " Heart " that is, his
inclinations and prejudices to say, " Be it far from
Thee, Lord! there shall no such thing happen unto
Thee."
4. Confessions of the Depravity of Man.
(2.) There is no personal humility in confessing
generally the weakness and ignorance and sinfulness
of the whole human race. It is indeed quite right
that we should be duly sensible of that weakness. And
you should not listen to any one who attempts to ex
plain the nature of the Most High as He is in Himself,
the Corinthians " carnal and walking as men," when they formed
themselves into parties. And he is far from confining what he says
to some few superior persons, leaving ordinary Christians to contimie
"carnal": but censures partisanships altogether. And as he con
demns those who said, " I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, and I of
Cephas," etc. ; so he would, no doubt, if he had lived in later days,
have censured those who say, " I am of Whitfield, or I of Wesley,
or I am a Calvmist, or I an Arminian," etc.
MISCELLANEOUS CAUTIONS. 157
and why, and how, the sufferings of Christ were neces
sary for Man s salvation, and why evil exists in the
universe, and other mysterious points which are be
yond human Reason, and which Scripture does not
reveal.
And equally to blame are both those who profess to
explain, where God has not given us revelation, the rea
sons of his dealings with Man, and those again who in
sist on it that in such and such a case He had no reason
at all, but acted as He did " to declare his sovereignty,"
and " for his own glory " ; as if He could literally de
sire glory ! When the Most High has merely revealed
to us his Will, we have no right to pronounce that He
had no reasons for it except his will,* because he has
not made them known to us. Even an earthly king,
who is not responsible to any of his subjects for the rea
sons of his commands, may think fit sometimes to issue
commands without explaining his reasons : and it would
be very rash for any one to conclude that he had no rea
son at all, but acted from mere caprice.
So also, a dutiful child will often have to say, " I do
* " Many," says Calvin (Inst. 53, c. 23, 7), " as if wishing to re
move odium from God, while they admit election, yet deny reproba
tion; but in this they speak ignorantly and childishly; since election
itself could not be maintained except as contrasted with reprobation.
God is said to set apart those whom He adopts, as children for sal
vation. Those therefore whom He passes by, He condemns ; and that
for no cause whatever except that He chooses to exclude them from the
inheritance which He predestinates for his children." And again,
shortly after, he says, " Whence comes it that so many nations, with
their infant children, should be sentenced irremediably to eternal
death, by the fall of Adam, except that such was God s wilt?
The Decree is, I confess, a horrible one," etc-
14
158 LESSONS ON MORALS.
so and so because my parents have commanded me ; that
is reason enough for me." But though this is to the
child a very good reason for obeying the command, it
would be a very bad reason with the parents for giving
that command. And he would show his filial veneration
and trust, not by taking for granted that his parents had
no reason for their commands, but, on the contrary, by
taking for granted that there was a good reason both
for acting as they did, and for not giving him any ex
planation.
It is therefore no pious humility, but, on the contrary,
great presumption, for Man to pronounce where
Scripture does not tell us either what were the rea
sons of God s dealings with us, or that He had none at
all. One who pretends to be so much wiser, or better
informed, than the Apostles and Prophets, as to tell us
what they knew not, or at least were not commissioned
to make known, must greatly overrate the faculties of
Man.
But though it is most important to think rightly and
humbly of the Human Race generally, no one will feel
ashamed and personally humbled at the thought that he
is no wiser or better than the very wisest and best of
mankind ; nor will this, therefore, incite him to seek im
provement. A child is not ashamed of not having the
full structure and intellect of a man, but only if he fails
in something that might fairly be expected of a child.
And moreover, it is possible for you to think very lowly
of the wisdom or the virtue of the human species, and
yet to overrate -yourself as compared with other men.
You may thus fancy yourself very eminent in the vir
tue of Christian Humility, while, in truth, you are puffed
MISCELLANEOUS CAUTIONS. 159
up with spiritual pride ; trusting that you are exempt
from this, because you do not think highly of Human Na
ture generally, and because you acknowledge with grati
tude that whatever there is of good in you is a gift of
God ; even as the Pharisee in the parable was thankful
for not being " as this Publican."
It may seem strange that there should be any need
but a need there certainly is to admonish you that
there is no humility in confessing the sins of other peo
ple. If, for instance, you believe that some act of our
rulers, in which you had no hand, is very wrong, and
amounts to a national sin, it is possible you may be right
in thinking so, but you cannot be personally humbled by
this thought. You are right in believing that our first
Parents committed a grievous sin ; but it would be ab
surd to imagine that you ought to be or that you can
be penitent for the sin of Adam. All real penitence
must be for the faults you are conscious of in yourself;
and personal humility consists, not in forming a low es
timate of some other persons, or of the whole human
Race, but in not thinking too highly of yourself indi
vidually.
5. Just Estimate of One s Self.
(3.) On the other hand, it is a mistake to think that
any one who does happen to be superior to the general
ity, intellectually or morally, is bound, as a point of
modesty, to be ignorant of this, or to pretend to be so,
and to think, or profess to think, himself inferior to
what he really is. For, on the one hand, it cannot be
a part, of Duty to be under any kind of mistake ; and,
ICO LESSONS ON MORALS.
on the other hand, there cannot be any virtue in feign
ing or affectation of any kind.*
But if your belief is, that you do possess some supe
rior endowments as to any point, take care as far as
regards yourself to be thankful to the Giver of all
such advantages, and to remember that, for every talent
intrusted to you, you are accountable to Him. And, as
far as regards others, take care to avoid ostentation and
disdainful assumption of superiority. For this is offen
sive, even in such matters of fact as admit of no possi
ble mistake or doubt. A person, for instance, who
should have gained some great prize in a competition,
or discovered a new Planet, or invented a new Tele
graph, or performed some other notable exploit, must
not boast, nor be always reminding people of what he
has done.
And, on the other hand, even if he should be mistaken
in his opinion of his own abilities, and think them great
er than they are, a mere error of judgment will not be
imputed to him as a sin, provided he keep clear of pride ;
* Properly speaking, self-conceit and modesty have reference to a
man s estimate of himself as compared with the reality. A conceited
man overrates himself; and a modest man does not. But many peo
ple do not at all take this into account. They are apt to reckon a
man conceited who has a high opinion (whether rightly or wrongly)
of his own powers; and him modest who forms a low one. And yet
it may so happen that this latter may be in reality overrating him
self in thinking himself not below the average, or only a little below,
and the other may possibly be even underrating himself in thinking
himself only a little above it.
If you could imagine a mouse imagining itself just equal to such a
small animal as a rabbit, and an elephant believing itself only equal
to such a large animal as au ox, they would be making opposite mis
takes.
MISCELLANEOUS CAUTIONS. 161
nor will he be offensive to others, if he is but free from
disdainful arrogance, and from ostentation.
6. General Confessions, and Confession without
Amendment.
(4.) Again, there is no humility in a mere general
confession that you are a " miserable sinner," if in
each particular case you always stoutly justify yourself,
and can never be brought to own a fault.
(5.) Lastly, there is no humility in confessing any
faults which you do not strive to correct. It would
indeed be a shocking presumption to think that you
need not aim at improvement, but are quite good
enough, being without faults ; but it is still greater pre
sumption to think that you are good enough with all
your faults. " If we say that we have no sin, we de
ceive ourselves " ; but if we say that we have sins,
and yet do not earnestly seek God s promised help rt to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness," this would be even
a more fatal self-deception.
Remember then that the virtue of Christian Humility
is not to be considered as some bitter potion, which you
can swallow in a large dose, once for all, and so have
done with it ; but rather as a kind of alterative medicine,
to be taken daily, and drop by drop.
You must study, daily, to be open to conviction,
patient of opposition, ready to listen to reproof, even
when you are not convinced that it is deserved, ready,
when you are convinced, to confess an error, and glad
to receive hints, and suggestions, and corrections, even
from your inferiors in ability, and never overbearing
14*
162 LESSONS ON MORALS.
or uncharitable towards those who differ from you, or
ostentatious of superiority.
All this will be a more laborious and difficult task
than to make fine speeches about your ignorance, and
weakness, and sinfulness ; but it is thus that true Hu
mility is shown, and is exercised and cultivated.
7. Moral Judgments of the Vulgar.
You must remember, not only that we are not to act
for the sake of human approbation, but also that we are
not to measure our conduct by the prevailing opinions
of men. For though men in general do, on the whole,
(as has been formerly remarked,) approve of virtue and
condemn vice, the moral judgment of a great part of
mankind is, in several points, apt to be incorrect ; and
their standard of virtue is rather a low one. It is a
true and wise remark of Lord Bacon, that " the lowest
of the virtues the vulgar praise ; the middle ones they
admire ; of the highest they have no perception." By
" the vulgar " he means not merely the lowest in station,
and the utterly illiterate, but the common run of man
kind. And by " the virtues " he means those parts of
virtue or habits that commonly pass for virtues of
which we have formerly spoken. The humblest of these,
such as Hospitality, Liberality, Gratitude, good-na
tured Courtesy, etc., he says are what the vulgar
praise. Those which they admire, such as daring
Courage, and fidelity to friends, and to the cause or
the party one has espoused, are what he puts in the next
highest place. But the loftiest virtues of all, such as
disinterested Public Spirit, thoroughgoing even-handed
Justice, and disregard of general unpopularity when
MISCELLANEOUS CAUTIONS. 163
Duty requires it, of these, he says, the vulgar usually
have no notion.
And he might have gone further : for it often hap
pens that a large portion of mankind not only do not
praise or admire, but even censure or despise, the highest
qualities. Cases will sometimes occur in which, though
you may obtain the high approbation of a very few per
sons of the most exalted and refined moral sentiments,
you must be prepared to find the majority (even of such
as are not altogether bad men) condemning you as "un
natural," " unkind," " faithless," and not to be depended
on ; or deriding you as " eccentric," " crotchety," " fanci
ful," and " absurdly scrupulous."
8. Virtues that are not generally approved.
If, for instance, you refuse to defend, or to deny, or to
palliate, the faults of those engaged in what you consider
a good cause, and if you are ready to bear testimony to
whatever there may be that is right, on the opposite
side, you will be regarded by many as treacherous" or
lukewarm, or inconsistent. If you are an advocate
for tolerating an erroneous faith, and protest against
forcing, or entrapping, or bribing, any one into the
profession of a true one, many will consider you as
yourself tainted with error, or indifferent to true re
ligion.
If, again, you consider a seat in Parliament, or any
other place you may occupy, or the power of appoint
ing another to such a place, as a sacred trust for the
public service, and therefore requiring sometimes the
sacrifice of private friendship, if you do justice to an
opponent against a friend, or to a worse man (when he
164 LESSONS ON MORALS.
happens to have right on his side) against a better, if
you refuse to support your friends, or those you have
been accustomed to act with, or those to whom you
have a personal obligation, when they are about doing
something that is unjustifiable; in these, and other such
cases, you will be perhaps more blamed or despised by
the .generality, than commended or admired. For party
men will usually pardon a zealous advocate of their
party for many great faults, more readily than they
will pardon the virtue of standing quite aloof from
party, and doing strict justice to all.
And, again, it will often happen that when a man of
very great real excellence does acquire great and gen
eral esteem, four fifths of this will have been bestowed
on the minor virtues of his character ; and four fifths of
his admirers will have either quite overlooked the most
truly admirable of his qualities, or else regarded them
. as pardonable weaknesses.
You should guard then against the opposite dangers,
of either lowering your own moral standard to the level
of some of your neighbors, or judging too hardly of them.
Your general practical rule should be, to expect more
of yourself than of others. We do not, of course, mean,
that you should ever call wrong conduct right. But
you should consider that that which would be a very
great fault in you, may be much less inexcusable in
some others who have not had the same advantages.
You should be reafly to make allowances for want of
clearness of understanding, or for defective education,
or for a want of the highest and best examples. Those
may be really trying to do their duty according to the
best lights they have, whose moral views are, on some
MISCELLANEOUS CAUTIONS. 165
points, as yet but dim and imperfect, and whose conduct
on the whole falls far short of what may fairly be ex
pected and will be expected of one whose moral
judgment is more enlightened, and his standard of duty
more elevated.
LESSON XIX.
SELF-EXAMINATIOX. PART I.
1. Stated Times for Self-Examination.
EVERY prudent man who is engaged in business of
any kind, besides paying careful attention to that busi
ness from day to day, will also set aside certain stated
times for looking over his accounts, and examining the
whole state of the concern he is carrying on. He will
do this, probably, once a week ; and again, more par
ticularly and thoroughly, once a month, or once a quar
ter ; and most fully of all, at the end of each year.
Now this is what you should do in reference to your
moral character, if you are as much in earnest about the
improvement of that, as every prudent man of business
is about his worldly success. Besides examining your
own heart, and your conduct, daily, you should also
have fixed times for making a more complete review of
your whole life and character. And suitable times for
such self-examinations you can fix on, for yourself, ac
cording to your own convenience. The beginning of a
new year, or the beginning of your own new year that
is, your Birthday are very proper to be selected for
this purpose. So also is the anniversary of your Con
firmation (which may be called your religious coming of
age), or of any other remarkable event connected with
SELF-EXAMINATION. 167
yourself. And so also is any of the great Festivals of
the Church, such as Christmas-day, or Easter.
But whatever day you fix on for such a purpose, you
should keep to it strictly, as a sort of private religious
festival ; and not allow yourself to be tempted to put
off, without some strong necessity, your proposed self-
examination, on the ground that one day will do as well
as another. So it would, originally ; but habits of reg
ularity, and of adherence to a plan once fixed on, are
of great importance. For if you learn the custom of
lightly putting off till to-morrow what you had fixed on
to-day for doing, you will at length find the truth of the
proverb, that " To-morrow comes never."
2. Candor in Self-Examination.
Our Prayer-Book directs us (in one of the exhorta
tions in the Communion Service) to " examine our con
sciences, and that not lightly " (negligently) " and after
the manner of dissemblers with God." Now it may
seem strange that there should be any need even to
mention such a thing as " dissembling with God,"
with Him who sees all hearts. But though it is im
possible to deceive Him, it is possible, and easy, for us
to deceive ourselves. And that is what you will do, if,
in examining yourself, you proceed just as men do who
are trying to deceive their fellow-mortals, by seeking to
justify or excuse their faults ; by softening down,
or passing over, some of the worst points, and seeking
to put the best appearance on their own conduct, and
to make out the best case they can for themselves. If
you proceed thus, when you are examining yourself
with respect to your duty, you will completely succeed
168 LESSONS ON MORALS.
in deceiving not God indeed but yourself. You
will succeed, perhaps, in quieting your conscience ; but
not in correcting your faults, and purifying your heart,
and amending your life.
But no one proceeds thus, in any matter in which
he is thoroughly in earnest, A careful farmer does
not try to persuade himself that his crops and his cat
tle are thriving, but to judge whether they really are.
He does not try to overlook any weeds that may be
in his fields, but to find them, in order to root them
out. And a diligent shopkeeper does not try to falsify
his accounts, so as to persuade himself that his trade
is prospering more than it really is ; but to learn ex
actly what is the real state of his affairs. And you
will proceed in the same manner if you are as much
in earnest about " laying up treasure in Heaven " as
every prudent man is about the concerns of his worldly
business.
You should observe, too, that no one who finds his
business going on badly, takes comfort in the thought
that some of his neighbors concerns are in a still worse
condition, and that they are farther on the road to ruin
than himself. He knows that their imprudences and
losses will not save him. Do not therefore satisfy
yourself with finding, or fancying, that you are as
good as many others, or perhaps better ; but consider
whether you are as good as you may be, and ought to
be. For our course of duty is not like a race, which
is won by him who runs however slowly, if the rest are
still slower. Examine therefore yourself rather than
your neighbors ; and remember that the greatest faults
of theirs are, to you, of less consequence than a much
SELF-EXAMINATION. 1G9
smaller one in yourself; both because it is for this you
will be accountable, and because it rests with you to
correct it.
3. Progress in Virtue to be marked.
We have spoken of the importance of examining
yourself fairly, and not seeking to conceal from yourself
your faults, or to make out excuses for them. But do
not suppose that by this we mean that you should look
out for faults only. By a fair self-examination, we do
not mean an inquiry after sins and defects only, without
any notice being taken of improvements; without
looking out for, or hoping for, any " growth in grace."
On the contrary, as you have been taught to strive
and to pray for continual advancement, so you ought
also to watch for it. And although, as was formerly ob
served, the performance of any particular act of duty
does not, of itself, and as such, afford positive pleasure,
but merely exemption from the pain of self-reproach,
still, to observe an improvement in virtuous character,
generally, does afford pleasure. And this is a kind of
pleasure which tends to encourage our efforts towards
improvement ; and which was doubtless bestowed by
our great Master for that very purpose. You ought
therefore carefully to observe, with thankfulness to the
Giver of all good, any progress you may have made in
your Christian course. There is no benefit you ought
so much to rejoice in, or to be so thankful for, as an
increase in holiness of life and of heart, and in the
knowledge and love of God. Every such increase,
therefore, should be as carefully inquired for, as any
sins you may have committed. And whatever improve-
15
170 LESSONS ON MORALS.
ment you may find in yourself should encourage you
to fresh hopes, and fresh efforts after a still further ad
vance.
You may perhaps meet with some well-meaning per
sons who will advise you to think of nothing but your
sins and your unworthiness ; and in all your self-ex
amination to look out for nothing but what is wrong ;
without ever allowing yourself to think that you have
made any improvement. " Every one is so much in
clined," they say, " to think of his goodness and to over
look his sins, that we ought to draw men as far as pos
sible the contrary way, and advise them to dwell on
the thought of their own sinfulness, and on nothing
else."
But you may easily see that this is quite a mistaken
plan. For you will never find an instance of any one s
continuing very long to labor for any object, when he
was convinced that he was laboring in vain. If, for
instance, any one sets himself to learn some science or
art, and finds, after very attentive study for a considera
ble time, that he makes no progress at all, he will give
it up. Some will persevere longer than others ; but
every one will abandon the pursuit as soon as he is
fully convinced that it is hopeless. So also, a man en
gaged in some business, if he finds, after a long trial,
that, instead of gaining by it, he is losing, and that there
is no prospect of doing any better, will give over the
business altogether. It is the same with a person
taking a course of medicine with a view to the recovery
of his health ; or with one who is trying to bring a
piece of land into a productive state ; and with other
such cases.
SELF-EXAMINATION. 171
And so it is with respect to Christian Virtue, as well
as everything else.
4. Despair leads to Neglect.
Persons may begin striving (as the Apostle Paul
bids us) to " draw nigh unto God, that He may draw
nigh unto them " (James iv.), and to " resist the Devil,
that he may flee from them " ; they may begin an en
deavor to " work out their own salvation " (Philip-
pians ii.), "casting off the sin that besets them" (Heb.
xii.), and "giving all diligence, to add to their faith,
virtue, and knowledge, and temperance, patience, god
liness, brotherly-kindness, charity" (2 Peter i.). They
may set about all this ; but if they are convinced that
they are making no progress in it, and must never think
of making any, you may be sure that they will, before
long, give over their efforts. They will either fall into
gloomy despondency, or else (and more likely) sit down
in a sort of careless security; fancying that there is
much Christian humility in saying and thinking that
there is no good in them, nor ever can be any. They
will consider what the Apostle Paul says (Rom. vii. ) of
being " carnal and sold under sin," and living in habit
ual disobedience to God s laws, as meant to describe the
Apostle s own condition, and, of course, that of all other
the very best Christians. And hence they will con
clude that it is vain and hopeless for them to strive
against sin ; and that there is nothing to be done but
to throw themselves on God s mercy, without seeking to
avail themselves of his promised help to " bring forth
fruits meet for repentance."
172 LESSONS ON MORALS.
5. Virtuous Progress to be hoped for.
Let no one therefore persuade you to distrust God s
promise to "give his Holy Spirit to them that ask
him." (Luke xi. 13.) Our great Master has said,
" Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after right
eousness, for they shall be jilted" (Matt. v. G.) If you
trust in Him, and really mean to accept his gracious
offers, you will not only wish, and pray, but also strive,
and hope, for continual Christian improvement. And of
course you will also carefully examine yourself from
time to time, to observe whether this improvement does
take place or not. Try never to overlook either any
fault, or any improvement ; and never attempt to de
ceive yourself either way, by saying in your private
confessions and prayers, either less, or more, than you
sincerely believe to be the truth. And especially, you
should observe whether each return of such an anni
versary as you may have fixed on (such as New-Year s-
day, or your Confirmation-day) finds you a better Chris
tian than the last ; more full of the thoughts and
hopes of Heaven, and more advanced on your way
thither.
You will see, in the Epistles, that this is the way the
Apostles proceeded ; expressing joy and gratitude for
all the progress their converts had made, and their hope
that this would be an encouragement to them to " grow
in grace" (2 Peter iii.), and to " abound more and
more" (1 Thess. iv.).
And you should seek for, and watcli for, improvement
in your motives, as well as in your outward conduct.
For we generally act from a mixture of motives ; and
SELF-EXAMINATION. 173
some of these motives, even when not wrong in them
selves, may be inferior to others. Some act, for in
stance, may be what you are convinced is morally right,
and also such as will gain you the esteem of the best
men, and also such as is commanded by your Divine
Master, and well pleasing in his sight ; and it may be
also such as to benefit your country, and thus gratify
your feelings of patriotism. There will then be several
distinct feelings, all tending the same way. And it is a
matter on which you should take great pains and care
in self-examination, to observe what are the motives on
wjiich you act, and in what degree each of them oper
ates, and to strive to act on the best and highest motives.
LESSON XX.
SELF-EXAMINATION. PART II.
1. Christian Knowledge.
THE point in which you can the most easily mark
your own improvement is Christian knowledge. This ^s
indeed only the means, and not the end, of a Christian
life. For the more you know of your duty, if you do
not practise it, the greater is your sin. "The true
knowledge and understanding of God s Word," if you
do not, in your life, " set it forth and show it accord
ingly," * will profit you nothing. But still though Chris
tian knowledge be the least part of the Christian s busi
ness, it must be the Jirst part. For you cannot act on
Christian principles without knowing something of what
your religion is. And moreover, if you are very igno
rant of it, and are content to remain so, this is a sign that
your heart is not engaged in God s service. For if any
one received a letter from his father, or some other
friend whom he professed to love and revere, contain
ing directions for his conduct, and yet never read that
letter with any attention, you would at once conclude
that his professed love and respect were not real.
If, therefore, you do feel a real love and reverence for
* Litany.
SELF-EXAMINATION. 175
your Maker, Redeemer, and Sanctifier, you will study
what he has thought fit to reveal to us. And you will
study it, not as a task which you dare not entirely omit,
but as a high honor and privilege. You will also not
merely "read," but endeavor to "learn and inwardly
digest, the Holy Scriptures " ; not as if it were a virtu
ous act to go through a certain portion of Scripture ; but
with the same attention with which every one reads any
book on some subject in which he takes great interest
and delight ; not for the sake of saying that he has been
reading it, but for the sake of gaining valuable instruc
tion and information from it.
2. Scripture to be studied intelligently.
If then you read with a view to improvement, you
will not be satisfied with reading or even learning by
heart detached passages, single verses, or single chap
ters, taken one from one part of the Bible, and an
other from another. He who studies in that manner
does not give himself a fair chance of taking in the true
and full sense of what he reads ; even if it be one single
work of any one author that he is engaged on. But the
volume which we call the Bible, you should remember,
is not properly one book, but several ; written at very
distant times, and on different occasions. Even the New
Testament alone consists of more than twenty distinct
works, addressed by the Sacred Writers to different
classes of people. And the Old Testament was written
for the use, in the first instance, of a people living un
der a dispensation different from the Gospel, and prepar
atory to it.
To open the Bible, therefore, at random, and take the
176 LESSONS ON MORALS.
first passage that happens to meet your eye, or to at
tract your notice, as applicable at once to ourselves now,
and as a suitable guide for our belief and practice, would
be such a procedure as every one would perceive to be
absurd in any like case. For instance, suppose a per
son had received from a wise and good father a great
number of instructive letters, from the time when he
was a child, barely able to read, till he was a grown man,
and long after ; if he laid by these letters carefully, but
in a promiscuous heap, and on any occasion when he
needed counsel took up the first of them that came to
hand, as containing directions for his conduct, he would
be accounted a mere fool.
In order, then, to read profitably, you should, in your
private studies, go through one entire work, continuous
ly ; one of the Gospels, for instance, or one of the Epis
tles ; going on from time to time from the place where
you had left off, till you have finished the book you had
begun. And you should not make it your ordinary prac
tice to begin and end at the beginning and end of a
chapter, but wherever there is a convenient break in the
sense. For the chapters and verses, which (as was re
marked above) were not the work of the Sacred Writ
ers, have no necessary reference to their sense, but often
interrupt it; and thus often obscure the meaning, to
those who consider these divisions as designed by the
original writers.
3. Practical Study.
But of all the cautions to be observed in your study of
Scripture, the most important is, to keep in view your
own practical benefit, in the improvement of your char-
SELF-EXAMINATION. 177
*
acter and life. For, as has been already said, the more
knowledge you have of what is right, the worse you
will be, if you do not strive to bring that knowledge into
practice. It is not merely that the sin is greater of
that " servant who knew his Lord s will, and did it not,"
but also, besides this, there is a danger of your becom
ing hardened against all religious impressions, by letting
the most awful and awakening thoughts pass through
your mind, without these thoughts being accompanied
with an effort to form practical habits answering to those
religious impressions. An early familiar acquaintance
with Scripture, without reference to practice, leads to
the danger (as was formerly remarked, Lesson XI.) point
ed at by the proverb, that " Familiarity breeds con
tempt." The oftener any impression on the mind is re
peated, the less forcible it becomes. The more frequent
ly any thought comes before us, the less strongly does it
excite us. So that the more you are accustomed to
think and talk about Religion, and about Moral Duty, if
you do not at the same time strive to acquire a practical
habit of acting accordingly, the more insensible you
will become to all good impressions. And, on the other
hand, if you do strive to bring your principles into prac
tice, you will find the practice become easier and easier.
