Politics and the pulpit : an essay on the rights and duties of the Christian pulpit in relation to politics

ID

POLITICS

THE PULPIT;

AN ESSAY

OJT THE

RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF THE CHRISTIAN PULPIT
IN RELATION TO POLITICS.

A MINISTER OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.

PITBLIBHED BY

THE AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY,

r^h, prjVpfi ^O- 28 COE»niLL, BOSTOK.

May 1913 ^'''

THE NE^ YORK

PUBLLC LIBRARY

151400

I A3T0R, LENOX ANO
< TILDEN FOUNDATI9N8.
i_ 1899

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1860,

BT THB AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY,

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts.

CONTENTS.

Introduction 9

Politics defined, as including three departments ; the administration of
government in respect to the secular interests of society ; in rela-
tion to principles and questions of morals ; and for the mere eleva-
tion of office-seekers to place and power 11

I. Of matters purely secular. The pulpit not concerned with these . . 11
II. Of the moral principles lying- at the foundation of national pros-
perity and happiness 13

Civil government being of divine origin, and designed to promote
the public welfare, must have regard to moral principles .... 14

This true in respect to man's temporal interests, and much more his
eternal ones 15

The aim of civil government and of the gospel so far identical . . . IG

Government is administered by moral agents who are responsible to
God for all their conduct 17

And doubly responsible because invested with public trusts .... 18

The tendency of politics and politicians to become corrupt creates a
special need of asserting and maintaining moral principles in
public affiiirs 18

The relation of the pulpit to politics in this view of it 21

1. It is bound to explain and enforce the word of God, wliich pre-

scribes the qualifications and duties of rulers 21

2. Also the duties of the ruled 23

Discussion of the question, Shall immoral laws be obeyed ? . . 23

3. To pray for rulers— which implies an intelligent cognizance

of their acts 27

Reasons for public prayer for rulers 29

(a) They need divine wisdom and guidance 29

(6) Their personal influence and example important 29

(c) They are exposed to temptations 30

(d) They hold in their hands the welfare of the nation 30

(e) They are the instruments of the nation's sins ... .... 31

4. Governments have habitually invoked the aid of the pulpit . . 31
(a) In appointing days of fasting and thanksgiving, and creat-
ing chaplains for their navies and armies • , . 32

(6) In calling for its offices on special public occasions 32

(c) In relying upon it to instruct the people in relation to their
duties as good citizens 32

iV CONTENTS.

III. Of the aris and measures by which men seek office and poioer .... 34

Often involving inunoralitiea 34

History of politics in past times 35

View of politics at the present day . 35

(a) Abounding in falsehood and slander 37

(6) Associated with numerous vices 37

Special consideration of the crime of illegal voting ... 38

(c) Connected with slavery 41

The duty of the pulpit to politics thus viewed 41

The nature of wrongdoing not changed by its political connections. 41
The rebuke of it by the pulpit no intrusion into the field of poli-
tics ; rather its introduction into politics is an invasion of the

province of the pulpit 42

The pulpit responsible to God for the rebuke of all sin 45

Special occasions requiring extraordinary efforts of the pulpit ... 40

Consequences of excluding the pulpit from this field 50

(a) Its own annihilation 50

(6) To leave no restraint or correction for political immorali-
ties 54

(c) To abjure the government of God over men 55

IV. The rights and duties of the pulpit in relation to politics illustrated

by examples recorded in the Scriptures 57

A prophet and Jeroboam 58

Hanani and Asa 60

Elijah and Ahab 61

Elijah and Ahaziah 61

Elijah and Jehoram 62

Elisha and Jehoram 63

A prophet and Amaziah 63

Amos and Jeroboam II 64

Hilkiah and Josiah 65

Jeremiah and successive kings 66

Ezra 68

John Baptist and Herod 63

Jesus Christ 70

Peter and John before the Council 72

Stephen 74

Paul at Thessalonica 76

" Philippi 77

" Ephesus 80

Conclusion 81

4^f

■J

INTRODUCTION.

The following essay was submitted for examination in behalf
of the author, by the intervention of respectable clergymen in
another State. They accompanied the manuscript with the fol-
lowing remarks :

" This manuscript was prepared by an eminent minister of the
Old School Presbyterian Church. From a wish to have the argu-
ment stand on its own merits, and from a reluctance to have
his name appear either to help or to hinder its circulation and
usefulness, he has chosen to remain unknown. But he has sub-
mitted the manuscript to the judgment of the subscribers, that we
may make such use of it as shall seem to us desirable.

" After carefuUy reading the work, we are satisfied that it pos-
sesses decided merit, and is deserving of publication. We recom-
mend it to the American Tract Society at Boston, as a work
worthy of their attention and adoption. We are sure that it con-
tains sentiments and arguments admirably adapted to meet a
present want of the ministers and Christians of this land."