It is so in all other matters, as well as in Religion and
Morality. A mariner, for instance, who has been long
at sea, is very little affected by the terrible appearance
of a storm, compared with what you would be if you
were in a storm at sea for the first time. And for the
same reason, that is, from long custom, he goes about
his duty in the ship actively and coolly; and in the
midst of the tempest exerts his skill and strength in do-
178 LESSONS ON MORALS.
j
ing whatever is required, with that readiness which is
the fruit of long habit. And in other cases also you
may see the same effects produced by practice. In short,
you have only to keep in mind the well-known maxim,
that " Practice makes perfect."
But you should also take care to avoid the mistake,
formerly noticed, of those who expect to learn one thing
by practising another. Remember, therefore, what was
there said (Lesson XI.) of the opposite habits that may
be acquired by being accustomed to the same things ; as,
for instance, by two persons each accustomed to the
sound of a certain bell ; one of whom learns to sleep
quietly through the ringing, and another to be instantly
roused by it. By merely reading and hearing and talk
ing about Virtue or Religion, you will acquire a
habit of talking, etc., without doing ; and by continued
efforts to impress on your heart what you learn, and set
it forth in your conduct and character, you will acquire
a habit of "being a doer of God s "Word, and not a
hearer only, deceiving your own self." (James i.)
4. Outward Acts not the only Virtuous Practice.
You are not to suppose, however, that some outward
act is always required in order to form a practical hab
it ; and that you must wait for an opportunity of per- .
forming what are called " good works." Virtuous acts
are acts of the mind. An earnest endeavor to fix on
your heart the examples of Christ and his Apostles, and
to form your character on that pattern, is, itself, virtuous
practice. There is real active virtue in forming a
hearty good resolution, with earnest prayer for divine
help to keep it. Every effort to " set your affection on
SELF-EXAMINATION. 179
things above, not on things on the earth" (Col. iii. 2) ;
every earnest struggle against ill-temper, pride, or
envy, against coveteousness, against sensual de
sires, and every kind of evil thoughts ; every inward
effort to cultivate a kind and forbearing, a pure, and
holy, and truly Christian disposition ; every such effort
is virtuous practice. And thus, even when you are not
performing any outward acts, (there being, at the mo
ment, no opportunity,) you may be gaining practical
habits, which will not fail to show themselves in action
when opportunities do occur.
In fact, outward actions (as has been formerly ob
served in Lesson V.) are not properly virtuous or vi
cious at all, except as they are the signs of the inward
dispositions. And accordingly, when the Apostle Paul
is enumerating the " fruits of the Spirit," he makes men
tion of nothing but the dispositions : " The fruit of the
Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, goodness, gen
tleness, faith, meekness, temperance, patience, and such
like." (Gal. v. 22.) He well knew as indeed every
one must know what kind of outward conduct such
dispositions will lead to.
5. Advice of Friends.
What has been said as to the importance of reading
and listening with a view to practical improvement will,
of course, apply not merely to the Scriptures, but to any
other useful books ; and likewise to any good instruc
tion you may receive from Christian ministers, or from
other friends.
It was formerly remarked that the counsel of a
worthy and judicious friend will often be of great ser-
180 LESSONS ON MORALS.
vice in guarding you against self-deception, and point
ing out to you some things which you may yourself
have overlooked. And such a friend may sometimes
be able also to give useful advice for the correction of
your faults. For this purpose it will sometimes be ne
cessary that you should unbosom yourself to him, and
confess some things which he could not otherwise know.
But such confessions should be with a view to consulta
tion. As for the forgiveness of sins against God, it is
God alone that can grant that. And, therefore, a full
and complete confession of all the sins you are conscious
of should be made to Him, and not to any human be
ing. The contrary practice does much more harm to
the moral character than good.
Of course, if you are conscious of having wronged any
one, you should confess your fault to him, and ask his
pardon. And it may now and then happen, that, in
giving advice to another, you may find it useful to tell
him of some error you had yourself fallen into, in order
that he may take warning from your example. But in
seeking, through the aid of a friend, the improvement
of your own character, you should confine yourself to
these two cases: (1.) when you are conscious of some
failing, and wish for advice as to the best way of curing
it ; and (2.) when you are in doubt whether something
you have done be right or wrong, and wish for a judi
cious friend s opinion on the question. In all other
matters, confessions of sin should be made to God only.
G. Signs of Progress.
If you persevere, in such a course of practical study
as has been recommended, it may be hoped that, through
SELF-EXAMINATION. 181
divine aid, you will find in your self-examinations, from
time to time, a continual " growth in grace, and in the
knowledge of your Lord and Saviour." And when you
do find this, you should, with all thankfulness for it,
draw fresh encouragement from it, for renewed efforts
after a still further growth. " I count not myself," says
the Apostle Paul, " to have apprehended ; but this one
thing I do ; forgetting those things which are behind,
and reaching forth unto those that are before, I press
towards the mark, for the prize of the high calling of
God in Christ Jesus." And if, in any of these examina
tions, you are struck with the consciousness of some
faults or deficiencies which you had not perceived in
yourself before, be not disheartened at this, unless you
find that they really are faults newly sprung up. If in
deed you do find, on a candid survey of your own con
duct and character, that you have been led into some
sin of which you had not been guilty before, and that
you have been falling back instead of advancing, this,
certainly, is a just cause of alarm. But if it be only
that you are become conscious for the first time of defi
ciencies or sins which had existed before, but which you
had overlooked, this (as has been above remarked, Les
son XL) is a promising sign. It is a sign that your
spiritual discernment is improved, your moral stand
ard raised, your estimate of the Christian character be
come more just. For what you ought to seek for is, not
the most quiet conscience, the conscience that is the
most easily satisfied ; but a tender conscience, a watch
ful conscience, an upright and well-regulated conscience.
And you must expect that, as your conscience improves}
16
182 LESSONS ON MORALS.
in all this, it will show you defects that were before
overlooked.
When the sun s rays (as was formerly observed) are
admitted into a room that had been half darkened, and
kept in a slovenly state, you will see clouds of dust
floating in the air which before were unseen ; and va
rious stains of dirt will appear which were before un
noticed. The light which is let in does not increase the
impurities, but only makes them manifest. And this
excites and enables a person who has a regard for neat
ness to cleanse them away.
And so it is with spiritual and moral light. It en
ables us to see better and better what is impure and
faulty in our own hearts, in order that, by the promised
help of God s Spirit, we may proceed in the work of
purifying them.
But though you must (as was above said) carefully
watch for faults, and frankly confess to God all that
you are conscious of, without seeking to soften them
down, you should never confess more than you really
are conscious of. There is no real humility in using
language of very strong self-condemnation beyond what
you feel to be just. Even if it really be in itself true,
still it is not true for you, unless you feel it to be so.
And you should above all things cultivate a habit of
perfect sincerity; universally, and not least in your
communings with God. A person would be in a less
hopeful state who should have accustomed himself to
say more than he really feels, (though it may, perhaps,
be no more than the truth,) than one who has confessed
but the half of his real sins, but has said neither more
nor less than what he really thinks and feels. For this
SELF-EXAMINATION. 183
latter, if he prays for God s enlightening Spirit, will
hereafter come to know himself better ; while the other
will have learnt the habit of saying what he does not
really believe.
7. Heads of Self-Examinution.
Several heads of self-examination you can draw out
for yourself from the foregoing Lessons. But if we
were to say everything that is to the purpose on the
subject, we should have to go through the whole of a
Christian s duties, and trials, and temptations ; since on
all of these it is needful for him to examine himself.
But it has been thought best to offer only a few hints on
some of the most important points ; namely, (1.) on the
importance of a candid inquiry after faults ; (2.) on
looking out for signs of improvement ; (3.) on a right
advancement in Christian knowledge ; (4.) on the prac
tical application of what you learn ; (5.) an attention
to motives and dispositions as well as to outward acts ;
(G.) on the use to be made of the advice of friends ;
and (7.) on that increased insight into your own
defects, which you may expect to acquire as you
advance.
CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES
16*
CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES.
LESSON I.
FIRST RISE OF CHRISTIANITY.
1. SUPPOSING you were asked the question how you
came to be a Christian, perhaps you would answer that it
is because you were born and brought up in a Christian
country, and that your parents were Christians, and had
taught you to believe that the Christian religion is true.
And if, again, your parents were asked the same ques
tion, perhaps they might give the same answer. They
might say, that their parents had brought them up as
Christians ; and so on.
But you know that it cannot always have been so.
You know that the Christian religion had a beginning.
You know that the disciples of Jesus Christ, and their
followers, went about among various nations, making
converts to his religion, among people who had been
worshippers of the Sun and Moon, and of various false
gods. Our forefathers were among those nations. In
former days, the people of these Islands were what
we call Heathen, or Pagans ; that is, worshippers of a
number of supposed gods, whom they believed to govern
188 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES.
the world, and to whom they offered sacrifices and
prayers. We have among us a kind of monument of
this, in the names of the days of the week ; each day
having been sacred to some one of their gods. Thus,
the first day of the week, which we sometimes call the
Lord s day, in honor of the resurrection of the Lord
Jesus, still keeps also the name of Sunday, from its hav
ing been dedicated, in former times, to the worship of
the Sun; as Monday was to the Moon; Tuesday to
Tuesco, the god of war ; Wednesday to Woden ; Thurs
day to Thor ; and so of the rest.
Now our forefathers, who were worshippers of these
gods, would have told any one who might have questioned
them on the subject, that this was the religion of their
country, and what they had learned from their parents.
And at the present day there are many nations still in
the same condition with our forefathers ; among others,
great numbers of our fellow-subjects in the British do
minions, in the East Indies, have been brought up as
Pagans, and worship various false gods. And, again,
there are many who are followers of Mohammed, whom
they hold to be a prophet superior to Jesus Christ.
2. Now what I want you to consider is this : Have
you any better reason for believing in the truth of the
Christian religion, than a Mohammedan has for believ
ing in his religion, or the Pagans in theirs ? And do
you think you can learn, and ought to learn, to give some
better reason ? They believe what their parents have
told them, merely for that reason, and because it is the re
ligion of their country, and the wisest men of the nation
have told them it is true. If you are content to do the
same, then, though there may be a great difference be-
FIRST RISE OF CHRISTIANITY. 189
tween your religion and theirs, there is no difference at
all in the grounds of your belief and of theirs. If ten
persons, for example, all hear different accounts of some
transaction, and each believes just what he happens to
hear from his next neighbor, then, if nine of those ac
counts are false, and one true, he who chances to have
heard the true one is right only by accident, and has no
better grounds for his belief than the rest. In the same
manner, if several different persons hold each the relig
ion of their fathers, and have no other reason for doing
so than because it is the religion of their fathers, then,
though one of them may happen to believe a true relig
ion and the rest false ones, it is plain he has no better
grounds for his belief than they. What he believes
may be in itself right ; but we cannot say that he is
more right in so believing it, than the others are in be
lieving as they do.
3. Now do you think it is the duty of each man to
keep to the religion of his fathers, without seeking any
proofs of its being true, but satisfied with merely taking
it on trust, because his teachers have told him so ? If
so, our forefathers would have been wrong in renouncing
their Pagan religion, and embracing Christianity. They
had been brought up in the worship of the Sun, and
Moon, and Woden, and their other gods ; and so had
the ancient Greeks, and Romans, to whom the Apostles
preached. This had been the long-established religion
of their country, handed down to them from their fore
fathers, many of whom were great statesmen, and wise
and learned writers ; and if this had been a sufficient
reason for their keeping to it without inquiry, they
would have been bound to reject the Gospel, and con
tinue Pagans.
190 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES.
And this we know is what many of them did ; refus
ing to listen to the Apostles and others, who offered
them proof that the Christians had " not followed cun
ningly devised fables in making known to them the
coming and power of the Lord Jesus Christ." (2 Peter
i. 1 G.) Now we cannot think these men acted more
wisely than those Pagans who set themselves to inquire
what was true, and who did embrace Christianity.
4. These last must have had strong reasons for do
ing as they did. It could not have been from love of
change for its own sake, or mere idle whim ; for we
know that many of them had to face ridicule, and blame,
and sometimes persecution, from their friends and coun
trymen. And, what is more, they had to change their
mode of life, and to renounce, on becoming Christians,
many evil habits which had been tolerated in the Pa
gan religions. For we find the Apostles Paul es
pecially speaking often of the abominable vices in
which the Pagans had been accustomed to indulge, and
which the converts to Christianity were required to ab
stain from.
Now it must be a difficult thing for a man to bring him
self to throw off (as the early converts to Christianity
must have done) his early habits, and his veneration for
the gods of his country, in whose worship he had been
brought up, and his reverence for wise, and illustrious,
and powerful men among his countrymen, and his re
gard for the good opinion of his neighbors, and also his
care for his own peace and safety. Yet all this must
have been done by many of those of our forefathers, and
other Pagans, who first embraced the Christian religion.
They must, therefore, have had a strong conviction of
FIRST RISE OF CHRISTIANITY. 191
the truth of the religion; not from their having been
brought up in it, as you were ; for it was quite the con
trary with them; but for some other reason. They
must have had some convincing evidence of its truth ;
or else we may be sure they would not have received it.
And these men could not have been convinced of the
truth of the Gospel by any such experience as many
Christians have of that inward consolation and peace of
mind, and enlightening of the understanding, produced
by their religion : which affords them a satisfactory as
surance of its coming from God. For those who had
not embraced Christianity could not have had this ex
perience. And yet some convincing proofs they must
have had, to lead them to embrace it, in spite of so
many prejudices, and so many difficulties.
5. And it appears that they were taught by the
Apostles not only to have a reason, bi\t also to be able
to give a reason to others, for the faith which they held.
Be " ready always," says the Apostle Peter, " to give an
answer [or defence] to every one that asketh a reason
of the hope that is in you." And it does certainly seem
very fair that they should be asked by their neighbors,
and should be expected to answer the question, " Why
do you renounce the gods of the country, and embrace
the religion of this Jesus, and call on us to do the
same ? " This, I say, would appear a very fair question
to be asked of persons living in the midst of Pagans,
and educated as such.
But perhaps you may think this was not at all intend
ed to apply to you who have had the happiness of being
brought up in a Christian country. You should remem
ber, however, that you may some time or other chance
192 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES.
to meet with some of these Pagans, or Mohammedans,
whom we have been speaking of; to some of whom we
have sent missionaries to convert them. And besides
this, you may hereafter meet with persons of our own
nation, who doubt or disbelieve the truth of Christian
ity ; and their doubt or disbelief is likely to be very
much strengthened, if they find that you have no better
reason for being Christians than the Turks have for
being Mohammedans, the ancient Greeks and Romans
for worshipping Jupiter, or our own forefathers for
serving Thor and Woden; namely, that such is the
religion of the country. They will be apt to say:
" These religions cannot be all true ; but they may be
all equally false ; they are, perhaps, only so many dif
ferent forms of superstition in which the people of dif
ferent countries have been brought up, and which they
all believe in, each because they have been brought up
in it, without seeking for any other reason."
6. The Apostle s direction, therefore, you may
be sure, applies to all Christians in every age and
country. It "is needful for all of them to be able to
give a reason of the hope that is in them. And among
others, you may give as one reason, what I have just
put before you ; that those who first embraced Chris
tianity, renouncing for it, as they did, their early preju
dices, and their habits, and often their friends, and their
comfort and safety in this world, must have had some
strong evidence to convince them that it was true. It is
not merely from the Christian writers of the New Testa
ment that we learn how much those persons had to bear
and to do who embraced the Gospel ; heathen writers
record the persecutions under which they suffered. "We
FIRST RISE OF CHRISTIANITY. 193
may be sure, even from the very nature of the case,
how great their difficulties must have been. And there
fore we could feel no doubt, that when they did become
Christians, it must have been on some strong reasons,
even though we had no knowledge what these reasons
were.
It is possible for us, however, to inquire, and to learn
what the reasons were which satisfied them of the truth
of the religion. And it must, therefore, be a duty, for
all who have the opportunity, to learn what proofs it
rests on ; that they may be " ready to give an answer
to those that ask them a reason of their hope." And
you shall observe, also, that the Apostles not only re
quired their converts to be ready to give a reason, but
must themselves have supplied them with reasons ; since
they could not have made them converts, without of
fering proofs to satisfy them that the religion was
true.
And this is one point which distinguishes the Chris
tian religion from those of the Pagans ; for it does not
appear that any of these religions ever made any appeal
to proof, or claimed to be received except from their
being the ancient established belief of the country.
Ttie Christian religion was brought in, in opposition
to all these, by means of the reasons given, the evi
dence, which convinced the early Christians that the
religion did truly come from God. It must there
fore be the duty of Christians to learn what that evi
dence is.
17
LESSON II.
FAITH AND CREDULITY.
1. OUR forefathers, and the other Pagans who em
braced the Gospel, must have had some strong reasons
to bring them to shake off their habits of life, their early
prejudices, and their veneration for the gods they had
been brought up to worship, for the sake of Christ and
his religion, which were new to them. But perhaps
you may suppose that their ancient religions also must
have been embraced by their forefathers in the same
manner ; that the worship of the Sun, and Moon, and
Jupiter, and the rest of their gods, must have been first
brought in by strong proofs, at least by what were
thought to be strong proofs.
But this does not appear to have been the case.
"We have no accounts of the first origin of the Pagan
religions ; and it is likely that no one of them was ever
brought in all at once, but that these various supersti
tions crept in little by little, and religion became grad
ually corrupted, as men lost more and more that knowl
edge of the one true God, which we suppose to have
been originally revealed. This, at least, is certain, that
it was not even pretended that these religions rested
on any evidence worth listening to. A Pagan s reason
for holding his religion is, and always was, that it
FAITH AND CREDULITY. 195
had been handed down from his ancestors. They did,
indeed, relate many miracles, said to have been wrought
through their gods ; but almost all of these they spoke
of as having been wrought among people who were
already worshippers of those gods, not as having been
the means of originally bringing in the religion. And
all the Pagan miracles they believed merely because
these were a part of the religion which they had learned
from their fathers. They never even pretended to
give any proof that these miracles "had ever been per
formed.
2. The pretended prophet Mohammed did indeed
found a new religion, which spread very rapidly and
widely under him and his followers. But his religion
Avas propagated, not by evidence, but by the sword. At
the head of a small number of valiant warriors, he
gained victories, which enabled him and his successors
to collect larger and larger armies, and with these they
subdued extensive regions, forcing the conquered people
everywhere to acknowledge the Mohammedan faith, on
pain of death or bondage. But the Mohammedan
religion never made way (as Christianity did) in any
country in which its opponents had the chief power,
and were disposed to resist. And Mohammed never
pretended to perform any miracles as signs of his com
ing from God. His pretended visions, and ascent to
heaven, and visits from angels, which he relates in the
book called the Koran, were not even pretended to
have been shown openly, as proofs to convince unbe
lievers, but were to be received by the believers in Mo
hammed, on his bare word. With the Mohammedans,
in short, (as with the Pagans,) the religion did not rest
196 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES.
on the miracles, but the miracles rested on the religion.
Those who believed the religion, believed the miracles
as a part of the religion, but not as a proof of it. In
fact, no such proof was ever even attempted to be offered
of these religions.
The Christian religion was distinguished from these
by its resting on evidence, by its offering a reason,
and requiring Christians to be able to give a reason for
believing it.
3. Some persons, however, have a notion that it
is presumptuous for a Christian at least for an un
learned Christian to seek any proof of the truth of
his religion. They suppose that this would show a
want of faith. They know that faith is often and highly
commended in Scripture as the Christian s first duty;
and they fancy that this faith consists in a person s
readily and firmly believing what is told him, and trust
ing in every promise that is made to him ; and that the
less reason he has for believing and for trusting, and
the less he doubts, and inquires, and seeks grounds
for his belief and his confidence, the more faith he
shows.
*But this is quite a mistake. The faith which the
Christian Scriptures speak of and commend, is the very
contrary of that blind sort of belief and trust which does
not rest on any good reason. This last is more prop
erly called credulity than faith. When a man believes
without evidence, or against evidence, he is_what we_
rightly call credulous. But he is never commended 4ep
this : on the contrary, we often find in Scripture ~mexfc_
tion made of persons who are reproached for their un
belief or want of faith, precisely on account of their.
FAITH AND CREDULITY. 197
showing tin s k^ l nf m^^nV^.j thnt is ; not judging fairly
according; to the evidence* but resolving to lffilip XTO u y
what was agreeable to tlieir prejudices, mid to trust any
one. jorha flattered those prejudices.
4. This was the case with those of the ancient
Heathen who refused to forsake the worship of the Sun
and Moon, and of Jupiter and Diana, and their other
gods. Many of the Ephesians (as you read in the
Book of Acts) raised a tumult against Paul, in their
zeal for their "goddess Diana, and the image which
fell down from Jupiter." Now if a man s faith is
to be reckoned the greater, the less evidence he has
for believing, these men must have had greater
faith than any one who received the Gospel; because
they believed in their religion without any evidence
at all.
But what our sacred writers mean by faith is quite
different from this. When they commend a man s
faith, it is because he listens fairly to evidence, and
judges according to the reasons laid before him. The
difficulty and the virtue of faith consists in a man s be
lieving and trusting, not against evidence, but against
his expectations and prejudices, against his inclinations,
and passions, and interests. We read, accordingly,
that Jesus offered sufficient proof of his coming from
God ; He said, the works (the miracles) that I do
in my Father s name, (by my Father s authority,)
they bear witness of me. If you believe not me, be
lieve the works ; that is, if you have not the heart
to feel the purity and holiness of what I teach, at least
you should allow, that " no man can do such miracles,
except God be with him."
17*
198 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES.
5. But we are told, that " for all He had done so
many miracles among them, yet did they not believe on
Him." They acknowledged that he wrought mira
cles ; as the unbelieving Jews acknowledge at the
present day. But they had expected that the Christ
[or Messiah] whom they looked for should come in
great worldly power and splendor, as a conquering
prince who should deliver them from the dominion of
the Romans, and should make Jerusalem the capital of
a magnificent empire. They were disappointed and
disgusted (" offended " is the word used in our trans
lations) at finding Jesus coming from Nazareth, a de
spised town in Galilee, and having no worldly pomp or
pretensions about Him, and having only poor fishermen
and peasants as his attendants. Accordingly they re
jected Him, saying, " Shall [the] Christ come out of
Nazareth ? " " As for this man, we know not whence
he is." " Out of Galilee ariseth no prophet." And
they persuaded themselves, (as their descendants do to
this day,) that Jesus was a skilful magician, and per
formed miracles, not by Divine power, but by the help
of some evil spirits or demons, with whom He had allied
himself. Though He went about doing good, heal
ing the sick and afflicted, and teaching the purest mo
rality, they reckoned him a " deceiver," who " cast out
demons through Beelzebub, the prince of the de
mons."
But if lie had come among them offering to fulfil
their expectations, and undertaking to deliver their
country from the Romans, then, even though He had
shown no miraculous power, many of them would have
received Him readily. And indeed it is recorded of
FAITH AND CREDULITY. 199
Him, that He declared this himself, and foretold to his
disciples, " Many will come in my name," (that is, tak
ing on them my character,) " saying, I am [the] Christ,
and will deceive many." And again, " I am come in
my Father s name," (that is, with my Father s au
thority and power,) " and you receive me not ; if an
other shall come in his own name," (that is, requiring
to be believed on his bare word, without any miraculous
signs,) " him ye will receive."
6. And so it came to pass ; for in the last siege
of Jerusalem many impostors came forward, each
one claiming to be the Christ, and drawing multi
tudes to follow him, and leading them to make the
most desperate resistance to the Romans ; till at
length the city was taken and the nation utterly
overthrown.
Now the Jews who believed any one of these im
postors were led to do so by their prejudices, and ex
pectations, and wishes, not by any proof that was of
fered. They showed, therefore, more credulity than
the Christians did. And these unbelieving Jews, as
they are called, are the very persons who were
reproached for their want of faith. You may plainly
see from this, that the faith which the Christian
writers speak of is not blind credulity, but fairness
in listening to evidence, and judging accordingly,
without being led away by prejudices and inclina
tions.
Moreover, we find in the Book of Acts that the Jews
of Bersea were commended as being " more noble "
(that is, more candid) than those of Thessalonica, " be
cause they searched the Scriptures," (the books of the
200 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES.
Old Testament,) to see whether those things were so
" which the Apostle taught."
It is plain, therefore, that Jesus and his Apostles did
not mean by Christian faith a blind assent without any
reason. And if we would be taught by them, we must
be " prepared to answer every one that asketh us a
reason of the hope that is in us."
LESSON III.
ANCIENT BOOKS.
1. WE have said that Christians, even those who
have not received what is called a learned education,
ought to have some good reason for being Christians ;
and not to believe in our religion, as the Pagans do in
theirs, merely because their fathers did so before them.
But some persons suppose that, however strong the evi
dences may be for the truth of Christianity, these must
be evidences only to the learned, who are able to exam
ine ancient books, and to read them in the original lan
guages ; and that an ordinary unlearned Christian must
take their word for what they tell him.
You do, indeed, read in English the accounts of what
Jesus and his Apostles said and did, and of what befell
them. But the English book which we call the Bible
professes to be a translation of what was originally writ
ten in Greek and Hebrew, which you do not understand.
And some one may perhaps ask you, how you can know,
except by taking the word of the learned for it, that
there are these Greek and Hebrew originals which have
been handed down from ancient times ? or how you can
be sure that our translations of them are faithful, except
by trusting to the translators ? So that an unlearned
Christian must, after all, (some people will tell you,) be
202 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES.
> at the mercy of the learned, in what relates to the very
foundations of his faith. He must take their word (it
will be said) for the very existence of the Bible in the
original languages, and for the meaning of what is writ
ten in it ; and therefore he may as well at once take
their word for everything, and believe in his religion on
their assurance.
And this is what many persons do. But others will
be apt to say, " How can we tell that the learned have
not deceived us ? The Mohammedans take the word of
the learned men among them ; and the Pagans do the
same ; and if the people have been imposed upon by
their teachers in Mohammedan and Pagan countries,
how can we tell that it is not the same in Christian
countries? What ground have we for trusting with
such perfect confidence in our Christian teachers, that
they are men who would not deceive us ? "
2. The truth is, however, that an unlearned Chris
tian may have very good grounds for being a believer,
without placing this entire confidence in any man. He
may have reason to believe that there are ancient Greek
manuscripts of the New Testament, though he never
saw one, nor could read it if he did. And he may be
convinced that an English Bible gives the meaning of
the original, though he must not trust completely to any
one s word. In fact, he may have the same sort of evi
dence in this case, which every one trusts to in many
other cases, where none but a madman would have any
doubt at all.
For instance, there is no one tolerably educated, who
does not know that there is such a country as France,
though he may have never been there himself. Who is
ANCIENT BOOKS. 203
there that doubts whether there are such cities as Lon
don, and Paris, and Rome, though he may never have
visited them ? Most people are fully convinced that the
world is round, though there are but few who have sailed
round it. There are many persons living in the inland
parts of these islands who never saw the sea ; and yet
none of them, even the most ignorant clowns, have any
doubt that there is such a thing as the sea. We believe
all these, and many other such things, because we have
been told them.
3. Now suppose any one should say, How do you
know that travellers have not imposed upon you in all
these matters ; as it is well known travellers are apt to
do? Is there any traveller you can so fully trust in, as
to be quite sure he would not deceive you ? What would
you answer? I suppose you would say, one traveller
might perhaps deceive us ; or even two or three might
possibly combine to propagate a false story, in some
cases where hardly any one would have the opportunity
to detect them ; but in these matters there are hundreds
and thousands who would be sure to contradict the ac
counts if they were not true ; and travellers are often
glad of an opportunity of detecting each other s mistakes.
Many of them disagree with each other in several par
ticulars respecting the cities of Paris and Rome ; and if
it had been false that there are any such cities at all, it
is impossible but that the falsehood should have been
speedily contradicted. And it is the same with the ex
istence of the sea, the roundness of the world, and
the other things that were mentioned.
4. It is in the same manner that we believe, on the" !
word of astronomers, that the earth turns round every
twenty-four hours, though we are insensible of the mo-
204 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES.
tion ; and that the sun, which seems as if you could
cover it with your hat, is immensely larger than the
earth we inhabit ; though there is not one person in ten
thousand that has ever gone through the mathematical
proof of this. And yet we have very good reason for
believing it ; not from any strong confidence in the hon
esty of any particular astronomer, but because the same
things are attested by many different astronomers, who
are so far from combining together in a false account,
that many of them rejoice in any opportunity of detecting
each other s mistakes.
Now an unlearned man has just the same sort of
reason for believing that there are ancient copies, in
Hebrew and Greek, of the Christian sacred books, and
of the works of other ancient authors, who mention
some things connected with the origin of Christianity.
There is no need for him to place full confidence in any
particular man s honesty. For if any book were forged
by some learned man in these days, and put forth as a
translation from an ancient book, there are many other
learned men, of this and of various other countries, and
of different religions, who would be eager to make an
inquiry, and examine the question, and would be sure to
detect any forgery, especially on an important subject.
And it is the same with translators. Many of these
are at variance with each other as to the precise sense
of some particular passage ; and many of them are very
much opposed to each other, as to the doctrines which
they believe to be taught in Scripture. But all the dif
ferent versions of the Bible agree as to the main outline
of the history, and of the discourses recorded : and
therefore an unlearned Christian may be as sure of the
general sense of the original as if he understood the
ANCIENT BOOKS. 205
language of it, and could examine it for himself; be
cause he is sure that unbelievers, who are opposed to all
Christians, or different sects of Christians, who are op
posed to each other, would not fail to point out any er
rors in the translations made by their opponents. Scholf
ars have an opportunity to examine and inquire into the
meaning of the original works ; and therefore the very
bitterness with which they dispute against each oilier,
proves that where they all agree they must be right.
5. All these ancient books, in short, and all the
translations of them, are in the condition of witnesses
placed in a witness-box, in a court of justice ; examined
and cross-examined by friends and enemies, and brought
face to face with each other, so as to make it certain
that any falsehood or mistake will be brought to light.
No one need doubt, therefore, that the books of our
English New Testament are really translated from an
cient originals in Greek, and are, at least, not forgeries
of the present day ; because unbelievers in Christianity
would not have failed to expose such a forgery.
But in the case of the books of the Old Testament, we
have a remarkable proof that they could never have
been forged by Christians at all ; because they are pre
served and highly reverenced by the unbelieving Jews
in various parts of the world at this day. These are
the Scriptures which the Jews at Bersea were commend
ed for searching with diligent care. In these they
found the prophecies to which the Apostles were accus
tomed to refer, as proving that Jesus was the promised
Christ, or Messiah. And the history goes on to relate,
that the consequence of their searching those Scrip
tures was, that " many of them believed."
18
LESSON IV.
PROPHECIES.
1. BUT these Old Testament Scriptures are, in
some respects, more instructive to us, even than to the
persons who lived in the Apostles time ; on account of
the more complete fulfilment of some of the prophecies
that have since taken place.
In the times of the Apostles, the religion of Jesus
Christ was, indeed, spreading very rapidly, both among
Jews and Gentiles ; but still it was but a small and ob
scure portion of either that had embraced it compared
with those who either knew nothing of it, or rejected it
with scorn and hatred. Now, Jesus is, and has been
for many ages, acknowledged as Lord, in all the most
civilized portions of the world. His disciples overthrew
the religions of all the most powerful and enlightened
nations, and produced, without conquest, and without
the help of w T ealth, or of human power, or learning, the
most wonderful change that ever was produced in men s
opinions, and on the most important point. The num
ber of those who profess Christianity is computed at
about two hundred and fifty millions ; comprehending
all the most civilized nations of the world. And to es
timate properly the greatness of the effect produced, we
should take into account that there are about one hun-
PROPHECIES. 207
dred and twenty millions of persons whose religion is so
far founded on Christ s, that it could never have existed
such as it is, if Christ had never appeared, I mean
the Mohammedans ; for though these have departed
widely from the religion which Jesus taught, and re
gard Mohammed as a greater prophet than He, yet they
acknowledge Jesus as a true prophet, and as the Mes
siah, or Christ ; and profess that their religion is found
ed on his.
2. This should be taken into account ; because what
we are now speaking of is the great and wonderful effect
produced, the extraordinary change brought about in
the world, by Christ and his Apostles. So great is
this effect, that every man, whether believer or unbe
liever, if not totally ignorant of history, must allow that
Jesus Christ was by far THE MOST IMPORTANT AND
EXTRAORDINARY PERSON that ever appeared on earth ;
and that he effected the most wonderful revolution that
ever was effected in the religion of mankind. Yet this
wonderful change was made by a person of the Jewish
nation, a nation which was never one of the greatest
and most powerful, never at all equal in the fame
of wisdom, and knowledge, and skill in the arts of life,
to the Greeks, and several other of the ancient nations.
And all this was done by a person who was despised,
and persecuted, and put to a shameful death, by the
Jews themselves, his own countrymen. If, therefore,
you were to ask any unbeliever in Christianity, " Who
was the most wonderful person that ever existed ? and
who brought about the most extraordinary effect, in the
strangest and most wonderful manner ? " he could
hardly help answering that Jesus of Nazareth was the
person.
208 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES.
And then you might ask him to explain how it
happened, (supposing our religion to be an invention
of man,) that all this had been foretold in the ancient
prophecies of the Old Testament ; in books which are
carefully preserved, and held in high reverence, by the
unbelieving Jews at this day.
3. You may find such prophecies as I am speaking
of, in various parts of the Old Testament. As, for in
stance, it was prophesied that a great blessing to all na
tions of the earth should spring from the nation that
was to descend from Abraham. (Gen. xxii. 18.)
Now, when the descendants of Abraham did actually
5 * become a nation, and did receive, through Moses, a re
ligion which they held in the highest veneration, they
would naturally expect the above prophecy to refer to
the extension of that very religion. And any one
of them professing to be a prophet, but speaking re
ally as a mere man, would have been sure to con
firm that expectation. Yet it was foretold, that the
religion which the Israelites had received from Moses
was to give place to a new one: as in Jer. xxxi.
31 : " Behold the days come [are coming], saith the
Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the
house of Israel, and with the house of Judah : not
according to the covenant that I made with their fa
thers," &c.
See also, for prophecies of the Messiah, Micah iv.
1 - 3 ; v. 2 - 4 ; Isaiah ix. G ; xi. 1 ; Ezekiel xxxiv,
23 ; Jer. xxiii. 5 ; Zech. vi. 12 ; ix. 9, &c. ; Mai.
iii. 1.
Now many of these prophecies were delivered (as
the unbelieving Jews of this day bear witness) six hun-
PROPHECIES. 209
dred years before the birth of Jesus ; at which time, and
also at the time when the Gospel was first preached,
the Jews were so far from being a great and power
ful people, that they had been conquered and brought
into subjection by other nations. So that, according to
all human conjecture, nothing could have been more
strange than the delivery of the prophecies and their
fulfilment.
4. This fulfilment, by the wide spread of Christ s
religion among various nations, though it was expected
by the early Christians, had not been seen by them, as
it is by us. They saw, however, that what Jesus had
done and suffered did agree with the prophecies of the
Old Testament ; that He was born at the time when it
had been foretold that Christ was to come, and when
the whole Jewish nation were in expectation of his com
ing ; that He was acknowledged by his enemies to have
wrought those miracles which had been prophesied of:
" Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and
the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped : then shall the
lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb
sing" (Isaiah xxxv. 5 ; Luke vii. 22 ) ; that, notwith
standing this, He had been rejected and put to death,
as had been foretold ; and that his disciples bore wit
ness to his having risen from the dead, agreeably to
other prophecies : " Thou wilt not leave my soul in
hell (i. e. the grave) ; neither wilt thou suffer thine
Holy One to see corruption." (Psalm xvi. 10 ; Acts
ii. 27.)
All this led them to conclude, when they examined
candidly, that the miracles which they saw were not
the work of evil spirits, but that the Gospel did come
18*
210 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES.
from God. On the other hand, we, who have not
actually seen the miracles which they saw, have an ad
vantage over them in seeing such an extraordinary
fulfilment of prophecy, in what has happened since their
tune.
LESSON V.
MIRACLES. PART I.
1. THE people who lived in the times of the Apos
tles, though they had not seen -so much as we have of
the fulfilment of the ancient prophecies, yet had seen
them so far fulfilled in Jesus, as to afford good reasons
for receiving Him.
But you may, perhaps, be inclined to wonder how
they should need to search the Old Testament Scrip
tures for a confirmation of what the Apostles taught, if
those Apostles really performed such miracles as we
read of. It may seem strange to you, that men who
healed the sick with a touch, and displayed so many
other signs, far beyond human power, should not have
been at once believed, when they called themselves
God s messengers.
2. I have said that the works performed by Jesus
and his disciples were beyond the unassisted powers of
man. And this, I think, is the best description of what
is meant by a miracle. Superhuman would perhaps be a
better word to apply to a miracle than supernatural;
for if we believe that " nature" is merely another word
to signify that state of things, and course of events,
which God has appointed, nothing that occurs can be
strictly called " supernatural." Jesus himself according- ,
212 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES.
I ly describes his works, not as violations of the laws of
nature, but as " works which none other man did." But
what is in general meant by " supernatural," is some
thing out of the ordinary course of nature ; something at
variance with those laws of nature which we have been
accustomed to.
But then it might be objected, that we cannot decide
what does violate the ordinary laws of nature, unless
we can be sure that we are acquainted with all those
laws. For instance, an inhabitant of the tropical cli
mates might think it contrary to the laws of nature that
water should never become hard ; since he had never
seen ice. And when electricity was first discovered,
many of its effects were contrary to the laws of nature
which had been hitherto known. But any one who
visits colder regions may see with his own eyes that wa
ter does become solid. And any one who will procure
an electrical machine, or who attends lectures on the
subject, may see for himself the effects of electricity.
Now suppose Jesus had been a person who had dis
covered some new natural agent, through which any
man might be enabled to cure diseases by a touch, and
perform the other wonderful works which He did, and
through which any one else might have done the like,
this would soon have become known and practised by
all ; just like the use of electricity, or of any newly dis
covered medicine ; and from his time down to this day
every one would have commonly performed just the
same works that he did. He might indeed have kept it
to himself as a secret, and thus have induced some to
believe that He wrought miracles. But so far from act-
ing thus, He imparted his power first to the twelve
MIRACLES. 213
Apostles, and afterwards to seventy others : and after
his departure, his Apostles received the power of not
only performing mighty works themselves, but also of
bestowing these gifts on all the disciples on whom they
laid their hands; as you may see from Acts viii. 14-
23; Acts xix. G; Rom. i. 11; 1 Cor. xii. 7-11, &c.
There must have been, therefore, in the early Church
many hundreds, and probably many thousands, perform
ing the same sort of works as Jesus and his Apostles.
And if, therefore, these had been performed by means
of any natural agent, such as any one else might use as
well as they, the art would soon have been universally
known; and the works performed by the disciples of
Jesus would have been commonly performed by all
men ever after, down to this day.
But the Jews were convinced, with good reason, that i
the works of Jesus were beyond the powers of unassist
ed man. And it may seem strange to us, that they did
not all come at once to the same conclusion with Nico-
demus, when he said, " No man can do these miracles
which thou doest, except God be with him."
But you must remember how much the people of
those days were accustomed to believe in magic. In
deed, in much later times, long after Christianity pre
vailed, it was a very common notion that there were
magicians who were able, through the help of evil de
mons, to work various miracles. And in the days of the
Apostles this belief in the power of magic was very gen
eral, both among the Jews and the Heathen. Those
Jews among whom Jesus lived, and who rejected him,
maintained that He was a magician who did mighty
works through the prince of demons. This is not only
214 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES.
related by the Christian writers in the New Testament,
but is a common tradition among the unbelieving Jews at
this very day, who have among them an ancient book
giving this account of the origin of Christianity. And
there can be no doubt that this must have been (as our
sacred writers tell us it was) what the adversaries of
Jesus maintained from the first. For if those who lived
on the spot in his time had denied or doubted the facts
of the miracles, and had declared that the accounts of
them were false tales, and that no miracles had ever
really been wrought, we may be sure that the same
would have been said ever after by their descendants.
They would never have thought of rejecting the ac
counts given by their own ancestors, and preferring that
of the Christian writers. If, therefore, any of the Jews
among whom Jesus lived had denied the fact of his mi
raculous powers, it is inconceivable that another genera
tion of Jews should have betaken themselves to the pre
tence of magic to account for miracles which had never
been acknowledged at the time, but had been reckoned
impostures by the very people among whom they were
said to have been performed.
The Pagan adversaries of Christianity also seem to
have had the same persuasion on this subject as the
Jews, and to have attributed the Christian miracles to
magical art. We learn this from all the remains that
have come down to us of the ancient writings against
Christianity, and of the answers to them written by
. Christians.
3. Now suppose that in the present day any one
should appear professing to be sent from God, and to
work miracles as a sign of his being so sent, you would
MIRACLES. 215
naturally think that the only question would be as to
the reality of the miracles ; and that all men would at
once believe him as soon as ever they were satisfied
that he had performed something clearly beyond human
power. But men certainly did not judge so in ancient
times. It was not then only one question, but two, that
had to be settled : first, whether any sign had really
been displayed which showed a power beyond that of
man; and secondly, whether this supernatural power
came from God, or from an evil demon.
Now, after the former of these questions was decided,
that is, after the fact of the miracles was admitted, the
Jews were inclined still to doubt or disbelieve the relig
ion which Jesus taught, because it was so different from
what they had been used to expect ; and hence it was
that the greater part of them attributed his miracles to
magic. But others were of a more candid mind, (" more
noble," as it is in our translation,) such as the people of
Berrca. These, by carefully searching the Scriptures,
satisfied themselves that the ancient prophecies respect
ing the Christ did really agree with all that Jesus had
done and suffered. And this it was that convinced them
that his miracles were wrought, not by evil spirits, but
by the Divine power ; and thus they were brought to
the conclusion that the "kingdom of Heaven was at
hand."
4. If, then, any one should say to you, " How great
an advantage the people who lived in those days, and
saw miracles performed before their eyes, must have
had over us, who only read of them in ancient books ;
and how can men in these days be expected to believe
as firmly as they did ? " you may answer, that different
216 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES.
men s trials and advantages are pretty nearly balanced.
The people who lived in those times were not (any more
than ourselves) forced into belief, whether they would or
no, but were left to ^exercise candor in judging fairly
from the evidence before them. Those of them who
were resolved to yield to their prejudices against Jesus,
and to reject him, found a ready excuse (an excuse
which would not be listened to now) by attributing his
miracles to the magical arts which in those days were
commonly believed in. And again, though they saw
many miracles which we only read of, they did not see
that great miracle (as it may be called) which is before
our eyes, in the fulfilment of prophecy since their time.
They could see, indeed, many prophecies fulfilled in Je
sus ; but we have an advantage over them, in witnessing
the more complete fulfilment of the prophecies respect-
ing the wonderful spread of his religion.
LESSON VI.
MIRACLES. PART II.
1. "BuT can we of these days really find suffi
cient proof/ some one may say, " and such proof as is
within the reach of ordinary Christians, for believing
that miracles really were performed which we never
saw, but which are recorded in books as having hap
pened nearly eighteen hundred years ago ? " Is it not
expecting a great deal of us, to require us to believe
that there were persons who used to cure blindness and
other diseases by a touch or a word, and raise the dead,
and still the raging of the sea, and feed a multitude with
a few loaves ?
Certainly these things are in themselves hard to be
believed ; and if we were to find in some ancient book
accounts of some great wonders which led to no effects
that exist at this day, and had nothing to do with the
present state of things among us, we might well be ex
cused for doubting or disbelieving such accounts ; or at
least none but learned men, who had the ability and the
opportunity to make full inquiry into the evidence of
such a book, could fairly be expected to trouble them
selves about the question. But the case of the Chris
tian miracles is not one of this kind. They are closely
connected with something w T hich we do see before us
19
218 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES.
at this day ; namely, with the existence of the Christian
religion in so great a part of the world. A man cannot,
indeed, be fairly required to believe anything very
strange and unlikely, except when there is something
still more strange and unlikely on the opposite side.
Now that is just the case with respect to the Christian
miracles ; for, wonderful as the whole Gospel history is,
the most wonderful thing of all is, that a Jewish peasant
should have succeeded in changing the religion of the
world. That he should have succeeded in doing this
without displaying any miracles, would have been more
wonderful than all the miracles that are recorded; and
that he should have accomplished all this by means of
pretended miracles when none were really performed,
would be the most incredible of all. So that those who
are unwilling to believe anything that is strange, cannot
escape doing so by disbelieving the Gospel, but will have
to believe something still more strange if they reject the
^Gospel.
2. And it is the same in many other cases as
well as in what relates to religion. We are often
obliged tobelieve, at any rate, in something that is very
wonderful, in order to avoid believing something else
that is still more wonderful. For instance, it is well
known that in these islands, and in several other parts
of the world, there are great beds of sea-shells found
near the tops of hills, sometimes several thousand feet
above the sea. Now it is certainly very hard to be
lieve that the sea should ever have covered those places
which now lie so far above it. And yet we are com
pelled to believe this, because we cannot think of any
other way that is not far more incredible by which
those shells have been deposited there.
MIRACLES. 219
And so it is with the Gospel history. We are sure
that the Christian religion does now exist, and has over
spread most of the civilized world ; and we know that it
was not first introduced and propagated (like that of
Mohammed) by force of arms. To believe that it was
received, and made its way, without miracles, would be
to believe something more miraculous (if one may so
speak) than all the miracles that our books record.
3. But some people may say that the ancient Jews
and Pagans, who so readily believed in magical arts and
the power of demons, must have been very weak and
credulous men ; and that therefore they may have given
credit to tales of miracles without making any careful
inquiry. Now there is, indeed, no doubt that they were
weak and credulous ; but this weakness and credulity
would never have led them to believe what was against
their early prejudices, and expectations, and wishes:
quite the contrary. The more weak and credulous any")
man is, the harder it is to convince him of anything that \/
is opposite to his habits of thought and inclinations. (
He will readily receive without proof anything that falls
in with his prejudices, and will be disposed to hold out
against any evidence that goes against them.
Now all the prejudices of the Jews and Pagans were
against the religion that Jesus and his Apostles taught ;
and, accordingly, we might have expected that the most
credulous of them should have done just what our histo
ries tell us they did ; that is, resolved to reject the re
ligion at any rate, and readily satisfy themselves with
some weak and absurd way of accounting for the mira
cles. But credulous as they were about magic, the
enemies of Jesus would never have resorted to that pre-
220 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES.
tence, if they could have denied the facts. They would
certainly have been more ready to maintain, if possible,
that no miracles had taken place, than to explain them
as performed by magic ; because this pretence only
went to make out that Jesus, notwithstanding his mira
cles, might possibly not come from God ; whereas, if
they could have shown that He or his Apostles had at
tempted to deceive people by pretended miracles, this
would at once have held them up to scorn as impostors.
4. We read in the Gospel of John (chap, ix.),
that the Jewish rulers narrowly examined into the re
ality of a miracle performed by Jesus, on a man that
was born blind. This is exactly what we may be sure
must have been clone in the case of other miracles
also; and if the enemies of Jesus could have suc
ceeded in detecting and exposing any falsehood or
trick, they would have been eager to do so ; because
they would have been thus sure to overthrow his pre
tensions at once.
It is plain, therefore, that the weakness and credulity
of the people of those days would be very far from dis
posing them readily to give credit to miracles in favor
of a religion that was opposed to their prejudices ; and
that, on the contrary, such persons would be likely, some
of them obstinately, to reject the religion, and others
only gradually and slowly to receive it, after having
carefully searched the ancient prophecies, and found that
these went to confirm it. Now this is just the account
that our histories give.
It appears certain, then, that the unbelieving Jews
and Pagans of those days did find it impossible to throw
any doubt on the fact of the miracles having really been
MIRACLES. 221
performed ; because that would have enabled them
easily to expose Jesus to contempt as an impostor.
Their acknowledging the miracles, and attributing them
to magic, as the unbelieving Jews do to this day, shows
that the evidence for them, after the strictest scrutiny by
the most bitter enemies, was perfectly undeniable, at the
time and place when they were said to be performed.
19*
LESSON VII.
MIRACLES. PART III.
1. THERE are persons, some of whom you may, per
haps, meet with, who, though they are believers in Chris
tianity, yet will not allow that the miracles recorded in
Scripture are any ground for their belief. They are
convinced (they will tell you) that Jesus Christ came
from God, because " never man spake like this man."
They find the religion so pure and admirable in itself,
and they feel it so well suited to their wants, and to the
wants of all mankind, and so full of heavenly wisdom
and goodness, that they need no other proof of its be
ing from heaven ; but as for miracles, these (they will
tell you) are among the difficulties to be got over : they
believe them as a part of the religion, from finding them
recorded in the Bible ; but they would have believed
the Gospel as easily, or more easily, without them.
The miracles (they will say) were indeed a proof to
those who lived at the time, and saiv them ; but to us
of the present day, who only read of them, they are a
part of our faith, and not a part of the evidence of our
faith. For it is a greater trial of faith, they say, to be
lieve in such wonderful works as Jesus is said to have
performed, than to believe that such wise and excellent
doctrine as He delivered was truly from heaven.
MIRACLES. 223
Now there is indeed much truth in a part of what
these persons say ; but they do not take a clear view
of the whole subject of evidence. It is indeed true,
that there is, as they observe, great weight in the in
ternal evidence (as it is called) of Christianity ; that is,
the reasons for believing it from the character of the
religion itself. The more you study it, the more
strongly you will perceive that it is such a religion as
no man would have been likely to invent ; and of all
men, a Jew most unlikely. But there are many differ
ent kinds of evidence for the same truth ; and one kind
of evidence may the most impress one man s mind, and
another another s. And, among the rest, the Christian
miracles certainly are a very decisive proof of the truth
of Christ s religion to any one who is convinced (as you
have seen there is reason to be) that they really were
wrought. Of course, there is more difficulty for us in
making out this point, than there was for men who lived
at the same times and places with Jesus and his Apos
tles ; but when this point has been made out, and we do
believe, the miracles, they are no less a proof of the re
ligion to us than to those early Christians.