This essay is itself but an introduction to another, entitled
" Slavery and the Pulpit," by the same author. But it appears to
be, apart from that, so important and so timely, at a period when
the pulpit is alternately threatened and flattered that it may main-
tain a treacherous silence respecting our national sins, that it
has been thought advisable to issue this by itself The author
being a clergyman of a denomination which has no official, and

10 INTEODUCTION.

almost no personal connection with this Society, it can not be
supposed to be published from any sectional or denominational
bias. His having, as he declares, once been an earnest apologist
for slavery, shows him to have no hereditary prejudices against
the system.

As an earnest Christian discussion of a momentous subject just
now assuming great practical importance, it is commended to aU
the friends — and enemies, too, — of a Free Press, Free Speech,
and a Pulpit responsible only to him who gave it authority to
speak in his name. "We are sure that its unadorned simplicity of
style will not detract from the favor with which it will be received
by all who love the simplicity of Christian Truth.

The second part, on slavery, will shortly be issued, when the
two will be bound in one volume, entitled " The Pulpit in its rela-
tions to PoUtics and Slavery,"

Boston, January, 1860.

POLITICS AND THE PULPIT.

The question proposed for the present discussion is
this:

What is the relation of the pulpit to politics ?

It is manifest that tlic sohition of this question must
depend on the precise meaning of the term pohtics. That
it may mean what Ues out of the range of the pulpit's
relations and duties, is not disputed. That it may mean
also what comes within the field of its obhgations, is
equally unquestionable. The first step to be taken, then,
in answer +o the question, is to settle the meaning of
politics.

Pohtics presents itself in three points of view.

1. In the first view, politics embraces the science and
administration of government in matters purely secular^
in which no question of moral principle is involved.
These are finance, revenue, currency, diplomacy, and of-
ficial appointments, together with municipal and commer-
cial regulations ; also measures of mere human opinion or
unsettled experiment. These features of politics, or what
may be called its civil, secular, or municipal afiairs, are but
the ripples and eddies upon the surface of a mighty sea.

To these, so far as they involve no question of moral
pi-inciple, the pulpit has no particular relation or duty.
And if these matters alone were concerned, political agi-
tations might well be left to spend themselves, and subside
with the squalls by which they are raised into ephemeral
importance. The best thing the pulpit can do, is. to keep

12 POLITICS AND THE PULPIT.

silence, and let the stoiTQ pass by. It would be equally
degrading and futile for it to meddle with these tempo-
rary agitations, in which it could hope to do no good,
and might do much evil. The pulpit, in such cases, ought
to say, with its divine Lord, "Who made me a judge or
divider over you?" "Let the dead bury their dead."
It ought distinctly and scrupulously to recognize the prin-
ciple announced by the King of Zion : " My kingdom is
not of this world." It has nothing to do with secular
politics and party contests. It has no vocation to legis-
late, judge, or execute in civil affiiirs. It can not consist-
ently interfere with the operation of the powers ordained
of God for the administration of civil goveniment. This
is the field, exclusively, of the legislator and the magis-
trate. All that the pulpit has to say in this regard, is :
"Render unto Csesar the things that are Caesar's, and
unto God the things that are God's."

2. But politics has not only a surface, it has also depths.
In these depths lie concealed powers and agencies, that,
in an orderly and quiet state, are incalculably beneficial,
but which are hable to be wrought into tempestuous and
destructive fuiy ; into heavings and tossings, which no
human power can control or resist. In these depths are
shoals and rocks ; along their shores are breakers and
reefs, which, encountered in a stoiTti, leave but a wrer^-
behind.

These depths of politics are the moral principles and
practices which constitute the vitals of good society amc ^
men, and on which all the essential interests of a com-
munity, all the safety, peace and prosperity of a nation
depend. Let these be orderly, quiet, and duly operative,
and all is well. It is of comparatively little consequence
who administers the government, Avho wears the honor"
or who sustains the burdens of oftice. If the moral foun
dation stands firm, the state is safe; the pe. pie are free
and happy. A political struggle may ruffle the surface,

POLITICS INVOLVES MORAL PRINCIPLES. 13

and produce temporary agitation; but if the fountains
of the great deep be not broken up, calm and sunshine
■will soon follow. But let the depths, the moral deptlis of
society be reached and moved ; let the ground-swell beoin
its surgings, and who can calculate the results ?

That politics, or the real essential interests of society,
liave such depths, none will deny. How can it be other-
wise, Avhen all legitimate government is fi-om God ; Avhen
the powers that be are ordained of God, and all magis-
terial authority is based on a divine grant, and sanctioned
by a divine command, as is now acknowledged by all
civilized and Chiistian nations ? Government is not a mere
engine of physical power in which might is right, but a
divine institution for the administering of jiistice, for the
security of equal rights, and especially for the protection
of the weak and defenseless.