2. It is quite a mistake to suppose that the diffi-
culty of proving any fact makes that fact, when it is
proved, a less convincing proof of something else. For
example, to take an instance formerly given, those
who live in the neighborhood of the places where great
beds of sea-shells are found near the tops of hills, and
have seen them there themselves, are convinced by this
that at some time or other those beds must have been
under the sea. Now a person who lives at a distance
from such places has more difficulty than those on the
224 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES.
spot, in making out whether there are any such beds of
shells. He has to inquire of travellers, or of those who
have conversed with them ; and to consult books, and
perhaps examine pieces of the rock containing some of
the shells ; but when once he is fully satisfied that there
are such beds of sea-shells, this is just as good a proof
to Jlim as to the others, that the sea must have formerly
covered them.
And so also, in respect of the Christian miracles.
The difficulty we may have in deciding whether they
were really wrought, does not make them (when we
are convinced that they were wrought) a less decisive
} proof that the Christian religion is from God.
But as for the difficulty of believing in anything so
strange and wonderful as those miracles, you should re
member, that every difficulty (as was observed before)
should be weighed against that on the opposite side.
Now, the difficulty of believing the miracles recorded
in our sacred books is much less than the opposite
difficulty of believing that the Christian religion was
established without miracles. That a Jewish peasant
should have overthrown the religion of the civilized
world, without the aid of any miracles, is far more mi
raculous, at least, more incredible, than anything
that our books relate ; and it will appear still more in
credible, if you remember that this wonderful change
was brought about by means of an appeal to miracles.
Jesus and his Apostles did certainly profess to display
miraculous powers in proof of their being sent from
God ; and this would have been the greatest hin-
derance to their propagating a new religion, if they
had really possessed no such powers; because this
MIRACLES. 225
pretence would have laid them open to detection and
ridicule.
3. But there is a distinction between our religion
and all others, which is often overlooked. Almost all
religions have some miraculous pretensions connected
with them ; that is, miracles are recorded to have been
wrought in support of some Pagan religion, among peo
ple who already believed it. But you will not find that
any religion except ours was ever introduced and in
troduced among enemies by miraculous pretensions.
Ours is the only faith that ever was FOUNDED on an
appeal to the evidence of miracles. And we have every
reason to believe that no such attempt ever did or
could succeed, if the miracles were not really performed.
The difficulty, therefore, of believing that the Christian
religion was propagated by means of miracles, is noth
ing in comparison of the difficulty of believing that it
could have been propagated without any.
Indeed, we have every reason to believe, that many
more miracles must have been performed than are par
ticularly related. Several particular cases, indeed, of
our Lord s miracles were described ; but, besides these,
we are told, in various places, of great multitudes of
sick people being brought to him, and that " He healed
them all." (Matt. xii. 15 ; xix. 2.) So also, besides
particular miracles related as done by the Apostles,
(Acts ii. 33; iii. 7; ix. 33; xiii. 11; xiv. 8; xxviii.
5,) we are told, generally, of their not only performing
many miracles, (Acts viii. 6; xix. 11,) but also bestow
ing miraculous powers on great numbers of disciples.
(Acts vi. 5, 8 ; x. 44 ; xix. 6.) And we find St. Paul,
in one of his Epistles, speaking of it as a thing famil-
226 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES.
iarly known, that miracles were " the sign of an Apostle."
(2 Cor. xii. 12.) And in all these books we find mira
cles not boastfully dwelt on, or described as something
unusual, but alluded to as familiarly known to the per
sons to whom the books were familiarly addressed ; that
is, to the Christians of those days.
4. But besides the accounts given in the Christian
Scriptures, we might be sure, from the very nature of
the case, that the Apostles could never have even gained
a hearing, at least among the Gentiles, if they had not
displayed some extraordinary and supernatural power.
Fancy a few poor Jewish fishermen, tent-makers, and
peasants going into one of the great Roman or Grecian
cities, whose inhabitants were proud of the splendid
temples, and beautiful images of their gods, which had
been worshipped time out of mind by their ancestors ;
they were proud, too, of their schools of philosophy,
where those reputed the wisest men among them dis
coursed on the most curious and sublime subjects, to the
youth of the noblest families ; and then fancy these Jew
ish strangers telling them to cast away their images as
an abominable folly, to renounce the religion of their
ancestors, to reject with scorn the instructions of their
philosophers, and to receive instead, as a messenger
from heaven, a Jew, of humble station, who had been
put to the most shameful death. How do you think
men would have been received who should have made
such an attempt as this, with merely such weak human
means as preaching ? You cannot doubt that all men
would have scorned them, and ridiculed or pitied them
as madmen.
5. As for the wisdom and purity and sublimity of
MIRACLES. 227
the religion of the Gospel, this might have gained them
some attention, not, indeed, among the mass of the
people, who were too gross to relish or perceive this
purity and wisdom, but among a very few of the bet
ter sort, if once they could be brought to listen to the
description of the religion. And this, perhaps, they
might have done if it had been taught by some Greek
or Roman philosophers, famous for knowledge and wis
dom. But the Gospel was preached by men of a
nation which the Greeks and Romans looked down
upon as barbarian ; and whose religion, especially, they
scorned and detested for being so different from their
own. And not only did the Apostles belong to this de
spised nation, but they were the outcasts of that very
nation, bein^ rejected and abhorred by the chief part of
their Jewish brethren.
If, therefore, they had come among the Gentiles teach
ing the most sublime religious doctrine, and trusting
merely to the excellence of what they taught, it is im
possible they should have even had a hearing. It is
not enough to say that no one would have believed
them ; but no one would even have listened to them, if
they had not first roused men s serious attention by
working (as we are told they did) " remarkable [special]
miracles." (Acts xix. 11.)
6. Afterwards, indeed, when the Gospel had
spread, so as to excite general attention, many men
would be likely to listen to the preaching of it even by
persons who did not pretend to miraculous power, but
who merely bore witness to the miracles they had seen ;
giving proof, at the same time, that they were not false
witnesses by their firmness in facing persecution. And
228 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES.
this was certainly a good ground for believing their tes
timony. For though men may be mistaken as to the
opinions which they sincerely hold, they could not be
mistaken as to such facts as the Christian miracles, of
which they professed themselves eyewitnesses; as the
Apostles, for instance, were of their Master s resurrec
tion. And it is not to be conceived that men would
expose themselves to dangers and tortures and death in
attesting false stories, which they must have known to
be false. If there had been any well-contrived impos
ture in respect of pretended miracles, it is impossible but
that some persons at least, out of the many hundreds
brought forward as eyewitnesses, would have been in
duced by threats, tortures, or bribes to betray the im
posture.
There were many, therefore, who received the Gos
pel and with good reason on such testimony as
this, as soon as they could be brought to listen to and
examine it. But, in the first instance, the Apostles
could not have brought any of the Gentiles, at least, to
listen to them, if they had not begun by working evident
miracles themselves. A handful of Jewish strangers,
of humble rank, would never have obtained a hearing
among the most powerful and most civilized and proud
est nations of the world, if they had not at first roused
their attention by the display of some extraordinary
powers.
LESSON VIII.
WONDERS AND SIGNS.
1. IT is plain, for the reasons which have been put
before you, that the Apostles must have roused men s
attention, and gained themselves a hearing, by perform
ing as our books tell us they did many wonderful
works. And these works, as well as those of Jesus,
which they related, must have been such as to admit of
no mistake either about the facts or about their being
really superhuman. Else, surrounded as they were by
enemies, and with men s prejudices opposed to them, it
seems impossible they could have been believed, or even
attended to. If, for instance, there were a report of
some sick men having been miraculously cured by them,
but such a report as to leave a doubt either as to the
fact of the cure having taken place, or as to the manner
of the cure, that is, whether the man might not have
recovered by natural means, any such doubt would
have been enough to have shut men s ears against
them.
And besides this, it was necessary that the miracles
should be both so numerous and so various in kind as to
exceed the powers generally supposed to belong to magi
cians. For most persons seem to have thought that a
magician might, through the aid of demons, be enabled
20
230 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES.
to perform some miracles, and not others of a different
kind. We find it related, accordingly, that Jesus not
only healed the lame and blind and sick, some present
and some absent, grown persons and children, but also
raised the dead, fed a multitude with a few loaves, stilled
the waves and winds at his bidding, blasted a tree at his
word, changed water into wine, &c. And this seems to
have been no more than a necessary condescension to
the weakness of men s minds in those days. They did
not at once conclude that he must be a true prophet
from his working one miracle ; but said, " When [the]
Christ cometh, will he do more miracles than these
which this man doeth? " (John vii. 31.) So also Nico-
demus says, not "No man can do any miracles," but
" No man can do these miracles which thou doest, ex
cept God be with him." (John iii. 2.) And the disci
ples, who had witnessed so many miraculous cures, were
astonished, we are told, at finding that Jesus had a
command over the storm. " What manner of man is
this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?"
(Matt. viii. 27.)
And we find the same variety also in the miraculous
gifts possessed by the Apostles, and bestowed by them
on other Christians (as you may see in 1 Cor. xii. and
elsewhere).
2. You should observe, too, that it would not have
satisfied men s minds merely to see some extraordinary
occurrence, unless it were also something plainly done
by the Apostles, as a sign, testifying that they were di
vine messengers. It would have been impossible for
them, in the midst of adversaries, to take advantage of
some remarkable event, calling it a miracle, and to ex
plain it so as to favor their own pretensions.
WONDERS AND SIGNS. 231
This has often been done, indeed, in support of some
religion, or some doctrine, which men already believe, or
are inclined to believe. The Pagans were, many of
them, ready enough to attribute anything wonderful to a
miraculous interference of Jupiter or some of their other
gods. And so, also, Mohammed easily persuaded his
followers that some of his victories were miraculous,
and that God sent angels to fight for him. He was a
great warrior, and his followers, being full of enthusiasm,
and eager for conquest, glory, and plunder, often defeat
ed a very superior force of their enemies, and gained
victories, which may be rightly called wonderful, though
not more wonderful than several which have been gained
by others. It is not strange, therefore, that Mohammed
should easily have persuaded them that their victories
were miraculous, and were a proof that God was on
their side.
3. In all times, indeed, men are to be found who
call any extraordinary event miraculous, and interpret it
so as to favor their own views and prejudices. If a
man s life is preserved from shipwreck, or any other dan
ger, in a remarkable manner, many people speak of it
as a miraculous escape. Or if a man loses his life in
a remarkable manner, or a plot is discovered by some
curious train of circumstances, or, in short, if any ex
traordinary event takes place, there are persons who at
once will call it a miraculous interference, and a sign of
the Divine favor or displeasure towards some of the par
ties concerned.
4. But it is very rash to pronounce in this manner
as to any remarkable event that occurs. A mere won
derful occurrence, of itself, proves nothing ; but when a
232 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES.
man does something that is beyond human power to do,
or foretells something beyond human foresight, and makes
this a testimony of his coming from God, it is then, and
then only, that he is properly said to offer a miraculous
proof. And accordingly the works performed by Jesus
and his Apostles are called in Scripture, not merely (as
they really were) Miracles (that is, wonders), but Signs ;
that is, miraculous evidence. (Mark xvi. 20.)
For instance, that a violent storm should suddenly
cease, and be succeeded by a complete calm, is some
thing extraordinary ; but of itself proves nothing. But
when the disciples heard Jesus give his command, and
rebuke the wind and waves, which immediately became
still, they justly regarded this as a sign that God was
with him. (Matt. viii. 2G.) So also, that a person
seemingly dead should suddenly revive and rise up, is in
deed a wonderful event ; but, of itself, is merely a won
der. But when Jesus told the child of Jairus, (Luke viii.
54,) and the widow s son of Nain, (Luke vii. 14,) to rise
up, and each of them did so at his word, these became
proofs of his divine mission. These were among the
" works which," as he said, " bore witness of Him."
Again, if any one who is opposing some particular relig
ious sect or system, should suddenly lose his eyesight, it
would be very presumptuous to pronounce at once that
he was struck blind as a divine judgment. But when
St. Paul rebuked Klymas, and declared that the hand of
the Lord was upon him, and that he should become blind,
and immediately a darkness did fall upon him, (Acts
xiii. 10, 11,) the Roman governor justly regarded this
as a sign ; and believed accordingly in what Paul was
teaching.
WONDERS AND SIGNS. 233
5. Anything wonderful, in short, is then (and then
only) a miraculous sign, when some one performs or
foretells it, in a manner surpassing human power, so as
to make it attest the truth of what he says. And this
may fairly be required of any one professing to be a
messenger from Heaven. For if a stranger were to
come to you professing to bring a message from some
friend of yours, you would naturally expect him to show
you that friend s handwriting, or some other such token,
to prove that he really was so sent. And so also, when
a man comes to this country as an ambassador from some
other country, he is required first to produce his " cre
dentials" as they are called ; that is, papers which prove
that he is no impostor, but is really commissioned as an
ambassador. And it is equally right, that men profess
ing to bring a message immediately from God should be
required to show what may be called their "creden
tials"; that is, such miraculous powers as God alone
could have bestowed, as a sign or token, to prove the
reality of their divine commission.
6. But credulous and superstitious people often
overlook this rule ; and are ready to interpret as a mi
raculous sign any remarkable occurrence, such as a
victory, or a famine, or a thunder-storm, or a sudden re
covery from sickness, or the like, when these are so
explained as to favor, or at least not oppose, their preju
dices, and the religious belief they are already inclined
to. The Apostles, however, found no such prejudices in
their favor. They would never have been allowed to
explain in their own way anything strange that might
happen. On the contrary, all the superstitious credulity
of the people was opposed to them. And instead of
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234 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES.
men s being ready to cry " Miracle ! " when anything
extraordinary occurred, and to interpret it in favor of
Christianity, the Apostles found the most credulous men
disposed rather to attribute the Christian miracles to
magic.
In order to gain converts, therefore, or even to obtain
a hearing, they must have shown (as our books tell us
they did) many mighty works, evidently performed by
them, as " the Signs of an Apostle."
LESSON IX.
SUMMARY OF EVIDENCES.
1. How comes it that some persons pretend that an
ordinary Christian cannot be taught to understand the
evidence for their religion, but must be content to take
it for granted, as the Pagans do theirs, because they
have been brought up to it ? It is because, when they
speak of " the evidences of Christianity," they mean all
the evidences. And certainly, to be well acquainted
with all of these, would be enough to occupy the whole
life of a studious man, even though he should devote
himself entirely to that study. Indeed, to go through
ah 1 the books that have been written on the subject, and
to examine and thoroughly master all the arguments on
both sides that have ever been brought forward, would
be more than any one man could accomplish, even if he
had nothing else to do. But there are things which you
may have very good reasons for believing, though you
may not know a tenth part of the proofs of them that
have been, or might be, produced. For instance, you
may have good grounds for believing that there is such
a city as Rome, and that it was formerly the capital of a
mighty empire, of which Britain was one of the prov
inces. But all the evidence that might be brought
forward in proof of this would be enough to occupy a i
236 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES.
learned man for many years, if he were to examine it
thoroughly. It is sufficient in any case, if we have
enough evidence to warrant our belief; even though
there should be much more evidence of the same thing
besides, which we have not examined. Although, there
fore, the generality of Christians cannot be expected to
know the whole, or nearly the whole, of the proofs of
their religion, that is no reason against their seeking,
and obtaining, proofs enough to convince a reasonable
mind.
Even that small portion of the evidences you have
now been learning, is perhaps more than sufficient for
this purpose ; though it is but a part even of what any
man is able to understand.
2. It is certain that Christianity now exists; and
that Jesus Christ is acknowledged as Lord and Master,
(in words, at least,) among all the most civilized people
of the world. It is certain, too, that this cannot have
been always the case ; but that Christianity must have
been introduced, by some means or other, among the
Jews and Pagans ; who must have had some reasons
that appeared to them very strong, to induce them to
change the religions they had been brought up in.
You know, also, that this great revolution in the
religion of the world was begun by a person of humble
rank, in one of the least powerful and least esteemed of
the ancient nations. It was not a mighty warrior, or a
rich and powerful prince, or a learned philosopher, but
a Jewish peasant, that brought about this wonderful
change. And you are sure, accordingly, that no one,
whether friend or enemy, can reasonably doubt that
Jesus of Nazareth is at any rate the most extraordinary
SUMMARY OF EVIDENCES. 237
and most important personage that ever appeared in
the world.
3. Again, you have seen that there is good reason
to be certain that Jesus and his Apostles propagated
their religion by an appeal to miracles; that is, that
they professed to perform works beyond human power,
as a sign of their being messengers from God. And
no one has ever been able to point out any other way
in which they did, or could, introduce the religion. Nor
can we conceive how a few Jewish peasants, without
power, or wealth, or learning, or popular prejudice on
their side, could have been, at first, either believed or
listened to, if they had not begun by appealing to the
testimony of miraculous signs. Now this would have
been no help, but a hinderance to their preaching, if
their pretensions to superhuman powers had not been
true; because, surrounded as they were by adversa
ries, and men prejudiced against them, any attempt at
imposture would have been detected, and would have
exposed them to general scorn. And, accordingly, it
does not appear that any of the Pagan religions in
short, any religion except ours ever was first intro
duced and established among adversaries by an appeal
to the evidence of miracles.
We have good grounds for believing, therefore, that
the people of those times, even the enemies of Chris
tianity, found it impossible to deny the fact of the mira
cles being wrought (see Acts iv. 16) ; and thence were
driven to account for them as the work of evil spirits.
And this we find recorded, not only in the writings of
Christian authors, but also in those of Jewish and Pagan
adversaries.
238 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES.
- 4. We find accounts, too, in the works of Pagan
writers, as well as in the New Testament, of the severe
persecutions which great numbers of the early Chris
tians had to encounter. And this furnishes a proof of
their sincerely believing not only the truth of their
religion, but also the miracles which many of them
professed to have seen, and in which they could not
have been mistaken. For, if these miracles had been
impostures, it is incredible that such numbers of men
should have exposed themselves to dangers and hard
ships to attest the truth of them, without any one being
induced by suffering (and this though some of them
were driven to renounce Christianity) to betray the
imposture.
^5. That the works of these writers have really
jcome down to us, and that the general sense of them
is given in our translations, you have good reason to
be convinced, even without understanding the original
languages, or examining ancient manuscripts. You
need not take the word of a scholar for this, or feel
such full confidence in the honesty of any two or three
learned men, as to trust that they would not deceive
you in anything, and to believe on their authority.
There is, and has been, so great a number of learned
men, in various countries and ages, some opposed to
Christianity, and others, Christians of different sects,
opposed to each other, that they never could have
agreed in forging a book, or putting forth a false trans
lation. On the contrary, any supposed mistake or
fraud of any one of them, the rest are ready to expose.
i So that there is no reasonable doubt as to anything in
which they all agree.
SUMMARY OF EVIDENCES. 239
And this, you have seen, is the same sort of evidence
on which most men believe that the earth is round,
that there is such a city as Rome, and many other
things which they have not themselves seen, but which
rest on the uncontradicted testimony of many indepen
dent witnesses.
6. You have seen also, that, in respect of the books
of the Old Testament, there is this very remarkable
circumstance, that they are preserved with the utmost
care and reverence by the Jews, who reject Jesus
Christ, although these books contain what appear to
Christians most remarkable prophecies of Him.
And it was pointed out to you, that there are many
parts of these prophecies of which we see the fulfilment
before us, though the early Christians did not ; namely,
that a religion should arise among the Jews, which
would have a wide spread among the Gentiles, but yet
that it should be a new religion, not the same as taught
by Moses ; and that this religion should spring, not from
the whole nation, but from one individual of that nation,
and He a person despised, rejected, and persecuted even
to death by his own people.
All this, which is so unlike what any one would have
foretold from mere guess, but which we see has actually
come to pass, is prophesied in books which enemies of
Christianity (the unbelieving Jews of this day) rever
ence as divinely inspired.
Now if you reflect attentively on all these heads of
evidence which you have been learning, and of which
this short summary has just been put before you, you
will perceive that even a portion of it might be fairly
considered as a strong reason to be given of the hope i
240 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES.
that is in you ; but that, when you take the whole of it
together, it is sufficient to satisfy any reasonable mind.
For to believe that so many marks of truth should be
brought together by chance, or by man s contrivance, in
favor of a false story, to believe this, I say, would
be much greater credulity than to believe that the Gos
pel really was from God.
7. These marks of truth, you should observe, are
(as has been said) a vast deal stronger when taken
together, and confirming each other. For each of the
separate proofs may be regarded as a distinct witness.
And when several independent witnesses give the same
evidence, their agreement may prove the matter com
pletely, even when no one of those witnesses is, by himself,
deserving of confidence. Suppose, for instance, that one
out of several men none of them much to be relied
on gives a particular account of some transaction
which he professes to have seen : you may think it not
unlikely that he may have invented the story, or have
dreamed it : but then, if his account is confirmed by an
other, and another, of these men, who, you are sure,
could have had no communication with the first, you
then conclude that it must be true ; because they could
not have chanced, all of them, to invent the same story,
or to have the same dream. And so it is, when you
have a number of different marks of truth meeting to
gether, as they do, in the Gospel History. Even if
each of these, taken separately, had much less force
than it actually has, it would be infinitely unlikely that
they should all happeen to be found united in a false
!. story.
8. These arguments, however, have been laid be-
SUMMARY OF EVIDENCES. 241
fore you very briefly; and hereafter, if you will study <
them at leisure, and dwell upon them more fully, in
your own mind, and in conversation with others, you
will see the force of them still more and more.
But though these arguments are enough to satisfy
you that an ordinary Christian, who does not pretend to
be a learned man, may yet believe in his religion on
better grounds than the Pagans have for believing
theirs, there are many other arguments besides ; some
of which are quite within the reach of the unlearned.
In particular, what is called the internal evidence of
Christianity, that is, the proof drawn from the character
of the religion itself, and of the Christian Scriptures,
is a kind of evidence which you will find more and
more satisfactory the more you reflect on and study the
subject, if you endeavor at the same time sincerely to
act up to the knowledge you acquire, and to be the
better for it in your life.
21
LESSON X .
INTERNAL EVIDENCES. PART I.
1. IF the Christian Religion was not from God, it
I must have been from Man. It must have been a " cun
ningly devised fable" of artful impostors, or else a
dream of crazy enthusiasts, or some mixture of these
two, if it was not really, what it professed to be, a divine
revelation.
To examine then the internal evidence, is to inquire
which of these is the most likely supposition, looking to
the character of the Gospel itself ; to consider whether
the religion itself, and the Christian Scriptures, seem
more likely to have proceeded from the -God of truth, or
from mere men, who were either designing impostors,
or wild enthusiasts.
Now, it may be said, that we are very imperfect
judges of the question what is likely to have come from
God, since we have such a faint and imperfect knowl
edge of Him ; so that we cannot decide with any con
fidence what we ought to expect in a divine revelation.
This is very true. But you should remember that the
question is not whether Christianity seems to us likely,
in itself, to have come from God, and is just such as we
should have expected a divine revelation to be ; but
whether it is more likely to have come from God, or
INTERNAL EVIDENCES. 243
from Man ? For we know that the religion does exist ; I
and therefore we have to consider not merely whether
it is like what might be looked for in a true revelation
from God, but also whether it is unlike what might be
looked for in the work of human impostors or enthu
siasts ?
2. Now, this is a question of which we are able to
judge ; because we have, or may acquire, such a knowl
edge of human nature as to decide, on good grounds,
what is likely to have proceeded from man s device.
And the more you learn of mankind, and of the works
of various writers, and, again, the more you study the
Christian religion, the more you will see how different it
is from any religion that mere men (and particularly
Jews) would have been likely to contrive.
A great part of this internal evidence is such, as to
require some experience and knowledge of the world,
and reflection, as well as acquaintance with the Scrip
tures, to enable any one to take it in properly. But
still there are several internal marks of truth that
may be pointed out ; which, though but a small part of
what you may hereafter find, are yet of great impor
tance.
3. For example, if the Christian religion had been
contrived and propagated by a number of designing
men, in such a way as would have seemed to them the
best suited for gaining converts, you may be sure that
they would naturally have put forth some book purport
ing to be written by Jesus himself, laying down the
principles and precepts of his religion, and answering to
the books of the Law written by Moses. All men who
were at all disposed to listen to the preaching of the
244 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES.
Gospel, and to examine the Christian Scriptures, would
have been likely to inquire, in the first place, (as, no
doubt, many persons did,) for something written by the
very Founder of the new religion. If, therefore, there
had been any forgery, the forged books, or at least the
principal of them, would certainly have been attributed
to Jesus Christ as their author. And all that were not
attributed to Him would naturally have been published
with the names of the most distinguished and eminent
of his Apostles.
Now, the fact is, as you know, that, of all the Chris
tian Scriptures, there is no one book professing to be
written by Christ himself; and of the four Gospels,
there are only two that are attributed even to any of the
Apostles as the writers, St. Matthew s and St. John s ;
and, again, of these two, St. John alone is much distin
guished among the Apostles, very little being recorded
of St. Matthew in particular. The other two Gospels,
and also the book of Acts, which records the first prop
agation of Christianity, have come down to us as the
work of two men, who appear, indeed, to have been
companions of some of the most eminent of the Apos
tles, but who did not claim to be Apostles them
selves.
All this is just the reverse of what might have
been expected from crafty and designing men, seeking
to impose on the credulous for the purpose of gaining
converts.
4. You should remember, too, that if the books of
the New Testament, which contain accounts of so many
wonderful occurrences, were really published near the
very time when these occurrences were said to have taken
INTERNAL EVIDENCES. 245
place, the accounts in these books must be, substantially,
true ; because any material falsity would have been im
mediately exposed by the adversaries of Christianity.
And if, on the other hand, these books had been forged
a hundred or two hundred years later, and had been
falsely attributed to the authors whose names they bear,
we cannot doubt that some at least of those books would
have been attributed to the great Founder of the re
ligion himself.
And moreover, on that supposition, that is, suppos
ing the books to have been composed at a later period
than that of the Apostles, we should undoubtedly
have found in them the title of CHRISTIANS applied to
the believers in Jesus by themselves. For that title has
been so applied, in every age down to this day, by ah 1
Christian writers since the times of the Apostles. And
therefore there can be no doubt that any writer in the
second or third or fourth century, who was composing
pretended gospels and epistles, would have continually
called Christians by that very name which he and all
his neighbors had been accustomed so to employ.
But in all the books of the New Testament we do not
once find the title of Christians applied ly themselves to
one another. The word occurs but three times in the
New Testament ; in the llth chapter of Acts, in the
26th chapter of Acts, and in the 1st Epistle of Peter,
chapter 4 ; and in no one of these places is it thus em
ployed. It is mentioned as a name first given to the
disciples at Antioch in Syria ; doubtless by the Romans,
as the word is of Latin formation. King Agrippa,
again, uses the word in speaking to Paul ; and the
Apostle Peter introduces the word as denoting what
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246 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES.
was accounted a crime by the heathen rulers. " If any
man," says he, " suffer for being a Christian, let him not
be ashamed."
But addressing the Christians themselves, the Apostles
never call them by that name, but " believers " [or
"faithful" ], " elect " [or " chosen "], " saints " [or " holy"
that is, set apart and dedicated to God s service], " breth
ren" &c.
The reason why the Apostles always used these names
in preference to the new name of Christians probably
was in order to point out that Christianity was not so
much a new religion, as a continuation and fulfilment of
the old, and a completion of God s original design ; and
that all believers, whether Jews or Gentiles, were admit
ted to the same privileges only much enlarged
which had belonged to God s people Israel. Now the
Israelites are continually called in the Old Testament
Brethren," " a Holy People " [or Saints "], God s
" Chosen " [or " Elect "] People, &c. And hence it
was, no doubt, that the Apostles chose to confine them
selves to those titles.
After their time, when Jerusalem and its temple had
been destroyed, and the admission of Gentiles into the
number of God s people ceased to appear anything
strange, the Church consisting chiefly of Gentiles,
then Christians naturally adopted among themselves the
title which had long been in common use among the rest
of the world.
But whatever was the cause of the earliest Christians
abstaining from the use of that title, ilicfact that they
did so abstain is clear.
Here, therefore, you have a decisive INTERNAL PROOF
INTERNAL EVIDENCES. 247
of the antiquity of our sacred books. Had they been
composed at a later period than that of the Apostles, we
should have found in them the disciples continually ad
dressed by the name of Christians; which is, in fact,
never once so used.
5. Again, it is certain that, at the time when Jesus
appeared, the Jews were earnestly expecting a Christ
or Messiah (that is, an anointed Deliverer), who
should be a mighty prince, and free them from subjec
tion to the Romans, and make them a powerful nation,
ruling over all the Gentiles. And this is what is still
expected by the Jews at this day. Now, if Jesus and
his Apostles had been enthusiasts or impostors, or a
mixture of the two, they would most likely have con
formed to the prevailing expectations of the people.
They would have been likely to give out that the
" kingdom of heaven " which was " at hand " was a
glorious worldly empire, such as the Jews had fixed
their hopes on, instead of a " kingdom not of this world,"
which was what they did preach.
And we know that the several pretended Christs who
appeared a little before the destruction of Jerusalem,
and even after it, did profess, each, to come as a tempo
ral deliverer and conqueror, agreeably to the prevailing
notions.
Jesus and his disciples, on the contrary, not only pro
claimed no temporal kingdom, but did not even promise
any worldly success and prosperity to their followers ;
but told them that " in the world they should have trib
ulation." (John xvi. 33.) And this is the more re
markable, because the Jews had been always brought
up in the notion that worldly prosperity was a sign of
248 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES.
God s favor ; such being the rewards promised in the
Mosaic law. The hardships and afflictions in this life,
which men were told they must make up their minds to if
they became Christians, were not only disheartening, but
also likely to raise a prejudice in their minds against
Jesus and his disciples, as if they could not be really
favored by God ; according to the prophecy of Isaiah,
"We did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and
afflicted" (liii. 4).
All this, therefore, is what either impostors or enthu
siasts of any nation, but especially of the Jewish nation,
would have been very unlikely to teach.
6. Again, if the Apostles had been designing men,
willing to flatter the prejudices of the Jews for the sake
of making converts, but yet afraid of proclaiming Christ
as a temporal king and deliverer for fear of provoking
the Romans, they would at least have taught that the
Jews were to have a spiritual superiority ; that is, that
they were to be still God s peculiar people in a religious
point of view. They would have taught that Jerusalem
was still to be the Holy City, and that all men were to
come thither to worship and offer sacrifices in the Tem
ple, and were to observe all the laws of Moses, in order
to obtain God s favor. This would have been the most
acceptable doctrine to the Jews ; and what the Apostles,
being themselves Jews, would hardly have failed to teach
if the Gospel had been a scheme of their devising. And
accordingly we learn from the Acts, and from several of
St. Paul s Epistles (especially that to the Galatians),
that many of the Jewish converts did labor to bring the
Gentile Christians to the observance of the Mosaic law.
But the Apostles never would admit this doctrine ; but
INTERNAL EVIDENCES. 249
taught that the Gentile Christians were not to take up
on them the yoke of the Jewish law, and were perfectly
on a level with their Jewish brethren ; and that under
the Gospel, Jerusalem and its temple had no particular
sanctity.
Now all this is just the opposite of what might have
been expected of impostors or enthusiasts preaching a
religion of their own fancy or contrivance.
7. It is true, indeed, that to have given this pre-em
inence to the Jews, and their city and temple, though it
would have been flattering to the Jewish prejudices, and
might have been likely to allure converts of that nation,
would not have been so acceptable to the Gentiles as a
religion which should have put them on an equal footing
with the Jews. But if the Gospel had been artfully framed
to gratify and allure the Gentiles, it would at least have
one ordinance which would have been acceptable to the
Jews and Gentiles alike ; namely, the slaying of leasts in
sacrifice. In this point, the Jewish and all the different
Pagan religions agreed. Sheep and oxen were slain as
burnt-offerings, on the altars both of Jehovah and the
heathen gods. Indeed, it is a kind of worship so suit
able to men s notions, that it was revived, several ages
after, by the Mohammedans, who have a sacrifice of a
camel on certain festivals, as an ordinance of their re
ligion. But at the time when Christianity first arose,
neither Jew nor Pagan had ever heard of or conceived
such a thing as a religion in which no animals were
sacrificed. They had always been so accustomed to
these offerings, that they most likely regarded them as
essential to every religion, and were astonished and
shocked at finding that the Christian religion was with-
250 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES.
out them. And it is incredible that Christianity should
have been without them, if it had been a religion in
vented by men. It would never have entered into the
minds of its authors to make it an exception to all the
religions that existed, or that they had ever heard of;
and that, too, in a point which would be likely to shock
all men s feelings and prejudices.
The whole character, indeed, of the Christian religion
differs so widely, in many particulars, both from the
Jewish and from all the other religions which had ever
existed in the world, that one cannot conceive how any
men could, of themselves, have thought of any such
system, much less thought of it as likely to be well
received.
And the same may be said of the character of Jesus
himself, as drawn by the Evangelists. It is quite
unlike all that had ever before appeared, or been de
scribed or imagined.
8. Another point to be observed is this : that mere
men, seeking to propagate their religion in whatever
way they might think best, would naturally have been
so eager to make converts that they would not have
insisted very much on a strict moral life in those who
did not show great zeal in their Master s cause ; but
would have allowed active services to their party to
make amends for some neglect of other duties. Mo
hammed accordingly declared that the highest place in
the Divine favor belonged to those who fought bravely
in his cause. And in almost all sects and parties you
may see the same disposition in men to reckon zeal in
their cause as a virtue so great that it will excuse many
and considerable faults in private life.
INTERNAL EVIDENCES. 251
This mode of judging, which is so natural to man, is
just the opposite of what we find in Jesus Christ and
his Apostles. They not only taught their followers to
be pure and upright [righteous], and kind and humble,
but taught them also that nothing they could say or do
in the cause of the Christian faith could make up for
the want of these Christian virtues, or would be at all
accepted by their Master. He not only compares a man
who should hear his precepts without acting upon them
to one who " built a house on the sand," and reproaches
those who called him " Lord ! Lord ! " and " did not the
things which he said" (Matt. vii. 26, Luke vi. 46) ; but
He also declares that those who had " preached in his
name," and in his name even " done many wonderful
works," should be disowned and rejected by him if they
were " workers of iniquity." (Matt. vii. 22, 23.) And
the Apostles, in like manner, taught their converts that
their professing the Christian faith was a reason for re
quiring not the less, but the more, strictness of morals
from them (1 Cor. v. 11, 12); and that even the mi
raculous powers bestowed on them were worthless if
they had not that charity which is humble, gentle,
patient, and self-denying. (1 Cor. xiii.)
All this is what we might have expected from teach
ers sent from God. And experience shows how differ
ent it is from what might have been expected of mere
human teachers, acting according to their own judgment
and their natural feelings.
LESSON XI.
INTERNAL EVIDENCES. FART II.
1. You may observe, again, that the kind of moral
duty which Jesus and his Apostles taught was not
what was the most likely to gain them popularity with
their hearers. The Jews had a great deal of national
pride in being God s holy and peculiar people; they
looked on the Gentiles as unclean and outcasts, and
had a particular hatred and contempt for the Samaritans.
The Romans, again, were no less proud of their military
glory and political power ; and the Greeks, of their su
perior wisdom and refinement. And all were zealous
for the glory, and greatness, and superiority, each, of
his own country. It was not acceptable to any of these
to be taught to " love their enemies," to return good
for evil, to be humble and forgiving, patient under
persecution, gentle and kind to all men ; and, lastly,
to consider men of every race and every station as on
a level in respect to the Gospel promises ; and that, in
God s sight, there was to be " neither Greek nor Jew,
Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free." (Coloss. iii. 11.)
Moreover, party spirit ran very high among the
Jews, especially between the sects of the Pharisees
and Sadducees. Now, an enthusiast would have most
likely been a zealous partisan of one of these sects ;
INTERNAL EVIDENCES. 253
and a scheming impostor, if he did not join one of them,
would have been likely to aim at the favor of both, by
flattering each in turn, and gratifying each by exposing
the faults of their opponents. Jesus, on the contrary, in
his discourses to each party, sets before them their own
errors (Luke xi. 42, &c. ; xx. 27); and he does the
same in respect of the Jews and Samaritans. (Luke x.
33 ; John iv. 22.)
All this is worthy of a "Teacher sent from God,"
and is quite different from what we might expect of
mere human teachers.
2. Many men, it is true, would be ready to praise
and to recommend a life of greater purity and upright
ness than their neighbors, or they themselves, are ac
customed to practise. Several of the ancient heathen
philosophers wrote moral treatises containing some ex
cellent precepts, and describing a much higher degree
of virtue than was commonly found in the lives of the
Heathen generally, or even in the lives of those very
philosophers themselves. And if the New Testament
writers had been men of the higher and more educated
classes, accustomed to converse with the learned, and to
study philosophical works, instead of being mostly poor
and ignorant Jewish fishermen and artisans, it would
not have been wonderful that they should have taught
a higher degree of morality than what men in general
practised.
But the Gospel went beyond, not merely what men
practised, but what they approved. It was not merely
better than men s conduct ; but, in several points, con
trary to their principles. For instance, " to love one s
enemies," to return "good for evil," to be "meek
22
254 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES.
and lowly in spirit, " not easily provoked," but for
bearing, submissive, and long-suffering, all this was
not merely not practised by the ancient Heathen and
Jews, but it was not even admired; on the contrary, it
was regarded with scorn, as base and mean-spirited.
3. And what is more, even now we may often find
professed Christians, while they hold in reverence the
very books which teach such lessons, yet not only prac
tising, but approving, the very opposite. We may find
some who value themselves on a quick resentment of
affronts (calling it "indignation"), and in using what
they call " strong language" towards opponents ; that is,
reviling and insult. And even fierce strife and bitter
persecution will often be admired as " manly and spirited
conduct," and as a noble Christian zeal. And you will
find all this even in men who venerate the very Gospel,
which relates how Jesus rebuked his Apostles for offer
ing to call down fire from heaven on his enemies, and
told them that they " knew not what manner of spirit
they were of."
Since, then, Christianity is opposed, not only to men s
natural inclinations, but also, in some points, to their
ideas of what is dignified and praiseworthy, you may
see how incredible it is that scheming or ambitious men
should have contrived a religion which condemns, not
only men s conduct, but their principles.
4. Then, again, if you look to the style of writing
in the historical books (the four Gospels and the Acts),
you will observe that neither the miracles nor the suffer
ings of Christ or his Apostles are boastfully set forth,
and eloquently described and remarked upon ; as would
have been natural for writers desirous of making a
INTERNAL EVIDENCES. 255
strong impression on the reader. There is no endeavor
to excite wonder, or admiration, or compassion, or in
dignation. There is nothing, in short, such as we should
have expected in writers who were making up a mar
vellous story to produce an effect on men s feelings and
imaginations. The miracles performed, and the instan
ces of heroic fortitude displayed, are all related, briefly,
calmly, and dryly, and almost with an air of indifference,
as if they were matters of every-day occurrence, and
which the readers were familiar with. And this is, in
deed, one strong proof that the readers to whom these
books were addressed the early Christians really
were (as the books themselves give us to understand
they were) familiar with these things ; in short, that
the persecutions endured, and the signs displayed, by
the Apostles, really were, in those times and countries,
common and notorious.
You should observe, also, the candid and frank sim
plicity with which the New Testament writers describe
the weakness and faults of the disciples ; not excepting
some of the most eminent among the Apostles. Their
" slowness of heart " [that is, dulriess of understanding],
their want of faith [trust] in their Master, and their
worldly ambition and jealousy among themselves, are
spoken of without reserve, and as freely as the faults of
their adversaries.
5. This, and some of the other points in the New
Testament that have been noticed, would be very re
markable if met with in any one book ; but it is still
more so, when you consider that the same character
runs through all the books of the New Testament;
which are no less than twenty-seven distinct composi-
256 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES.
tions, of several different kinds, written apparently at
considerable intervals of time from each other, and
which have come down to us as the works of no less
than eight different authors. You might safely ask an
unbeliever to point out the same number or half the
number of writers in behalf of any Sect, Party, or
System, all of them, without a single exception, writing
with the same modest simplicity, and without any at
tempt to excuse, or to extol and set off themselves.
In this respect, and in many others, both the Chris
tian religion itself, and the Christian Scriptures, are to
tally unlike what they might have been expected to be,
if they had been from Man. TJiey appear too simple,
candid, and artless, to have come from impostors ; and
too calm, sober, and wise for enthusiasts. And yet, if
Christianity were the device of men, these men must
have been either the most deliberate, artful, and wicked
of impostors, or else by far the wildest and maddest set
of enthusiasts that were ever combined together ; since
they did not (as many crazy enthusiasts have done) ap
peal merely to their own inward feelings and their
dreams or visions, but to matters of fact coming under
the evidence of the senses ; in which none but a com
plete madman could be mistaken, and most of which
their adversaries were free to judge of as well as them
selves.
LESSON XII.
INTERNAL EVIDENCES. TART III.
1. THESE few heads, then, of internal evidence,
which have been here briefly sketched out, would
even alone furnish good reason for believing that the
Gospel did not, and could not, have come from Man ;
and that, therefore, it must have come from God. And
yet these internal marks of truth, which have been here
pointed out by way of specimens, are but a very small
part of what you may hereafter make out for yourself ;
and are not even selected as being the principal and the
most conclusive, but only as those which could the most
easily be put before you in a small compass. At some
future time, when your power of judging is improved,
you will feel the very character of our Saviour, as de
scribed in the Gospels, to be (as I have hinted to you)
one of the strongest proofs, and the most satisfactory
and delightful proof, of the truth of his religion.
But the moral excellence of his character, as drawn
by the Evangelists, is what could not be set forth, so as
to do justice to the argument founded on it, within a
small space. For it would be necessary to dwell at
some length on each of his sayings and acts, so as to
point out the kindness and tenderness of heart, the
persevering benevolence, the gentleness combined j
22*
258 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES.
5 with dignity and firmness, the active and unwearied,
yet calm zeal, with which He labored for the good of
mankind, and the other great and amiable qualities
which He displayed on so many occasions. And to do
this properly, would require a volume nearly as large as
the whole of this.
But you may, in a great measure, supply to yourself
such a work, by attentively reading and reflecting on,
with a view to the present argument, the Gospels them
selves ; and, especially, such passages as those referred
to below.*
2. In conducting for yourself such a study as we
have been suggesting, these three points should be at
tended to, and steadily kept before the mind.
First, The picture drawn by the Evangelists is,
evidently, an unstudied one. There is nothing in it of
the nature ofeulogium and panegyric. They do not seem
laboring to set forth and call attention to the excellence
of their Master s character. They do not break out in
to any exclamations of admiration of it ; and, indeed,
make hardly any remarks on it at all ; but simply relate
what He said and did.
Secondly, If they had had the inclination, they do
not seem to have had the ability, to draw a fictitious
character of great moral beauty, devised by their own
i imagination. They write like (what they were) plain,
unpractised authors, without learning, or eloquence, or
skill in composition.
Now let any one try the experiment of setting some
person, of great ability as a writer, to draw up a ficti-
* See Note A, at the end of this Lesson.
INTERNAL EVIDENCES. 259
tious narrative concerning some imaginary personage.
Let him enter into particular details as fully as the
Evangelists have done ; and let him do his best to paint
a character as consistent, and as morally beautiful, as
that of Jesus. You would see how imperfectly he would
succeed ; and how far he would fall short of the picture
drawn (and which must, therefore, be a real picture) by
untaught Jewish fishermen and peasants.
And what we have been saying is confirmed by cer
tain works commonly called the " Spurious Gospels " ;
of which some considerable portions have come down to
us. They seem to have been composed (some of them
as early as the fourth century) partly from invention,
and partly from some vague traditions that were afloat.
But they were never, as far as we can learn, received
by any Church as Scripture. These narratives profess
to give several particulars of the life of Jesus, es
pecially of his childhood, which are not to be found
in the genuine Gospels.
Now it is remarkable, that, though the writers evi
dently designed to raise admiration of our Lord, and
manifest that design very strongly, yet the picture they
draw of Him is, in many points, contemptible or odious ;
for instance, they represent Him as exercising, when a
child, miraculous powers, not for any purpose connected
with his ministry, but merely for his own amusement ;
as any ordinary child would be likely to do, if gifted
with such powers.
And He is also represented as so passionate and mis
chievous a child, that he miraculously struck dead
another boy for accidentally running against him.
In short, his character as given in these " spurious
2GO CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES.
Gospels " is quite a contrast to that given by each of
our four Evangelists. And the whole tone of the nar
ratives themselves : the spurious and the genuine is
no less contrasted.
- 3. Thirdly, You are to keep in mind that the
private moral character of Jesus is unimpeached even
by the opponents of his Gospel. None of them have
ever imputed to Him avarice, or cruelty, or any kind of
profligate sensuality. Now there is hardly any other
very eminent man of whom this can be said, however
groundless may be the charges brought against any of
them. Certainly, no man was ever so unimpeached in
character who had so many and such bitter enemies ;
enemies who would have been glad to get hold of any
story, however false, or even any suspicion, that could
i raise a prejudice against Him.
But even the Jews, in that book already mentioned
(Lesson V. 2), though they lavish on Him all the
most abusive epithets, yet do not charge Him with any
one immoral act, in his private life.
And you should keep in mind, among other things,
that this man, whose extraordinary purity of moral
character is thus strongly attested, did certainly profess
to be a heaven-sent messenger, and to possess miracu
lous powers. Now any one who can believe that one
whom he considers a good man would falsely put forth
such pretensions, deceiving his disciples, or suffering
them to deceive themselves, as to his miraculous powers,
and thus practising what is called a " pious fraud " (in
reality, an impious fraud) for the sake of spreading his
doctrines, any one who can believe this of one whom
he accounts a virtuous man, must be himself a person
of exceedingly low moral notions.
INTERNAL EVIDENCES. 261
But all that relates to our Lord s moral character is
a thing rather to be felt than described : and you will
feel it the more, and the better estimate the force of
the arguments drawn from it, in proportion to your
sincere desire and endeavor to conform your own char
acter to the purest and best pattern you can find.
The more, indeed, you learn of mankind, and of the
Gospel, and the more you study (with a sincere desire
to know what is true, and to do what is right) both
other books, ancient and modern, and also the Christian
Scriptures, the more you will perceive (as has been
above said) how unlikely the Christian religion is to
have been devised by man, and how well suited it is
to meet the wants of man, and to improve his nature.
4. But when you do come to perceive the force of
the internal evidence for the truth of Christianity, you
will find that, though it may be one of the reasons to
have, it will often not be the best to give. A great part
of this kind of evidence is better fitted to furnish a con
soling satisfaction to the mind of a believer, than to
convince an unbeliever. For there is much of the ex
cellence of the Christian religion that can only be
learned fully from experience. Sincere believers per
ceive in it a wisdom and purity and nobleness of charac
ter, which are not completely understood, nor thorough
ly liked and relished by any one, till he has become, in a
great degree, what the Christian religion is designed to
make him, till he has something of such a character
as the Gospel does not find in man, but forms in him.
And this seems to be that Christian experience which
the Apostles, especially St. John and St. Paul, often
appeal to as an evidence (not indeed to unbelievers, i
262 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES.
t who could not have had this experience, but) in ad
dressing their converts. " The Spirit itself " (says St.
Paul, Rom. viii. 1C) " beareth witness with our spirit,
that we are the children of God," &c.
It seems, indeed, to have been designed that man s
conscience should bear witness, not only against what is
wrong, but also in favor of what is right. And hence
a Christian who has for some time been laboring to con
form himself to the Gospel, and who finds his religious
notions becoming clearer, and that he is growing better,
and holier, and happier, gains by this an unexperi-
mental proof, which confirms the other proofs, of the
truth of his religion. His conscience testifies that he
is practically influenced and " led by the Spirit of
Christ"; and thus he is "filled" (as St. Paul says,
Rom. xv. 13) " with all joy and peace in believing."
And this is a kind of evidence which will become, to
such a Christian, stronger and stronger, the more he
" grows in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and
Saviour." But this proof, from personal experience, is
fitted (as has been said), not so much for the first con
version of an unbeliever, as for the confirmation of a
practical Christian ; because no one else can feel, or
L fully understand and value it.
,- 5. A life of genuine Christian virtue does, indeed,
meet with some degree of approbation from most men,
even though unbelievers ; and it appears, accordingly,
to have been, in the earliest times, a help towards the
conversion of some of them. (1 Peter ii. 12.) And it
is for you to bring before the minds of those you live
with, this kind of testimony to Christianity from its
moral excellence ; not so much by talking of it, as by
INTERNAL EVIDENCES. 263
setting it forth in your life, and " letting your light so
shine before men, that they may see your good works,
and glorify your Father which is in heaven." (Matt. v.
16.) But you must not expect that any one will com
pletely feel all the force of this kind of internal evidence
of Christianity, till he shall have become himself a be
liever, and a sincerely practical believer. It is not
easy to give a clear description of the inside of a well-
built and commodious house, to one who is on the out
side, and has never been in such a house, but always
lived in a tent, like the wild Arabs, or in a smoky,
slovenly hovel. But you may be able to point out to
him enough of what is on the outside to induce him
to come in ; and when he has done this, he will gradu
ally be able to judge for himself; and by the habits
of neatness, order, cleanliness, and decency which he
will be likely to acquire by living in such a house, will
gain more and more the power of perceiving the com-
modiousness of it. And so it is with the evidences of
Christianity. As soon as a man has seen enough, as he
easily may do, of good evidence, to convince him that it
is from God, if he will then be induced to come in, and
heartily embrace it, and endeavor to understand it,
and to apply it to himself, so as to be the better for it
in his life, he will then be rewarded by a fuller and
clearer view of many other evidences which he could
not at first take in. And such a person will thus ob
tain the fulfilment of that promise of our Master : " If
any man is willing to do [will do] the will of God, he
shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God.">
(John vii. 17.)
6. Great care should be taken not to misunderstand
264 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES.
what has just been said ; because you may hear from
some persons what appears, at the first glance, very like
.it, though in reality quite different. I mean, that you
may meet with persons who profess to despise and dis
like all that is commonly called "evidences for the
truth of Christianity " ; and who say, " Let a man but
feel the want of it, let him feel how suitable Chris
tianity is to the needs of such a being as man, how
it supplies such motives, and such guidance, and hopes,
and consolations, as human. nature requires ; and then
he will want no evidence to convince him of its truth " ;
with a great deal more to the same purpose.