Here we come to the second point of view in which
politics is presented. "Politics," says Dr. "Webster, "is
that part of ethics which consists in the regulation of a
nation or state, for the preservation of its safety, peace
and prosperity." Ethics, as defined by the same author,
includes " the doctrines of morality ; the science of moral
philosophy; a system of moral principles; a system of
rules for regulating the actions of men." Put these two
definitions into one, and the following result appears:
Politics, in one standard meaning, is a system of moral
principles and rules for regulating the actions of men, so
as to secure the safety, peace and prosperity of a nation
or state.

That this is a correct definition of politics, in what may
be called its moral and permanent relations, is evident
from the very idea of government.

Government is a divine institution, designed to secure

the safety, peace, and jirosperity of society. But moral

rules, principles, and practice are indispensable to the

safety, peace, and prosperity of society. Therefore, poli-

2

14 POLITICS AND THE PULPIT.

tics, as an element of human government, includes moral
principles and practice.

This truth is so essential to the discussion in hand, and,
withal, so foreign to the ordinary ai)prehension of men,
in regard to the import of politics, that it can not in jus-
tice be dismissed, without a more particular and extended
notice.

It is not then admissible, as a hypothesis, that such an
institution as civil government, fi'om such a source as
divine authority, and for such ends as the safety, peace
and prosperity of human society, would have no respect
to moral principles ; that it would provide no safeguards
for the rights of the various constituent members of
society ; that it would prescribe no duties of subjects to
rulers, or of rulers to subjects ; that it would set no bounds,
or give no checks to j^ower ; that it would sanction tjTanny
and oppression on the one hand, or sedition and rebeUion
on the other. It is not to be supposed that God has
annulled the principles of his own moral government in
the deputed, derived authority of his subalterns ; that he
holds rulers to no accountability ; that he has provided no
means or instruments for the admonition and reproof both
of rulers and the ruled.

Just as surely as that moral principles and rules con-
stitute an essential element of man's safety and well
being in society, so surely is provision made in the di-
vine institution of government, that these shall be taught
and enforced. To suppose the contrary is to suppose a
divine institution founded in inconsistency, and fatally
deficient in the means of self-preservation.

If any question arises as to the proper limits of these
reciprocal duties, the appeal lies to the eternal principles
of moral obligation and of the moral law, revealed in
the Word of God. If any party, in the great social and
political organization, chooses to assume the responsibility
of trampling that law under feet, of violating riglits or

POLITICS COXSISTEXT WITH THE PULPIT. 15

inflicting injuries ; and if the matter can not be adjusted
in this present imperfect state, the aj^peal lies to the tri-
bunal of Omniscience, and will be adjusted in the world
to come. But that the God of moral government has incor-
porated the principles of that govei-nment in the subordi-
nate and delegated governments of men, is no more to be
doubted, than that he is the author of human govern-
ment.

And while all this is true, and evident from a con-
sideration of the office of civil government in relation
to the interests of the present life, it is still more evident
in relation to the interests of man as an immortal being,
and as having need of the provisions and invitations of
the gospel.

That the present life is preparatory to the future, all
will admit. Whatever then is safe or salutary in resjDcct
to the life that now is, must take into account and keeping
the interests of man, as an accountable being, and tend
to train him for future blessedness ; or at least must be
consistent Avitli such a design. It is not to be supposed
that a government derived from God, Avould be based on
atheism or immorality, or that it would be destitute of
the principles of godliness ; or, in other words, that he
would so constitute civil government that any thing con-
sistent with the best interests of society, should be incon-
sistent Avith that godliness which has promise of both the
present and the future life. Nor can there be any thing in
the gospel and politics inconsistent with each other ; for
the gospel of salvation, while it gives glory to God in the
highest, ijroclaims " on earth peace, good will toward
men." The gospel, then, in its moral features and in-
fluence, is an essential element of true pohtics. And this
appears the more evident when we reflect on the fact that
sin is as much the enemy of society as of individual hap-
piness ; and the gospel is the enemy and conqueror of
sin. And if the gospel does not depend on civil govern-

16 POLITICS ANI> THE PULPIT.

ment for its support and success, yet civil government,
in any desirable form, does depend on the gospel. If
civil government is not an appointed or dii-ect means of
promulgating and inculcating the gospel, yet the gospel
is an appointed and necessary means of sustaining civil
government. To preach the gospel therefore in all its
parts, is to preach pohtics ; and, vice versa, to preach
politics, in the true sense, is included in preaching the
gospel.

Moreover, as the design of the gospel is to save men
from their sins, rather than in them, it can not be faith-
fully preached, without aiming directly and with all its
power to produce practical piety and morality in every
station and relation of life ; and consequently without
rebuking all impiety and immorality. "For the grace
of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared unto all
men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly
lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this
present world." (Titus 2: 11, 12.)