Now, all this may seem at the first glance very
plausible; but, on reflection, you will perceive that it
is setting up Man each man for himself to be the
standard of Divine truth. On this principle, each one
is to receive as a revelation whatever religion suits his
own judgment of what is good, and his own wants, and
wishes, and tastes. Now, we know how widely men
differ from one another on these points, and what vari
ous and erroneous systems they are, accordingly, dis
posed to embrace. For instance, the Jews, at the time
when Jesus appeared, felt a want of a victorious and
mighty earthly deliverer, who should exalt their nation,
and reign in great worldly splendor. The kingdom of
Jesus, which was a " kingdom not of this world," and
which admitted " Gentiles to be fellow-heirs," was pre
cisely what they did not want. It did not at all suit
their hopes, and wishes, and habits of thought. And,
accordingly the greater part of them rejected Jesus, and
followed those false Christs who promised to lead
i them to victory over the Romans. Jesus, indeed, ap-
INTERNAL EVIDENCES. 265
pealed to the evidence of his mighty works, while those
false Christs produced no evidence at all, except the
suitableness of what they taught to the judgment, and to
the feelings and wants of the Jews. But most of the
Jews, acting on the very principle I have been speaking
of, disregarded evidence altogether, and gave themselves
up to their own feelings, resolving to believe what suited
them best.
In like manner, when Mohammed proclaimed him
self a prophet, though he produced no miraculous evi
dence, he was joined by a multitude of followers. His
religion suited a sensual, and gross-minded, and warlike,
and ambitious people. He promised them victory and
plunder in this world, and after death a paradise of
sensual enjoyments. And finding that such a religion
suited their tastes and wants, they embraced it without
seeking for any further evidence of its truth. The
Hindoos, again, and other Pagans, adhere to their own
religion without any evidence, and find it suitable to
their own wants and tastes.
And the same must be the case with all the most ex
travagant corruptions of Christianity that have arisen
from time to time ; such as that of the ancient Gnostics,
who thought to obtain immortal life without practising
moral virtue, and who had a taste for idle speculations
concerning the nature of God. No one of these corrupt
religions could ever have arisen at all, or have been re
ceived, if those who introduced it, and their followers,
had not felt a " want " of some such system.
It is plain, therefore, that the principle I have been
speaking of tends to lead men into an endless variety of
errors.
23
266 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES.
7. But the course I have been recommending is,
in reality, exactly the reverse of all this. Jesus tells us,
that if any man is willing and desirous to do the will of
his Heavenly Father, he shall know the truth of the
doctrine. You must begin, therefore, by a readiness to
follow not your own will, but the will of God ; and
to receive whatever shall appear to come from Him,
however contrary to your expectations or wishes. And
if in this temper of mind you proceed to examine those
evidences which Jesus and his Apostles appeal to, you
will see good reason for believing in the Gospel. And
then, if you embrace the Gospel, and labor to conform
your heart and your life to it, you will perceive that it
does suit the nature and the real wants of man. For
you will perceive that it tends to enlighten his judgment,
and to improve his moral taste, and to lead him to live
according to the best principles of his nature, and to
secure him the truest peace and comfort. And in pro
portion as you come to perceive all this, you will thus
obtain a strong additional confirmation of the truth of
Christianity.
But you will have obtained this, not by rejecting evi
dence, and resolving to conform your religious belief to
your own tastes and inclinations, but, on the contrary,
by striving to conform your own tastes and inclinations
to your religious belief.
8. Observe, then, that this last is a kind of evi
dence which all Christians ought to have, and will have,
more and more, in proportion as they fairly try the ex
periment of conforming themselves to the Gospel. Dif
ferent persons may have been led by different kinds of
proof to embrace the Gospel ; but when they have em-
INTERNAL EVIDENCES. 267
braced it, they may all hope for this confirmation of
their faith, by this further proof from experience. Sup
pose, for instance, some one should offer to several per
sons, suffering under a painful and dangerous disease,
some medicine, which he declared would relieve their
sufferings, and restore them to health ; it would be nat
ural and reasonable for them to ask for some testimony,
or other proof, to assure them of this, before they made
trial of the medicine : then suppose them all to be so
far convinced, some by one proof, and some by an
other, as to make trial of the medicine ; and that
they found themselves daily getting better as they took
it ; they would then have all of them an evidence
from experience, confirming the former proofs that had
originally brought them to make the trial.
But these persons, if they were wise, would be con
vinced of the virtues of the medicine, not from its being
immediately pleasant to the taste, or from its suddenly
exciting and cheering them up like a strong cordial ;
but from its gradually restoring their strength, and re
moving the symptoms of the disease, and advancing
them daily towards perfect health. So also Christian
experience, you should remember, does not consist in
violent transports, or any kind of sudden and overpow
ering impression on the feelings ; but in a steady, ha
bitual, and continued improvement of the heart and the
conduct.
9. "We do not say, you will observe, that you, or
other Christians, may not experience such sudden trans
porting impressions as those just alluded to. But it is
a settled habit, an improved and improving character,
that constitutes the Christian experience which we find
2G8 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES.
described and alluded to in the New Testament Scrip
tures ; which thus affords an additional internal evi
dence of their having been written by sober-minded
men.* For the Apostles, if they had been wild en
thusiasts, would have felt, and have taught their converts
to expect, the sudden excitement of vehement emotions ;
and would have referred to some immediate, single, and
momentary impression of that kind, as Christian ex
perience. But what they do teach, and perpetually im
press on us, is, " He that is Christ s hath crucified the
flesh, with the affections and lusts " ; the test they refer
to is a " growth in grace and knowledge," a calm,
gradual, and steady advancement in " bringing forth
fruit with Patience" (Luke viii. 15.) For " PA
TIENCE " (says St. Paul, Rom. v. 4) " worketh EXPERI
ENCE ; and Experience, Hope ; and Hope maketh not
ashamed ; because the love of God is shed abroad in
our hearts, by the Holy Ghost which is given unto
us."
NOTE A.
WITH regard to the passages here referred to, (and to which many
more might have been added,) you should observe that the picture
they form of our Lord s character cannot but be a correct one ; be
cause, if He had really been at all a different kind of man from
what He is represented, his enemies would not have failed to notice
and to take advantage of this. Now, not only do they never charge
Him with anything immoral, but He and his Apostles continually
\ appeal to all men s testimony as to the moral excellence of his char
acter, as a matter undeniable and notorious.
* See 2 Pet. i. 5 ; and 1 Thess. iv. 1 ; and Galat. vi. 9, &c.
INTERNAL EVIDENCES. 269
See John vii. 46 - 61, viii. 46, and x. 32 ; Matt. xxvi. 69, xxvii. 23, j
24; Luke xxiii. 13-15; Acts iii. 13, 14; 1 Peter ii. 21-23.
And it should be observed that this moral teaching is to be regard
ed as an appeal of this kind ; since, if He had been guilty of any such
moral wrong as He censured and rebuked, or had not been himself
a-model of the virtues He taught, his enemies would have been sure
to detect, and to reproach, his inconsistency.
His extensive BENEVOLENCE and Compassionateness are shown in
the following (and many other) passages: John iv. ; Luke ix. 55,
and x. 30-37; Mark vii. 26, &c., and x. 13-21 and 45-52; Matt.
ix. 36, c.; Luke xiii. 16, xiv. 12, &c. ; xxii. 50, 51, xxiv. 34; Matt,
xviii. 11, &c.
In reference to his kind and affectionate character, see John xi., xix.
25-27, &c.; Luke xix. 41, xxii. 61; Matt. xiv. 27-31.
For indications of MEEKNESS and Humility, see Matt. ix. 28, xviii.,
xxvi. 50; John xiii. 4, &c.; Matt. v. 1 - 12; Luke xxii. 24, &c.
For indications of MORAL COURAGE, firmness, and resignation,
Luke iv. 23, c., xiii. 31, &c., xviii. 29, c.; John xi. 7, &c.; Mark
x. 32, &c.; Matt. xxvi. 39-46; John xviii. 4, &c.
For indications of SINCERITY, and rebukes of the hypocrite and
the seeker after popularity, Matt. vi. 1 - 18, x. 16 - 39, xxii. 18, &c. ;
Mark xii. 38-40; Luke xi. 44, &c.; John xvi. 1-6.
For indications of MODERATION, and absence of all enthusiasm
and all affected austerity, Matt. xi. 19, xxiii. 23 ; Luke v. 29 - 35 ;
John ii. 1, &c. ; Mark xii. 17.
The passages above referred to contain a few out of many of the
indications of a part and only a part of the virtues of our
Lord s character. Many others will strike you in your perusal of
the Gospels with this view.
But this study will affect different persons very unequally, accord
ing to their oim character. Those of a low tone of moral sentiment
will be but little struck with the character of Jesus. Those of a
somewhat higher and purer mind will feel it more; especially if
they have also a considerable knowledge of mankind in general.
And one who is, like Nathanael, " an Israelite indeed, in whom
is no guile," will (mentally) exclaim, like him, " Eabbi, thou art the
Son of God ! thou art the King of Israel ! "
23*
LESSON XIII.
OBJECTIONS. PART I.
1. As there are persons who reject the Christian
religion, you may perhaps suppose that they have un
dertaken to refute the proofs of it ; and that they have
found answers, such as satisfy themselves, to the evi
dences and reasons on which it is believed ; or at least
to some of the principal of the reasons, such as have
been just put before you.
But you are not likely to meet with any one who will
undertake this. At least, no such attempt has been made
in any book that has been hitherto published. Unbe
lievers, though they have had nearly eighteen centuries
to try, have never yet been able to show, nor have they
even attempted to show, how it could be that so many
marks of truth should be found in the Gospel history,
supposing it false. Of these marks of truth, even that
portion (though far short of the whole) which have been
just laid before you are such as certainly never met to
gether, at least in any known false story ; and how it is
that they are found in the Gospel history, if that be not
true, has never been explained. No one has ever ex
plained in what way the first disciples of Jesus, circum
stanced as they were, succeeded, or could have succeed-
OBJECTIONS. 271
eel, in propagating, as we know they did, such a religion
as theirs, supposing it to be, not from God, but from
Man.
2. And yet many persons have written and spoken j
against Christianity How, then, have they proceeded ?
Instead of accounting for the introduction of Christian
ity by natural causes, and on the supposition of its being
a mere human device, they are accustomed to put for
ward various difficulties, and start objections against sev
eral points in the religion. And unlearned Christians
often find themselves hard pressed with these objections ;
and suppose that they are called upon either to find an
swers to everything that can be urged against the Chris
tian religion, and give a satisfactory solution of every t
difficulty that is pointed out, or else to abandon their
faith, or at least confess that they cannot defend it.
Now you have, indeed, been taught that it is a Chris
tian s duty to be " ready to give an answer to every one
that asks a reason of the hope that is in you." But
this is a very different thing from being prepared to an
swer every objection. If a person asks you why you
are a Christian, or on what grounds you may call on a
Pagan to embrace Christianity, this is quite a different
thing from his asking you, " How can you explain this ?"
" and how do you reconcile that ? " " and how do you re
move such and such difficulties ? "
3. I am not saying, you will observe, that no such
questions as these ought ever to be asked ; or that there
is no occasion to seek any answers to them ; but only that
they are not at all the same thing as the other question,
the inquiry for a reason of our Christian hope. And it
should also be observed, that it is not the most natural \
272 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES.
and reasonable way of examining any question to begin
with looking to the objections against any system, or
plan, or history, before we inquire into the reasons in its
favor. And yet it is thus that some people are apt to
proceed in the case of the Christian religion. Having
been brought up in it from childhood, and received it
merely as the religion of their fathers, they perhaps
meet with some one who starts objections against sever
al points ; and then they think themselves obliged to
find an answer to each objection, and to explain every
difficulty in the Gospel system, without having begun by
learning anything of the positive evidence on which it is
founded. And the end of this sometimes is, that their
4 minds are disturbed, and perhaps their faith overthrown,
before they have even begun to inquire into the subject
Lin the right way.
Some persons will advise you, for fear of having your
mind thus unsettled, to resolve at once never to listen
to any objections against Christianity, or to make any
inquiries, or converse at all on the subject with any
one who speaks of any doubts or difficulties ; but to
make up your mind, once for all, to hold fast the faith
you have been brought up in, on the authority of wiser
men than yourself, and never to attend to any reasoning
on the subject.
4. You have already seen, that if our forefathers
had gone upon this plan, we should at this day have
been Pagans like them ; and that if all the world had
proceeded thus when the Apostles first appeared, all
men would have kept to the religion of their fathers,
(as the chief part of the most learned and most power
ful among them did, see 1 Cor. i. 23,) and Christianity
OBJECTIONS. 273
would not have existed at all. And you ought to ob
serve, also, that when a learned man says that ordinary
Christians had better shut their ears against all doubts
and arguments, and be satisfied to take the word of the
learned for the truth of the religion, a suspicion is often
raised, that he does not really believe it himself, but
wishes to support it for the sake of the lower classes ;
and considers that the less they think, and reason, and
inquire, the less danger there is of their being undeceived.
Such appears to have been, generally, the state of
mind of the educated classes among the ancient Hea
then in respect to their religion. They thought it useful
for th vulgar to believe in the fables about their gods ;
and being aware that these would not stand the test of-
examination, they did not approve of any inquiry on
the subject.
5. But it is likely that many of those who discour
age ordinary Christians from using their reason on the
subject of Christian evidences, are not themselves unbe
lievers, but are merely timorous and distrustful, and see
the dangers on one side, while they overlook those on
the other. They see that there is a danger of men
making an ill use of their reason, which there certainly
is, as well as of any other gift. The servant in the par
able (Matt. xxv. 25, Luke xix. 20), who was intrust
ed with one talent, might have employed it ill, and lost
it ; but it was not therefore the safe course to lay it by
in a napkin. There is danger of the misuse of money,
or of food. We know that many shorten their lives by
intemperance. Yet food was bestowed for the support
of life, and not for its destruction. And so, also, God
has provided evidence to prove the truth of Christianity,
274 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES.
and has given us the faculty of reason, by which we
can understand that evidence ; and what is more, He
has expressly directed us (1 Peter iii. 15) to make that
use of the faculty. But in the use of all his gifts there
is danger; which we cannot escape without diligent
caution. And those who would guard men against the
danger of doubt and disbelief by discouraging the use
of reason, are creating a much greater danger of the
same kind, by the distrust which they manifest, by
appearing to suspect that their religion will not stand
^inquiry.
G. But is it, then, to be expected, that you should
be prepared to answer every objection that may be
brought against your religion? By no means. You
may have very good reason for believing something
against which there are many objections ; and objec
tions which you cannot answer, for want of sufficient
knowledge of the subject. In many other cases, besides
that of religion, there will be difficulties on both sides of
the question, which even the wisest man cannot clear
up ; though he may, perhaps, plainly see on which side
the greater difficulties lie ; and may even see good rea-
sons for being fully satisfied wliicli ought to be believed.
Thus, in the case before mentioned of the bed of sea-
shells found far above the present level of the sea, there
are strong objections against supposing either that the
sea was formerly so much higher than now, or that
those beds were so much lower, and were heaved up,
many hundred feet, to the height where they now lie.
And yet no one who has examined and inquired into
the subject has any doubt that those beds of shells do
exist, and must, at some former time, have been the
I bottom of a sea.
OBJECTIONS. 275
To take another instance : the astronomer Coper
nicus first taught, about three hundred years ago, that
the earth (which had formerly been supposed to be at
rest in the midst of the universe, with all the heavenly
bodies moving round it) travels round the sun in the
course of a year, and is, at the same time, turning also
on its own axis that is, rolling over like a ball
every twenty-four hours. This theory of his (which
has long since been universally admitted) was at first
met by many objections ; several of which, neither he,
nor any one else in those days, was able to answer.
Many years afterwards, when astronomy was better
understood, some objections were answered, and diffi
culties explained. But there were others of which no
explanation could be found till a very short time ago,
in the memory of many persons now living. Yet, long
before that time, notwithstanding the objections, there
was no one at all acquainted with the subject who had
any doubt of the earth s motion.
7. Again, it is perfectly well established, that aero
lites that is, stones from the sky have fallen in
various countries, and at different times, to a consider
able number. They are composed of iron, or a peculiar
kind of iron-stone, and are of all sizes, from a few
ounces to several hundred-weight. No explanation has
been given of them that is at all satisfactory. There
are strong objections against supposing them either to
have been thrown out by volcanoes in the moon, or to
be fragments torn off from some other planets, or to be
formed in the air. In future generations, perhaps,
when cheinistry and astronomy are much improved,
more may be known about these wonderful stones. 1
276 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES.
1 But, in the mean time, the fact of their having fallen is
so well attested by numerous witnesses, that, in spite of
all the difficulties, no one who has inquired into the
subject has any doubt the thi-ng has really occurred,
J however incredible it might have appeared.
r Then, again, if we look to human transactions, we
shall find several portions of history, even those which
no one has any doubt of, full of such strange events,
that difficulties might be pointed out in the accounts of
them, and strong objections raised against the history,
even when it rests on such satisfactory evidence as
to be believed in spite of those objections. In the
history, for instance, of Europe, for the last forty years,
there are many events so improbable in themselves,
especially all that relate to the wonderful rise, and
greatness, and overthrow, of the empire of Napoleon
Bonaparte, that it would be easy to find objections
sufficient to convince many persons that the history
could not be true, were it not that it is so well attested
as to be believed notwithstanding all the difficulties.
Numberless other examples might be brought, to
show how many things there are which men believe,
and believe on very good grounds, in spite of strong
and real objections, which they cannot satisfactorily an
swer; these being outweighed by more and greater
^difficulties on the opposite side.
_. 8. As for the particular objections which have
been brought against the Christian religion, and the
Christian Scriptures, it would of course be impossible
to put before you, in a short compass, even the chief
part of them, together with the answers that, have been
given. But what is of the most importance is, to lay
OBJECTIONS. 277
down, generally, the right way of viewing objections,
either against our religion or against anything else ;
namely, first, that you should not begin by considering
the objections to any statement or system, before you
are acquainted with the evidence in favor of it ; and,
secondly, that you should not think yourself bound to
renounce your faith, if you cannot answer every objec
tion, and clear up every difficulty that may be raised ;
but should remember that many things are believed,
and must be believed, against which there are strong
objections that have never been completely answered,
when there are stronger objections against the opposite
belief.
24
LESSON XIV.
OBJECTIONS. PART II.
1. OF the objections that have been brought
against Christianity, there are some which ordinary
Christians may learn enough to be able to refute for
themselves. There are others, again, to which learned
and able men have found answers, but which the gener
ality of Christians cannot be expected to answer, or
even to understand ; and, again, there are other ob
jections which no man, however learned, and however
intelligent, can expect to answer fully, on account of
the imperfect knowledge which belongs to man in this
present life. For you are to observe, that, when we
speak of any one as having much knowledge and in
telligence, we mean that he is so comparatively with
other men ; since the best-informed man knows but few
things, compared with those of which he is ignorant ;
and the wisest man cannot expect to understand all the
works and all the plans of his Creator. Now this is
particularly important to be kept in mind in the present
case ; because Christianity, we should remember, is a
scheme imperfectly understood. "What is revealed to
us must be (supposing the religion to be true) but a
part, and perhaps but a small part, of the whole truth.
There are many things of which, at present, we can
OBJECTIONS. 279
know little or nothing, which have, or may have, a close
connection with the Christian religion. For instance,
we are very little acquainted with more than a very
small part of the universe ; of the whole history, past
and future, of the world we inhabit ; and of the whole of
rnarJs existence.
This earth is but a speck compared with the rest of
the planets which move round the sun, together with the
enormous mass of the sun itself; to say nothing of the
other heavenly bodies. It is likely that all these are
inhabited ; and it may be, that the Gospel which has
been declared to us may be but one small portion of
some vast scheme which concerns the inhabitants of
numerous other worlds.
Then, again, we have no knowledge how long this
our world is to continue. For aught we know, the
Christian religion may not have existed a fifth part, or
a fiftieth part, of its whole time ; and it may, perhaps,
have not produced yet one fiftieth of the effects it is
destined to produce.
And we know that, as it holds out the hope of im
mortality beyond the grave, it is connected with man s
condition, not merely during his short life on earth, but
for eternity.
2. Seeing, then, that Christianity, if true, must
be a scheme so partially and imperfectly revealed to us,
and so much connected with things of which man can
have little or no knowledge, we might have expected
that difficulties should be found in it which the wisest
of men are unable to explain. And men truly wise
are not surprised or disheartened at meeting with such
difficulties, but are prepared to expect them from the
nature of the case.
280 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES.
The view which we have of any portion of a system
of which the whole is not before us, has been aptly com
pared to a map of an inland country ; in which we see
rivers without source or mouth, and roads that seem to
lead to nothing. A person who knows anything of ge
ography understands at once, on looking at such a map,
that the sources and mouths of the rivers, and the towns
which the roads lead to, are somewhere beyond the
boundaries of the district, though he may not know
where they lie. But any one who was very ill-informed
might be inclined presumptuously to find fault with the
map, which showed him only a part of the course of the
rivers and roads. And it is the same with anything
else of which we see only a part, unless we recollect
that it is but a part, and make allowance accordingly for
our imperfect view of it.
There is much truth, therefore, in the Scotch proverb,
that " children and fools should never see half-finished
works." They not only cannot guess what the whole
will be when complete, but are apt to presume to form
a judgment without being aware of their own ignorance.
If you were to see for the first time the beginning of the
manufacture of some of the commonest articles, such as,
for instance, the paper that is before you, you would be
at a loss, if you had never heard the process described,
to guess what the workman was going to make. You
would see a great trough full of a liquid like pap, and
would never think of such a thing as a sheet of paper
being made from it. And if you were to see the first
beginning of the building of a house or a ship, you
would be very unfit to judge what sort of a work it
would be when completed.
OBJECTIONS. 281
And the same holds good, only in a greater degree,
in respect to the plans of Divine wisdom. So small a
portion of them is made known to us, that it would be
strange if we did not find many difficulties such as
Man cannot expect to explain in that portion which
we do see.
3. Although, however, you must not expect to be
able to answer all objections that may be brought, you
will be able, in proportion as you improve in knowledge,
and in the habit of reflecting and reasoning on the sub
ject, to find satisfactory answers to many which at first
sight may have appeared very perplexing. And in
particular, you will find that some difficulties in the
Christian religion which have been brought forward as
objections to it, will appear to be, on the contrary, evi
dences in support of it. They may, indeed, still con
tinue to be difficulties which you cannot fully explain,
and yet may be so far from being objections against your
faith, that they will even go to confirm it.
For instance, the bad lives of many Christians, who
profess to expect that Jesus Christ will judge them, and
yet act in opposition to what He taught and to the ex
ample He gave, is an objection which has often been
brought forward by unbelievers, and which probably in
fluences their minds more than any other. Here is a
religion, they say, which professes to have been designed
to work a great reformation in Man s character, and yet
we find the believers in this religion living as if there
were no world but the present, and giving themselves
up to all the base and evil passions of human nature,
just as the Heathen did. And besides those who are
altogether careless and thoughtless about their religion,
24*
282 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES.
we find (they say) many who talk and think much of it,
and profess great Christian zeal, and who yet live in ha
tred against their fellow-Christians, indulging in envy,
slander, strife, and persecution of one another ; and all
the time professing to be devoted followers of One who
taught them to love even their enemies, to return bless
ing for cursing, and to be known as his disciples by their
love towards each other.*
4. Now it is certainly most mortifying and dis
heartening to a sincere Christian, to find that his religion
has produced hitherto so much less improvement among
mankind than he might have been disposed to expect
from it. And you should consider deeply what a double
guilt Christians will have to answer for, whose life is
such as to bring an ill name on their religion ; and who
thus not only rebel against their Master, but lead others
to reject Him. But when the evil lives of so many
Christians are brought as an objection against the Chris
tian religion, you may reply by asking whether this
does not show how unlikely such a religion is to have
been devised by Man. If you saw in any country the
fields carefully ploughed and cleared, and sown with
wheat, and yet continually sending up a growth of grass
and thistles, which choked the wheat wherever they
were not weeded out again and again, you would not
suppose wheat to be indigenous (that is, to grow wild)
in that country ; but would conclude that, if the land
had been left to itself, it would have produced grass and
thistles, and no wheat at all. So also, when you see
men s natural character so opposite to the pure, and
* John xiii. 34.
OBJECTIONS. 283
generous, and benevolent, and forgiving character of
the Gospel, that, even after they have received the Gos
pel, their lives are apt to be quite a contrast to Gospel
virtue, you cannot think it likely that such a being as
Man should have been the inventor of such a religion
as the Christian.
5. It is, indeed, strange that we should see men
seeking to make amends for the want of Christian
virtue by outward religious observances, and by active
zeal often, bitter and persecuting zeal in the cause
of Christianity, when the very Founder of our faith
has declared that He abhors such conduct ; so that such
Christians, in professing to be followers of him, pro
nounce their own condemnation. This is certainly very
strange ; but it shows, at least, how strong Man s nat
ural tendency is to that error ; and it shows, therefore,
how much more incredible it is that men should them
selves have devised a religion which thus condemns
their principles. All men, in short, and especially
Christians, when they are leading an unchristian life
(I mean a life on unchristian principles), are so far bear
ing witness that Christianity could not have come from
men.
And the same may be said of the absurd extrava
gances into which some fanatical enthusiasts have fallen,
and which have given occasion to unbelievers to throw
ridicule on Christianity. There is nothing of this wild
and extravagant character in our sacred books. On
the contrary, their sobriety and calmness of tone pre
sent a striking contrast to what we see in some enthusi
asts. So that their absurdities, instead of being an ob
jection against the Gospel, are a proof, on the contrary,
284 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES.
what a different thing the Gospel would have been if it
had been the work of enthusiasts.
6. To take another instance : it has been brought
as an objection against Christianity, that it has not spread
over the whole world. It professes to be designed to
enlighten and to improve all mankind ; and yet, after
nearly eighteen centuries, there still remains a very
large portion of mankind who have not embraced it.
All the most civilized nations, indeed, profess the Chris
tian religion ; but there are many millions unconverted ;
and the progress of the religion among these appears to
be very slow. This may be thought very strange and
unaccountable ; but at least it shows that the religion
could not have been originally founded and propagated
by mere human means. The nations professing Chris
tianity are now far more powerful and intelligent, and
skilful in all the arts of life, than the rest of mankind ;
and yet, though they send forth many active and zealous
missionaries, the religion makes less progress in a cen
tury than it did in a few years when it was preached
by a handful of Jewish peasants and fishermen, with
almost all the wealthy and powerful and learned op
posed to them. We cannot come near them in the
work of conversion, though we have every advantage
over them except in respect of miraculous powers.
And therefore we have an additional proof, that, if they
had not had such powers^ they could not have accom
plished what they did.
7. Again, there are objections against our sacred
books occasioned by the mistake of some injudicious
Christians, who have taken a wrong view of the object
proposed in the Bible.
OBJECTIONS. 285
These persons imagine, and teach others to- imagine,
that we are bound to take our notions of astronomy, and
of all other physical sciences, from the Bible. And
accordingly, when astronomers discovered, and proved,
that the earth turns round on its axis, and that the
sun does not move round the earth, some cried out
against this as profane, because Scripture speaks of the
sun s rising and setting. And this probably led some
astronomers to reject the Bible, because they were
taught that, if they received that as a divine revela
tion, they must disbelieve truths which they had de
monstrated.
So also, some have thought themselves bound to be
lieve, if they receive Scripture at all, that the earth, and
all the plants and animals that ever existed on it, must
have been created within six days of exactly the same
length as our present days. And this, even before the
sun, by which we measure our days, is recorded to have
been created. Hence, the discoveries made by geolo
gists, which seem to prove that the earth and various
races of animals must have existed a very long time be
fore Man existed, have been represented as completely
inconsistent with any belief in Scripture.
It would be unsuitable to such a work as this to dis
cuss the various objections (some of them more or less
plausible, and others very weak) that have been brought
on grounds of science, or supposed science against
the Mosaic accounts of the creation, of the state of the,
early world, and of the flood, and to bring forward the
several answers that have been given to those objec
tions. But it is important to lay down the PRINCIPLE
on which either the Bible or any other writing or speech
286 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES.
ought to be studied and understood ; namely, with a ref
erence to the object proposed by the writer or speaker.
For example : suppose you bid any one proceed in a
straight line from one place to another, and to take care
to arrive before the sun goes down. He will rightly
and fully understand you, in reference to the practical
object which alone you had in view. Now you perhaps
know very well that there cannot really be a straight
line on the surface of the earth, since its surface is
curved ; and that the sun does not really go down, only
our portion of the earth is turned away from it. But
whether the other person knows all this or not, matters
nothing at all with reference to your present object;
which was, not to teach him mathematics or astronomy,
but to make him conform to your directions, which are
equally intelligible to the learned and the unlearned.
Now the object of the Scripture revelation is to teach
men, not astrology or geology, or any other physical
science, but Religion. Its design was to inform men,
not in what manner the world was made, but WHO made
it ; and to lead them to worship Him, the Creator of the
heavens and the earth, instead of worshipping his crea
tures, the heavens and earth themselves, as gods, which
is what the ancient Heathen actually did.
Although, therefore, Scripture gives very scanty and
imperfect information respecting the eartli and the heav
enly bodies, and speaks of them in the language and ac
cording to the notions of the people of a rude age, still
it fully effects the object for which it was given, when it
teaches that the heavens and the earth are not gods to be
worshipped, but that " God created the heavens and the
earth" and that it is He who made the various tribes of
animals, and also man.
OBJECTIONS. 287
But as for astronomy and geology and other sciences,
men were left when once sufficiently civilized to be
capable of improving themselves to make discoveries
in them by the exercise of their own faculties.
8. But it is also sometimes objected, that our
sacred books do not give any full and clear revelation of
several very interesting particulars, which men would
naturally wish and expect to find in them. For exam
ple, there is not only a very short and scanty account
of the creation of the world, and of its condition before
the flood, but there is little said about angels, and, what
is more remarkable, there is no full and particular de
scription given of a future state, and of the kind of life
which the blest are to lead in Heaven. All these, and
especially the last, are very curious and interesting mat
ters ; and being beyond the reach of Man to discover, it
appears very strange to some persons that books pro
fessing to contain a divine revelation should give so
very brief and scanty an account of them, and leave
such a natural curiosity unsatisfied.
Now this is a difficulty which you may hereafter, on
attentive reflection, be able completely to explain. You
may find good reasons for deciding that this absence of
all that goes to gratify mere curiosity is just what might
be expected in a revelation really coming from God.
But you may perceive at once that it is not to be ex
pected in a pretended revelation devised by Men. An
impostor seeking to gain converts by pretending to
have received a divine revelation, would have been
sure to tempt the curiosity of the credulous by giving
them a full description of matters interesting to human
minds. He would have sought to excite their feelings,
288 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES.
and amuse their imaginations, by dwelling with all his
eloquence on all the particulars of a future state, and on
the nature and history of good and evil angels, and all
those other things which are so scantily revealed in our
Scriptures. And a wild enthusiast, again, who should
have mistaken his dreams and fancies for a revelation
from Heaven, would have been sure to have his dreams
and fancies filled with things relating to the invisible
world, on which a diseased imagination is particularly
apt to run wild.
Even though you should be unable, therefore, to un
derstand why the Scriptures should be such as they are
in this respect, supposing them to come from God, you
may, at least, perceive that they are not such as would
have come from Man. In this, as well as in many other
points, they are just the reverse of what might have
been expected from impostors or enthusiasts.
9. Lastly, it is worth while to remember, that all
the difficulties of Christianity, which have been brought
forward as objections against it, are so far evidences in
its favor, that the religion was introduced and established
in spite of them all. Most of the objections which are
brought forward in these days had equal force and
some of them much greater force at the time when
the religion was first preached. And there were many
others besides, which do not exist now ; especially what
is called " the reproach of the cross," the scorn felt
towards a religion, whose founder suffered a kind of
death reckoned in those days the most disgraceful, and
whose followers were almost all of them men of ob
scure station, of low birth, poor, unlearned, and with
out woiidly power.
OBJECTIONS. 289
Yet, in spite of all this, the religion prevailed. And
that it should have made its way as it did, against so
many obstacles, and difficulties, and objections, is one of
the strongest proofs that it must have had some super
natural means of overcoming them, and that therefore
it must have come from God.
25
LESSON XV.
MODERN JEWS. PART I.
1. ONE of the. difficulties with which the minds of
some Christians are perplexed is, that Jesus Christ
should have been rejected by the greater part of hig
countrymen, the Jews; and that they who had been,
according to our Scriptures, for so many ages, God s
favored and peculiar people, should be, now, and for
about seventeen centuries, without a country, and scat
tered as outcast strangers through the world.
Their present condition and past history are indeed
something very extraordinary, and quite unlike what
has befallen any other nation. But though we may not
be able to explain all the circumstances relative to this
wonderful people, it will be found on reflection, that
they furnish one of the strongest evidences for the truth
of the very religion which they reject.
You know that when the Jews received the law
through Moses, they were promised success and pros
perity as long as they should obey the Lord ; and that
heavy judgments were denounced against them in case
of disobedience. It was foretold that they should be
defeated by their enemies* driven from their country,
scattered abroad, and continually harassed and op
pressed. These threats are set forth in various parts
MODERN JEWS. 291
of the books of Moses, and most particularly in the
twenty-eighth chapter of Deuteronomy. " Thou shalt
become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword
among all the nations whither the Lord shall lead thee.
.... The .Lord will make thy plagues wonderful, and
the plagues of thy seed, even great plagues of long con
tinuance And the Lord shall scatter thee among
all people, from one end of the earth even unto the
other." (ver. 37, 59, 64.)
And the same is to be found in various parts of the
writings of several of the prophets who lived some ages
after. In particular, there is one in Ezekiel, which
agrees most remarkably in one very curious particular
with the state of the Jews at this day ; namely, where
he declares that they should, in the midst of their suf
ferings, remain a distinct people, unmixed with and un
like other nations ; although it appears that, in his time,
they were very much disposed to unite themselves with
the rest of mankind, so as to become one of the Gentile
nations, and to lay aside all the distinctions of their
own race. " That which cometh into your mind shall
not be at all, that ye say, We will be as the heathen, as
the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone."
(Ezekiel xx. 32.)
2. Now we find in the Old Testament, that, in
several instances, these judgments did fall on the Jews ;
and especially when they were carried away captive to
Babylon. And some person may suppose that these
instance^ were all that Moses and the prophets had in
view. But whatever any one s opinion may be, it is a
fact of which there can be no doubt, that the Jewish
nation are actually suffering, at this day, such things as
292 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES.
Moses and the prophets predicted. Whether Moses and
Ezekiel had in view what is now taking place, or not,
may be a matter of opinio n ; but it is a matter of fact,
that what is now taking place does agree with their pre
dictions. Jerusalem and its Temple were taken and
burnt by the Romans, about forty years after the cruci
fixion of Jesus Christ. The Jews were driven from their
country, and never allowed to settle in it again. Hun
dreds of thousands were sold as slaves ; and the whole
people were cast forth as wanderers among the Gentiles ;
and they have ever since remained a nation of exiles, un
settled, harassed, and oppressed, in many instances most
cruelly, not only by Pagans and Mohammedans, but
also (to our shame be it spoken) by Christian nations;
and still remaining a distinct people, though without a
home.
3. One of the most remarkable points relative to
these predictions respecting the Jews, and their present
condition, is this : that the judgments spoken of by
Moses were threatened in case of their departing from
the law which he delivered, and especially in case of
their worshipping false gods ; and yet, though in former
times they were so apt to fall into idolatry, they have
always, since the destruction of Jerusalem, steadily
kept clear of that sin ; and have professed to be most
scrupulous observers of the law of Moses. And what
is more, all the indignities and persecutions that any of
them are exposed to, appear to be the consequence of
their keeping to their religion, and not of their forsak
ing it. For a Jew has only to give up his religion, and
conform to that of the country he lives in, whether
Christian, Mohammedan, or Pagan, and lay aside the
MODERN JEWS. 293
observances of the law of .Moses, and he immediately
ceases to be reproached as a Jew and an alien, and is
mingled with the people around him. So that the Jews
of the present day seem to be suffering, for their observ
ance of the law, just the penalties threatened for their
departure from it.
At first sight, this seems very hard to explain ; but, on
reflection, you will find the difficulty cleared up, in such
a way as to afford a strong confirmation of your faith.
First, you should observe, that the Jews themselves ad
mit that a Christ or Messiah was promised them ; and
that to reject Him on his coming would be an act of re
bellion against the Lord their God. Moses foretold
that the Lord should raise up from among them a Proph
et like Moses himself; and " whosoever should not hear
that Prophet," God "would require it of him"; and
" that he should be destroyed from among the people."
(Deut. xviii. 15 - 19 ; Acts iii. 22, 23.) This is gener
ally understood (as it is applied in the Acts) to relate to
the Messiah or Christ ; whom the other prophetical writ
ers of the Old Testament (as both Christians and Jews
are agreed) more particularly foretold and described.
Now we hold that the Jews have been guilty of this
very act of disobedience in rejecting the Christ. And
though they, of course, do not confess themselves thus
guilty, because they deny that Jesus of Nazareth was
the true Christ, yet they so far agree with us as to ac
knowledge, that the rejecting of the true Christ on his
coming would be such a sin as would expose them to the
judgments which Moses threatened.
To us, therefore, who do believe in Jesus, this affords
an explanation of their suffering these judgments.
25*
294 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES.
4. But, secondly, besides this, you will perceive, on
looking more closely, that the Jews of these days do not
really observe the law of Moses, though they profess
and intend to do so. They have, indeed, kept to the
faith of their forefathers ; but not to their religious ob
servances. For the chief part of the Jewish worship
consisted in offering sacrifices distinctly appointed by
the Lord himself, in the law delivered by Moses. There
was a sacrifice appointed to be offered up every day, and
two on the Sabbath ; besides several other sacrifices on
particular occasions. Now, the modern Jews, though
they abstain from certain meats forbidden in their law,
and observe strictly the Sabbath and several other or
dinances, yet do not offer any sacrifices at all ; though
sacrifices were appointed as the chief part of their
worship.
The reason of this is, that they were strictly forbidden
to offer sacrifices except in the one place which should
be appointed by the Lord for that purpose. And the
place last fixed on for these offerings having been the
Temple at Jerusalem, which was destroyed about seven
teen hundred years ago, and has never been restored,
the Jews are now left without any place in which they
can lawfully offer the sacrifices which their law enjoins.
5. The Jews, accordingly, of the present day,
plead that it is not from wilful disobedience that they
neglect these ordinances, but because they cannot help
it. But to say that it is not their own fault that they
do not observe the ordinances of their religion, is quite
a different thing from saying that they do observe them.
They may explain why they cannot keep the law of
Moses ; but they cannot say that they do keep it.
MODERN JEWS. 295
Now Christians hold that the ceremonies of that law
were not originally designed to be observed by all na
tions, and for ever ; that " the law had only a shadow
of good things to come" (Heb. x. 1), that is, of the
Gospel ; and that it was designed that the sacrificing of
lambs and bullocks should cease at the coming of the
Christ. A Jew, on the contrary, will not allow that
these were designed ever to cease ; but he cannot deny
that they have ceased, and that for above seventeen
centuries. Let a Jew explain, if he can, how it is that
for so long a time Providence has put it out of the pow
er of the Jews to observe the principal part of their re
ligion, which they maintain was intended to be observed
for ever.
6. And this also is very remarkable, that the relig
ion of the Jews is almost the only one that could have
been abolished against the will of the people themselves,
and while they resolved firmly to maintain it. Their
religion, and theirs only, could be, and has been, thus
abolished in spite of their firm attachment to it, on ac
count of its being dependent on a particular place,
the Temple at Jerusalem. The Christian religion, or,
again, any of the Pagan religions, could not be abolished
by any force of enemies, if the persons professing the
religion were sincere and resolute in keeping to it. To
destroy a Christian place of worship, or to turn it into a
Mohammedan mosque (as was done in many instances
by the Turks), would not prevent the exercise of the
Christian religion. And even if Christianity were for
bidden by law, and Christians persecuted, (as has in
times past been actually done,) still, if they were sin
cere and resolute, they might assemble secretly in woods
296 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES.
or caves, or they might fly to foreign countries, to wor
ship God according to their own faith ; and Christianity,
though it might be driven out of one country, would
still exist in others.
7. And the same may be said of the Pagan relig
ions. If it happened that any temple of Jupiter, or
Diana, or Woden, were destroyed, this would not hin
der the worshippers of those gods from continuing to
worship them as before, and from offering sacrifices to
them elsewhere.
But it was not so with the Jews. Their religion was
so framed as to make the observance of its ordinances
impossible when their Temple was finally destroyed.
It seems to have been designed and contrived by Divine
Providence, that, as their law was to be brought to an
end by the Gospel (for which it was a preparation), so
all men were to perceive that it did come to an end, not
withstanding the obstinate rejection of the Gospel by
the greater part of the Jews. It was not left to be a
question, and a matter of opinion, whether the sacrifices
instituted by Moses were to be continued or not ; but
things were so ordered as to put it out of Man s power
to continue them.
LESSOR XVI.
MODERN JEWS. TART II.
1. IT is likely that, when Jerusalem and its Temple
were destroyed, several of the Jews who had till then
rejected the Gospel may have been at length converted,
by the strong additional evidence which was thus afford
ed. They saw the heavy judgment that fell on their
nation, and that it was such as to make the observance
of their law impossible. They saw also, that the event
agreed with what Jesus had predicted forty years before.
And they saw too that those of his followers who had been
living in Jerusalem had been enabled to escape destruc
tion by following his directions, and fleeing to the moun
tains as soon as they saw Jerusalem encompassed by an
army. It is therefore likely that several may have been
led by this additional evidence to embrace the Christian
faith. But of this we have no records, as the book of
Acts takes in only an earlier period. And in that book
we have no particulars of the numbers of those Jews
who were converted ; though it appears they must have
amounted to many thousands, indeed, many myriads,
that is, tens of thousands, as is said in the original Greek
of Acts xxi. 20. But still these made but a small portion
only of that great nation. And as the Jewish Christians
would soon become mingled with the Gentile Christians,
298 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES.
and cease to be a separate people, hence all those who
are known as Jews at this day are the descendants of
those who rejected the Gospel.
These are computed to amount, at the present time,
notwithstanding the prodigious slaughter of them at the
taking of their city, and on several other occasions, to
no less a number than 4,800,000, scattered through va
rious parts of the world ; everywhere mixing and trad
ing with other nations, but everywhere kept distinct
from them by their peculiar faith and religious observ
ances. And everywhere they preserve and read with
the utmost reverence their sacred books, which fore
tell the coming of the Messiah or Christ at a time
which (by their own computations) is long since past ;
namely, about the time when Jesus did appear. Their
books foretell also such judgments as their nation is
suffering ; and foretell too, what is most remarkable,
that notwithstanding all this they shall still remain a
separate people, unmixed with the other nations.
2. You should observe, too, that these prophecies
are such as no one would ever have made by guess.
Nothing could have been more unlikely than the events
which have befallen the Jewish nation. Nothing like
them has ever been foretold of any other nation, or
has ever happened to any other. There are, indeed,
many cases recorded in history of one nation conquer
ing another, and either driving them out of the country
or keeping them in subjection. But in all these cases
the conquered people who have lost their country either
settle themselves in some other land, or, if they are
wholly dispersed, generally become gradually mixed
and blended with other nations; as, for example, the
MODERN JEWS. 299
Britons and Saxons, and Danes and Normans, have
been mixed up into one people in England.
The only people who at all resemble the Jews, in
having been widely dispersed and yet remaining distinct,
are those commonly called Gypsies, and whose proper
name is Zinganies, or Jinganies. It has been made
out that they are an East Indian nation, speaking a
Hindoo dialect. And they are widely scattered through
the world, keeping up their language, and some customs
of their own, in all the countries through which they
wander. They are certainly a very remarkable people ;
and if there had been any prophecy (which there was
not) of their being thus dispersed, we might well have
believed that such a prophecy must have come from in
spiration.
But in some remarkable points their condition differs
from that of the Jews, and is less unaccountable.
First, they do not (like the Jews) live in towns among
other men, and in houses ; but dwell in tents, by the
road-sides, and on commons, leading the life of stroll
ing tinkers, pedlers, and fortune-tellers. This roaming
life, of course, tends to keep them separate from the
people of the countries in which they are found.
3. But, secondly, the chief difference is, that the
Gypsies are always ready, when required, to profess
the religion of the country, whether Christian or Mo
hammedan, or any other ; seeming to have no religion
of their own, and to be quite indifferent on the subject.
The Jews, on the contrary, always, when they are al
lowed, settle in towns along with other men ; and are
kept distinct from them by their religion, and by noth
ing else. They are the only people wno are every-
300 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES.
where separated from the people of the country in which
they live, entirely by their peculiar faith and religious
observances ; and that too though their religion is such
(which is the strongest point of all) that the most im
portant part of its ordinances the sacrifices ordained
in their law cannot be observed by them.
The Jews, therefore, in their present condition, are a
kind of standing miracle ; being a monument of the
wonderful fulfilment of the most extraordinary prophe
cies that were ever delivered; which prophecies they
themselves preserve and bear witness to, though they
shut their eyes to the fulfilment of them. No other ac
count than this of the present state and past history of
the Jews ever has been or can be given, that is not
open to objections greater than all the objections put
together that have ever been brought against Chris
tianity.
4. This, then, as well as several other difficulties
in our religion, such as have been formerly mentioned,
will be found, on examination, to be, even when you
cannot fully explain them, not so much objections
against the truth of your religion, as confirmations
of it.
And when you do meet with any objection which you
are at a loss to answer, you should remember (as has
been above said) that there are many things which all
men must believe, in spite of real difficulties which they
cannot explain, when there are much greater difficulties
on the opposite side, and when sufficient proof has been
offered.
And in the present case you have seen that it is not
only difficult, but impossible, to account for the rise and
MODERN JEWS. 301
prevalence of the Christian religion, supposing it not to
have come from God.
1. It certainly was introduced and propagated (which
no other religion ever was, for the religion taught by
Moses we acknowledge as part of our ow?i) by an ap
peal to the evidence of miracles. Nothing but the dis
play of superhuman powers could have gained even a
hearing for the Apostles ; surrounded as they were by
adversaries prejudiced against their religion by their
early education and habits of thought and inclinations
and hopes. And these superhuman powers were, as
you have seen, acknowledged at the time by those ad
versaries, who were driven to attribute the Christian
miracles to magic arts.
2. And you have seen, too, that the religion itself, and
the character of Jesus Christ as drawn in the Christian
Scriptures, and the whole of the narrative of those
books, are quite different, and indeed opposite to what
might have been expected from impostors or enthusi
asts.
3. And, lastly, you have seen that many of the diffi
culties that have been brought as objections against
Christianity turn out, on careful inquiry, to be an ad
ditional evidence of its truth.
Among others, this is remarkably the case with the
difficulties relating to the history and condition of the
Jewish nation. Though you may not be able fully to
explain all the circumstances relating to that wonderful
people, you may learn from them, what they refuse to
learn from themselves, a strong proof of the truth
both of their Scriptures and of the Gospel which they
obstinately reject. It is so ordered by Providence,
26
302 j,. CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES.
that even that very obstinacy is made to furnish an
additional proof of Christianity, by setting them forth
before all the world as a monument of fulfilled proph
ecy.
5. There are several other instructions, and warn
ings also, which you may learn from attentively reflect
ing on the case of the Jews ; and I will conclude by
shortly mentioning a few of these.
First, You should remember that when you see
the Jews, both formerly and now, obstinately keeping to
the faith of their forefathers, merely because it is what
they were brought up in, and refusing to listen to any
reasoning on the subject of religion, a Christian has no
right to wonder at, or to blame them, if he does the
same thing himself; that is, if he is satisfied to take
upon trust whatever he may have been told, and is re
solved neither to seek nor to listen to any arguments
that may enable him " to give a reason of the hope that
is in him." And the same may be said of Moham
medans and Pagans, as well as of Jews. Though the
Christian happens to have a religion that is right, he
is not more right than they, if he goes on the same plan
that they do. At least, he is right only by chance, if
he holds a faith that is true, and holds it not because
it is true, but merely because it is that of his fore
fathers.
6. Secondly, You should remember that we are
apt to make much less allowance for the unbelieving
Jew, than for Christians who lead an unchristian life ;
and that we ought to do just the contrary.
It is difficult for us, of these days, to understand and
fully enter into the great difficulty which the Jews had
MODERN JEWS. 303
(and still have) in overcoming all the prejudices they
had been brought up in, and which were so flattering to
their own nation as God s favored people. It was a
hard task for them to wean themselves from all the
hopes and expectations of temporal glory and distinction
to that nation; hopes which they and their ancestors
had cherished for so many ages. No doubt it was a
grievous sin in them to give way to those prejudices,
and to reject the Christ as they did. But it is a greater
sin to acknowledge Him, as some Christians do, as their
Lord and Master, and to " believe that He shall come
to be our judge," and at the same time to take no care
to obey his precepts, and copy the pattern of his life.
This is more truly impiety than that with which an in
fidel is chargeable. For, suppose two men each re
ceived a letter from his father giving directions for his
children s conduct ; and that one of these sons, hastily,
and without any good grounds, pronounced the letter a
forgery, and refused to take any notice of it ; while the
other acknowledged it to be genuine, and laid it up with
great reverence, and then acted without the least regard
to the advice and commands contained in the letter ;
you would say that both of these men indeed were very
wrong, but the latter was much the more undutiful son
of the two.
Now this is the case of a disobedient Christian, as
compared with infidels. He does not, like them, pro
nounce his father s letter a forgery, that is, deny the
truth of the Christian revelation ; but he sets at defiance
in his life that which he acknowledges to be the Divine
command.
7. Lastly, you should remember that no argument
304 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES.
you can bring against unbelievers will have greater
weight with most of them than a Christian life ; and
nothing, again, will be more likely to increase and con
firm their unbelief, than to see Christians living in
opposition to the precepts and spirit of the Gospel, and
especially to see them indulging bitter and unkind and
hostile and uncharitable feelings towards their fellow-
creatures, and even their fellow-Christians.
The objection thence raised against the Christian re
ligion is indeed (as has been above said) not a real and
sound one ; but still it will be raised, and therefore you
cannot too carefully consider how much you will have
to answer for if you contribute to bring an ill name on
your Christian faith ; and if you do not, on the contrary,
endeavor to the utmost " to adorn the doctrine of God
our Saviour in all things."
QUESTIONS FOE EXAMINATION.
20
QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION.
LESSONS ON MORALS.
LESSON I.
OUGHT the Law of the Land to be made the standard of moral
right and wrong ? 1.
Give a reason from the nature and extent of moral duty? 1.
The essential character of moral conduct precludes the law s being
made the standard ? 2.
Twofold insufficiency of this standard, as respects moral require
ments? 2.
Notions of right and wrong not dependent on human laws ? 3.
What has led some to doubt the existence of any moral sense or
faculty? 3.
How might this objection be answered? 3.
Illustration of this ? 3.
What inference has been drawn from a prevailing mistake as to the
character of Scripture ? 4.
This inference disproved by the real character of Scripture ? 6.
By its omissions ? 4.
By its appeals ? 4.
Man s supposed natural destitution of a moral faculty inconsistent
with the rule of judgment laid down by our Lord? 5.
With the exhortations of the Apostles ? 5.
With the writings of Heathens ? 5.
So also with the character of God as given in Scripture ? 6.
In what sense may all notions of morality be said to be derived
from the will of God? 6.
Admitted ground of obedience to the Divine command inconsistent
with the contrary sense? 6, 7.
308 QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION.
Distinction between the possible grounds of obedience to the will of
another? 7.
Illustrations of this distinction ? 7.
LESSON II.
One circumstance contributes to confusion of thoughts as to the
origin of the notion of duty ? 1.
Conduct of a pious man in such a case ? 1.
Ground of this implicit obedience to a Divine command on a par
ticular point? 1.
The possibility of such, a creation of a new duty implies a moral
sense? 1.
Illustration? 1.
Distinction between Moral and Positive Precepts ? 2.
Illustration of this distinction from commands to children ? 2.
From legislative enactments ? 2.
From private contracts ? 2.
Instances from the Jewish Law of similar distinction ? 2.
Important distinction with regard to the observance of these two
kinds of precepts ? 3.
This distinction exemplified in some precepts of our Lord? 3.
And in some injunctions to the Israelites ? 3.
The implicit obedience to any particular Divine command is in
conformity with our feelings and conduct towards our fellow-men ?
4.
The imputation of sin implies a Moral Faculty? 5.
This evident from the nature of sin ? 5.
Admission of this in the limited application of the term sin? 5.
Effect of an express command ? 5.
This effect, how spoken of by Paul ? 5.
LESSON III.
Summary of the last two Lessons? 1.
What is our next inquiry ? 1.
What does Scripture teach in the first place in reference to duty?
2.
Opinions of the ancient philosophers on this point? 2.
Of the vulgar among the ancient heathen ? 2.
Character of their worship? 2.
Contrast presented by our Scriptures ? 2.
QUESTIONS FOB EXAMINATION^ 309
Effect of the Divine approbation of Virtue ? 3.
The necessity for this encouragement, whence arising? 3.
No positive gratification from compliance with the dictates of con
science? 3.
Gracious direction of our natural desire for approbation. 3.
Scriptural encouragement to Moral Improvement ? 3.
Second point revealed in Scripture in reference to Moral Duty?
4.
The necessity for this aid? 4.
To what attributed by some ? 4.
This proved to be erroneous, both by reason and Scripture ? 4.
"What does Scripture teach us, in the third place, in reference to
Duty? 5.
What, in the fourth place, is the instruction of Scripture in refer
ence to Duty? 5.
A moral instructor like an oculist ? 5.
LESSON IV.
The true character of the moral instruction of Scripture explained
by a rule of our Lord s? 1.
Probable cause of the rare application of this rule ? 1.
A literal compliance with the rule sometimes absurd ? 1.
Sometimes wrong? 1.
Sometimes impossible? 1.
The right application of the rule? 2.
First notions of right and wrong not derived from it? 3.
Its real design ? 3.
Danger against which it is a safeguard, illustrated in the case of
David? 3.
Illustration of the distinct uses of Scripture and of natural Con
science? 4.
Possible depravation of Conscience illustrated ? 5.
Its due regulation ? 5.
LESSON V.
Peculiarity of the Moral teaching of the Gospel as distinguishing it
from the Law ? 1.
Adaptation of the teaching of the Law to the condition of the Israel
ites? 1.
What does the Gospel substitute for precise rules ? 1.
310 QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION.
Tendency of men to prefer precise rules ? 2.
Internal evidence here afforded of the Divine origin of our religion ?
2.
Instances of this tendency in human nature ? 3.
How guarded against by our Lord in the form of his precepts ?
3.
Moral discretion rendered necessary by literal compliance -with
some precepts involving contradiction ? 4.
Or by literal compliance involving something wrong ? 4.
Or by its restricting too much the scope of the precept? 5.
Teaching of Scripture as to the essential character of moral virtue?
6.
That it does not depend on the outward Act, how shown to be gen
erally admitted? 6.
In what sense do we speak of an outward act as morally good or
evil? 7.
Two requisites in the intention that makes it morally good? 7.
LESSON VI.
Distinction between the objects in view in conveying instruction?
1.
The design of our Divine Master s discipline? 1.
Essential importance of motive hereby made evident? 1.
Bearing of this design on good works by proxy ? 2.
And on the supposed merit of good works ? 2.
Error on this point from misinterpretation of some expressions of
Scripture? 2.
Give an illustration of the distinction between the objects for which
services are required ? 3.
And an illustration serving to correct a mistake as to the merit of
good works, and the rewards promised in Scripture ? 3.
Real state of the case ? 4. *
Groundlessness of any natural claim to reward evident from the
nature of duty ? 5.
And of reward ? 5.
Teaching of Scripture on this point ? 6.
Mistake as to the natural connection between Reward and Punish
ment? 6.
Works of supererogation, how contrary to Scripture and Reason ?
$6-
QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION. 311
The notion of a self-earned heavenly happiness opposed to Eeason
and Scripture? 6. (Note.)
Supposed objection to the need of Christ s atoning work? (Note.)
How may it be answered ? (Note.)
Wise saying of Scaliger ? (Note.)
LESSON VII.
From what has been said, we find that the law of the land is not to
be made the standard of right and wrong, for two reasons ? 1.
And that conscience, or the Moral Faculty, is a part of the human
constitution? 1.
And that man has need of Eevelation ? 1.
And that good works can have no merit in the sight of God? 1.
Two things requisite to form a virtuous character? 1.
These two things, why alike indispensable ? 2.
Illustration of the several conditions in which either of these requi
sites is wanting ? 2.
The Apostle Paul s description of one who acts against his con
science? 2.
This sort of description, how shown not to be limited to those
whose knowledge is derived from a divine revelation ? 2.
The notion that Paul, in Romans vii., was giving a literal account
of his own state, or that of any one under the Gospel, contradicted by
the very next passage ? 3.
As also by the sixth chapter ? 3.
As well as by a passage in 1 Corinthians ? 3.
Paul is describing different and opposite conditions ? 3.
How do some persons endeavor to escape the reproaches of con
science? 4.
When only can the plea of sincerity be admitted as a palliation of
error? 4.
Effect upon conscience of acting against conscience ? 4.
Design of the teaching of Scripture nullified by bias of the mind ?
4.
Instances of misapplication of Scripture from this bias ? 5.
To what may such students of Scripture be compared ? 5.
Dangerous errors arising from misinterpretation of Romans vii.
(Note.)
312 QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION.
LESSON VIII.
Is the fact that conscience is not infallible, a ground for disregard
ofit? 1.
Paul s judgment on this point ? 1.
Principle laid down by Paul with regard to conscientious scruples ?
1.
Cases in which a wrong principle makes it impossible to act
rightly? 2.
Charity and self-distrust, how called for ? 2.
Teaching of Scripture as to the necessity of vigilant care of the
moral character ? 3.
The consistency of the dependence on the Divine blessing with
diligent care, illustrated from man s procedure in the concerns of
ordinary life ? 4.
LESSON IX.
Increased disquiet of conscience, when an encouraging sign ? 1.
Illustration of the effect of increased enlightenment of conscience ?
1.
In what respect does the Moral Faculty differ from our other facul
ties and sentiments ? 2.
Exemplify this difference ? 2.
Does virtuous conduct, then, afford no gratification? 3.
Instances of natural feelings graciously made sources of gratifica
tion? 3.
How are these feelings to be controlled and regulated ? 4.
This control, why necessary ? 4.
Instances of its necessity ? 4,5.
LESSON X.
Distinction between the control exercised by Conscience over feel
ings and over act ions ? 1.
Illustrated from something similar in the bodily frame? 1.
This difficulty, how to be surmounted ? 2.
Self-deceit as to feelings, from confounding two different things ?
3.
Feelings, how to be reached ? 3.
This procedure, that of the Sacred Writers? 3.
Another distinction between the control of feelings and of actions ?
4.
QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION. 313
Encouragement to the steady exercise of that control ? 4.
Illustration of the process of moral reformation from grafting?
4.
Influence of actions on the formation of moral habits ? 5.
Moral improvement dependent on right principle ? 6.
LESSON XL
Moral improvement, how shown to be dependent upon practice ?
1.
Danger from familiarity with principles not reduced to practice ?
1.
Formation of opposite habits under similar circumstances ? 1.
Mistake on this point, whence originating ? 1.
Give some illustrations ? 1,2.
Instructive emblem in Scripture of a mere professor of religion ?
2.
Persons who only talk of religion compared to an unemployed
steam-engine? 2.
Practice for learning equally necessary in the study of Scripture,
and in all pious exercises ? 2.
Chief difficulty in forming good moral habits ? 3.
How may an act of virtue be said to have less of virtue ? 3.
In what does virtue consist ? 4.
Why is the term not applicable to the Deity? 4.
Estimate of virtue in any particular case, how to be formed ? 4.
Distinction between the imitation of our Heavenly Father, and the
following of the example of a Being of our own nature ? 5.
Example of the Apostles, how far imitable? 5.
Mistakes to be carefully guarded against ? 5.
LESSON XII.
Nature of the example held out? to us in the Lord Jesus? ^ 1.
Does the possession of human feelings by the Lord Jesus unfit Him
for an example ? 2.
The example of the Lord, why too often disregarded? 3.
And religious veneration, how misdirected? 3.
Illustration of both these errors? 3.
Benefit of our Lord s example not dependent on clear notions of his
nature? 3.
The superiority of our Lord s example over all models, real or
imaginary? 4.
314 QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION.
Possible mistake in reference to the Old Testament characters?
4-
Advantage afforded for the study of Christ s example ? 4.
How may imitation be a departure from, rather than a following
of, His example ? 5.
LESSON XILT.
The Apostles in a different position from our Lord? 1.
And from us ? 1.
Erroneous imitation of our Lord s teaching avoided by them ? 2.
Ground on which our Lord exercised the right of giving or with
holding Divine truth ? 3.
Another cause of erroneous imitation ? 4.
Mistaken imitation of the fortitude of the Apostles? 4.
Suffering, when admirable ? 4.
Self-torment, not the practice of the Apostles ? 5.
Scriptural sense of the word " mortification" ? 5.
Mistaken notion of the system of the early Christians with regard
to property ? 6.
What was the real state of the case ? 6.
How is this evident from Scripture ? 6.
LESSOX XIV.
Mistakes to be guarded against inr studying treatises on Morals V
1.
What is likely to lead to this mistake ? 1.
Distinction between the arts and sciences, and the moral habits ?
1.
What is meant by the habit of virtue ? 1.
Another distinction between the arts and sciences, and the moral
habits? 2.
One cause of mistake as to this point? 3.
Instances of apparent and unconnected moral virtues ? 3.
Oneness of virtue evident from the nature of virtue ? 3.
Testimony to this oneness by our Lord and His Apostles ? 4.
It is also maintained by Aristotle ? 4.
Duty with regard to the principle adopted ? 5.
Sense in which we speak of a character as inconsistent ? 5.
Illustrated from the conduct of a fanner? 5.
Consistent following out of a principle will test the principle?
* 5.
QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION. 315
The tendency to claim merit for good works promoted by the
notion of several distinct virtues ? 6.
LESSOX XV.
Different parts of duty easier and harder to different persons.
Why? . 1.
Such differences analogous to those in bodily constitution ? 2.
Man s procedure with regard to bodily health often reversed in
moral conduct ? 2.
Effect of a strong tendency in judging of one s own character?
2.
Prudent care of bodily health to be imitated in morals ? 3.
And a procedure of builders ? 3.
How may this be carried too far ? 3.
What may help us to guard against self-deceit? 3.
What help may we have analogous to that of a physician ? 3.
Specification of virtues not necessary ? 4.
Its absence no ground of complaint ? 4.
Divine procedure in the New Testament instruction? 5.
The omission of specific rules, how supplied to the Christian? 5.
LESSON XVI.
Importance of a right understanding of the matter each duty re
lates to? 1.
Illustration of that principle on which we should act in our chan
ties? 1.
Fallacy of the common excuse, " It is such a one s fault " ? 1.
Amount of fault not to be estimated by what it relates to ? 2.
Importance of small matters evident from the design of moral
discipline? 2.
And from the way in which habits are formed ?
Distinction between Selfishness and Self-love ?
The word Self-love how sometimes used ? 3.
Definition of Self-love ? 3.
Give an illustration ? 3.
Self-love a distinct and positive quality? 3.
In what respect like our other tendencies ? 3.
Selfishness a negative quality? 3.
How consequently does it show itself? 3.
Possible selfishness even in amiable feelings ? 3.
The safeguard against it ? 3.
316 QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION.
Mistake with regard to escaping temptation ? 4.
And with regard to self-appointed duties V 4.
Ground upon which the Apostles acted ? 4.
Opportunity to do good, how to be used? 5.
Conduct of " the children of this world " an. example to be fol
lowed? 5.
LESSON XVII.
Proper sense of words ? 1.
Falsehood may be involved in literal truth ? 1.
Give an instance ? 1.
Our Lord s declaration before Pilate, how proved to have been
used in its plain literal meaning? 1.
As also the precepts of the Apostles about submitting to every
ordinance of man ? 1.
Moral falsehood not necessarily involved in a literal untruth ? 2.
Give some illustrations of this principle ? 2.
The rule fixing the true sense of a declaration, not limited to
words? 3.
Illustrations of, and reason for, this ? 3.
The condition of any promise should be expressed ? 3.
Cases in which a promise is not binding ? 4.
How then were the Israelites bound to their promise to the Gibeon-
ites? 4. (Note.)
Caution against unwarily giving a promise of secrecy? 4.
(Note.)
True import of an oath ? 4.
Official oaths, why superfluous ? 4. (Note.)
A promise no excuse for doing anything wrong ? 4.
The guilt of falsehood may be incurred, though everything said
may be quite true ? 5.
This illustrated by partial truth told to a rustic ? 5.
Instance in an inscription discovered at Nineveh ? 5.
And in reserve in stating the doctrines of the Gospel? 5.
Statement of a falsehood not the only way of partaking of the
guilt of it? 6.
The words of the Psalmist, how applicable to such a case? 6.
Cause of failure in strict justice of those not indifferent about
duty? 6.
Illustration from a story of Cyrus, nnd from some supposed cases?
6.
QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION. 317
Cases of greatest temptation to connive at falsehood ? 7.
A double guilt hereby incurred ? 7.
A more accurate appellation for a pious fraud ? 7.
Not to undeceive is to deceive ? 7.
Disingenuous suppression of truth, how disguised? 7.
Instance of suppressed correction of error ? 7.
Danger of disregard of truth in unimportant matters ? 7.
Evil consequences of deception ? 8.
Paley s remark on this point ? 8.
The ultimate expediency of truth not perceived by all ? 8.
LESSON XVIII.
The sin forbidden by the tenth commandment does not consist in a
strong wish for what belongs to your neighbor? 1.
Illustration? (Note.)
In what does the sin of coveting consist? 1.
Popular mistakes as to gaming, how favored? 1.
Its especial characteristic ? 1.
All other objections to it applicable to things not evil in themselves ?
1.
Practical use of being early taught thus to regard it ? 1.
Playing where there is no sinful coveting, why to be avoided ? 1.
Confusion of thought leading to mistake as to forgiveness of in
juries? 2.
In what light is one who has personally injured us to be viewed ?
2.
What is not required by the duty of Christian forgiveness. 2.
Two things never to be confounded? 2.
Mistake of Christian humility as regards reason ? 3.
As regards blind following of a party ? 3.
As regards the feelings ? 3.
A breach of humility as to speculative points? 4.
Two opposite breaches of humility in reference to the reasons of
God s dealings with man ? 4, and note.
A good reason for obedience may be a bad reason for giving the
command? 4.
Generic Humility not necessarily implying personal hnmility?
4.
What real humility consists in ? 4.
Just estimate of one s self no breach of duty ? 5.
To what do the terms Self-conceit and Modesty properly apply ?
5. (Note.)
318 QUESTIONS FOIl EXAMINATION.
Caution to the possessor of superior endowments as regards him
self? 5.
As regards others ? 5.
General confessions of sin, when no proof of humility? 6.
Nor confession without amendment ? 6.
The special, constant exercise of Christian humility, to what com
pared? 6.
Evidences of true humility ? 6.
Conduct not to be estimated by the opinions of men in general ?
7.
Maxim of Bacon ? 7.
What does he mean by " vulgar" ? 7.
By the " lowest virtues " ? 7.
By " the highest " ? 7.
Instances of virtues not generally approved ? 8.
Two opposite dangers to be guarded against? 8.
General practical rule ? 8.
LESSON XIX.
A duty in reference to our moral character taught? 1.
Proverb applicable to postponement of this duty ? 1.
Necessity of candor in self-examination ? 2.
"What ought not to be our standard ? 2.
Greater importance of small faults in ourselves than in our neigh
bors? 9.
Candor in self-examination not implying a looking for faults only ?
3.
The opposite opinion a mistaken one ? 3.
Evil consequences of hopelessness of moral improvement ? 4.
Special promise of our Lord ? 5.
Procedure of the Apostles with regard to their converts ? 5.
Hopeful vigilance not to be confined to outward conduct ? 5.
LESSON XX.
Point in which improvement can be most easily marked? 1.
What part is this of the Christian s business ? 1.
Why indispensable ? 1.
Diligent study of the Bible necessary from the nature of its con
tents? 2.
Absurdity of a random perusal illustrated ? 2.
QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION. 319
Suggestions for the profitable perusal of it ? 2.
Which of all cautions on this head is the most important ? 3.
Outward acts, not the only virtuous practice ? 4.
Outward acts, how far virtuous or vicious ? 4.
The Apostle s enumeration of the fruits of the Spirit, in accordance
with this principle? 4.
Benefits from the counsel of a friend ? 5.
Proper object of confession ? 5.
Cases in which it may be useful; and to which it should be
limited? 5.
Consciousness of sin, when a promising sign ? 6.
What kind of Conscience ought to be sought for ? 6.
The effect of the operation of the Spirit of God in enlightening
Conscience, how illustrated? 6.
Importance of cultivating a habit of perfect sincerity in confession
of sin? 6.
Enumerate some of the most important points hi self-examina
tion? 7.
CHKISTIAN EVIDENCES.
LESSON I.
What is, perhaps, the most common reason of Christians for be
lieving Christianity?
Has this always been the case ?
Why is it impossible that it should have been ?
What gods can you name formerly worshipped in the British Isles ?
How came our forefathers to cease worshipping them ?
What religions, besides the Christian, are there now in the world?
What makes anybody believe in them ?
Have you any better reason for believing in Christianity?
What is your duty in regard to having a reason for your faith ?
How did the Apostles lead the Heathen to believe in Christianity?
What motives had the Heathen for being unwilling to believe ?
Could the evidence offered to Heathens consist in arguments from
Christian experience ?
Why not ?
What treatment did the first converts to Christianity receive from
their countrymen ?
320 QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION.
How do we learn this ?
What must we infer in regard to the proofs by which they were
convinced of the truth of Christianity ?
What evidence was ever offered of the truth of a Pagan religion ?
What, then, is there peculiar in the mode in which Christianity was
introduced into the world ?
What is, then, the presumption in regard to its truth ?
LESSON II.
What cause had our fathers and other Pagans for forsaking their
religion ?
Had their fathers previously forsaken a previous faith ?
How were, then, Pagan religions introduced?
What, then, is a Pagan s reason for believing?
Are there, then, no accounts of miracles in Pagan religions ?
What is the difference between Pagan and Christian accounts of
miracles ?
How did Mahomet spread his religion?
What was the character of his asserted miracles ?
What, then, is the distinguishing mark in the foundations of Chris
tianity ?
Is the study of evidences inconsistent with faith ?
What is credulity ?
What, Scripture faith ?
What renders faith difficult ?
What prejudice prevented the Jews from having faith in Christ ?
What did they say of his miracles ?
By what sort of impostors were they afterwards deceived ?
What showed the candid mind of the Bereans ?
How, then, shall we deserve the Apostolic commendation ?
LESSON III.
On whose word do some say we must pin our faith ?
On what account?
But can we have no evidence of the existence of the Bible in the
original, and of its meaning?
How do we know that France and Italy exist ?
How, that travellers do not deceive us ?
How do we know that the earth rotates, or that it revolves about
the sun?
QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION. 321
How, that the books of the Bible are ancient ?
How, that they are well translated ?
What analogy to witnesses at court ?
What points are thus proved of the English New Testament?
What further evidence concerning the Old Testament ?
And what evidence does the Old Testament give concerning the
New?
LESSON IV.
On what account are the prophecies more instructive to us than to
the first Christians ?
What is the magnitude of the change wrought by Christ s coming?
How many nominal Christians in the world ?
How many Mahometans ?
Why count them in estimating the effect of Christianity ?
What contrast between the outward coining of Christ in Judaea and
this effect ?
What is the usual strain of Jewish prophecy in regard to the Mes
siah s times ?
Has the Jewish nation itself seemed to fulfil this ?
Does the spread of Christianity ?
What comparison would you make between the argument from
prophecy as felt by the Jews at Jesus s day and by us ?
What evidence in the New Testament that the argument from
prophecy had any force to the minds of men at that day ?
LESSON V.
What did those who saw Jesus s miracles do to test his claims?
Is a miracle supernatural or superhuman ?
Which name did our Lord himself give them ?
To whom did Jesus impart power to work miracles ?
Could they impart this power ?
What argument shows this power did not consist in the knowledge
of a new natural agent ?
What conviction was forced on the Jews concerning the works of
Christ?
Why did they not, then, believe that God was with him ?
What proof of this beside the New Testament history ?
If the Jews of our Saviour s day had denied his miracles, whence
could this tradition have arisen ?
21
322 QUESTIONS FOK EXAMINATION.
What was the Pagan view of the subject ?
What two questions did the men of our Saviour s times ask ?
What advantage had they over us ?
What have we over them ?
Beside the advantage mentioned in the book, what is there in the
fact of our not believing in magic ?
LESSON VI.
With what modern fact are the miracles of the Xew Testament
connected ?
By what natural means can you account for the present preva
lence of Christianity ?
Which is the least difficult to believe of these three propositions :
that an effect came without a cause, that it came from an inadequate
cause, or that it came from a superhuman cause ?
Which do you believe concerning the change of the religion of
Europe from Paganism to Christianity?
What comparison will you make of the presence of sea-shells on
inland mountains, and the presence of Christianity in lands far from
Judaea?
Why is the credulity of the ancients an insufficient cause to account
for their reception of Christianity ?
Describe the manner in which a credulous man receives evidences.
How, then, would credulous Jews and Pagans receive the proofs of
the authority of Jesus ?
What is proved as to the facts by then: credulously attributing the
miracles to magic ?
What are the contents of John ix. ?
How does this accord with what wo might expect ?
What effect, then, would the credulity of the ancients have on the
spread of Christianity ?
What, then, does its rapid spread prove ?
This rapid spread in the face of these superstitious prejudices
proves something to us concerning the miracles; what is it?
With what words does the chapter close ?
LESSON VII.
What evidences are there of the truth of our religion to be found
in its own character ?
Why would a Jew of the days of Christ have been of all men most
unlikely to invent such teaching as that of Jesus ?
QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION. 323
Is the evidence of miracle, then, unnecessary ?
Why not ?
What is the relative value of this branch of evidence to us, and to
those of the Apostles days ?
What connection has the difficulty of proving a fact, with the
value of that fact (if proved), as evidence?
Illustrate this by the sea-shells on mountains.
Apply it to the Christian miracles.
How might we alter the phrase, "No less a proof," when we re
member that the men of Jesus s time believed in magic ?
How will the difficulty of believing in miracles compare with the
difficulty of believing in the natural origin of Christianity ?
How do the outward circumstances of Jesus compare with the out
ward triumphs of his religion ?
What aid would an appeal to pretended miracles have been to the
Apostles ? ,
What is the peculiar distinction between Pagan and Christian ac
counts of miracles ?
What is the distinctive peculiarity of the origin of our religion?
What, then, is probable as to the number of miracles ?
What confirmation of this in the New Testament ?
In what manner are they there mentioned ?
From the nature of the case, why could not the Apostles have
gained a hearing without miracle ?
What effect would the moral character of the Gospel have in ob
taining a hearing for it ?
What, then, was the first mode of gaining a hearing ?
What testimony was afterwards sufficient ?
What is the difference in value, as evidence of truth, between
suffering for opinion s sake and suffering for testimony given ?
Explain the reason of this difference ?
But how should the Apostles first make men listen to this testi
mony?
LESSON VIII.
Did the prevalent belief in magic make it more or less easy for
Jesus to prove his authority by miraculous works ?
What passages in John and Matthew are in point ?
What is needed in addition to the reality of a wonderful event to
make it confirm the authority of Christ or his Apostles ?
What sort of miracles does the Koran narrate ?
324 QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION.
What did Mahomet s wonderful victories really prove?
What did he attempt to make them prove ?
What is the true difference between a wonder and a sign ?
Illustrate by a sudden calm ; by reviving from a trance ; by sud
den loss of sight.
What may be justly asked of a professed messenge 