The gospel can not be preached to men consistently
with a license, express or imphed, to continue in any kind
of sin. It can not be consistently said to men ; " Come to
Christ as individual persons, and not as members of the
community : come as private persons, and not as public
officers, rulers, or politicians : follow Christ in the man-
agement of your private affairs, be truthful and honest in
your personal transactions, and not as members of a party,
as candidates for office, or in those public political meas-
ures in which you share responsibility with others."

The gospel, if preached at all in truth and faithfulness,
must be pi-eached as a law of universal holiness, as well
as a method of free and full salvation. Christ came not
to destroy the law, but to fulfill. An apostle has said ;
" Do we then make void the law through faith ? God
forbid ; yea, we establish the law."

As the gospel then is a confiniiation of the moral law,

"all is fair in politics." 17

and as the principles of the moi-al law enter vitally into
all correct politics, to preach politics, in -the true sense, is
to preach the gospel. And as all unjust and intentionally
injurious political measures are infractions of the moral
laAV, to preach the gospel is to expose and rebuke all such
politics. The two things are inseparable in their nature ;
and the attempt to separate them in jiractice is a mani-
fest evasion of duty.

Besides, it is not to be forgotten that politics, in all its
different branches, phases, and measures, is administered
by moral and accountable agents. The pohtician, be he
high or low, gi'eat or small, official or xmofficial, is amen-
able to God for all his motives and doings, as much
as any other man ; as much so for his political conduct,
as for any thing else. In vain does he think to hide him-
self in the labyrinth of party, or by " following a multitude
to do evil." The eye of God marks all his ways ; the law
of God reaches to his secret thoughts, and misses not
one of them ; and the justice of God will exact the pen-
alty due to his j^olitical sins, except he repent of them.

The saying that " all is fair in politics," ajjpears to be
regarded by many as a maxun, but it can proceed fi*om
none but an immoral source. It has no countenance or
allowance in the moral code. A political falsehood is
nevertheless a lie, and will come home at last to its author.
Political injustice, fraud, slander, oppression, and robbery
are personal crimes in the sight of God ; whose book of
remembrance will set them in order before the transgress-
ors. And if all the malignant passions expressed in those
angiy words, those bloody feuds and brawls which often
mark a political campaign; if all the misrepresentations
and detractions uttered by the poHtical press ; if all the
bribes, false oaths, and intrigue used for political ends ; if
all the property, reputation, and hfe sacrificed for political
pui-poses, are to be accounted for at the bar of God, and
to meet their just recompense of reward at the hand of
2*

18 POLITICS AliTD THE PULPIT.

eternal justice, what a scene of moral con-nption will be
exhibited in the judgment-clay, as found in the field of
practical politics ! Does any one beUeve this field to lie
outside of the moral domain of Jehovah ; left to the unre-
strained development of human depravity ? Is it a field
on which the light of divine truth is never to shine ;
where every crime is to find a sanctuary ? Is the field
of politics exempt from moral responsibility ; have its
occuj)ants no need of restraint or rebuke, and no concern
with moral insti'uction ? Is it an outlawed corner of the
moral universe, to which men may go, to trample on the
laws of God and the rights of man with impunity ; and
fi'om which, having finished their "vile work, they may have
fi-ee regress, unquestioned and unreproved, to the bosom
of virtuous society, and even of the church of Christ ?

If this is not so, then all the means and ai^pliances of
moral and religious instruction are to be vigorously em-
ployed respecting politics ; yes, in respect to j^olitics and
poUticians, as such ; inasmuch as they are concerned with
moral action and responsible agency. And all the more
-imjjortant and indispensable is this apijlication, because
politics and politicians are connected with 2:)ublic interests,
and draw whole communities in their train. If the actors
in political di-amas were alone to suffer for their faults, they
would be objects of benevolent regard and Christian labor;
how much more, when they have the destinies of whole
states and nations in their keejiing !

Another consideration of weight in showing the need
of moral instruction m connection with pohtics, is the
demoralizing influence of political life on those engaged
in its agitations and conflicts. Most lamentably does it
appear to be true, that men are less cognizant of moral
obligation in respect to their political conduct, than any
other transactions of life. Many appear to lose all sense
, of personal identity in the mazes of party organization
/ and intrigue. They are blinded by party intereists, and

BLINDING INFLUENCE OF POLITICS. 19

urged on in party ranks, to do what they would never
do in their individual capacity. They lend their aid and
influence to sanction measures and gain results, from
which, as personal acts, their consciences would recoil
with horror. They would stand aghast at the charge of
murder, drunkenness, or robbery, if they had a thought
that it might lie against them personally. The specter of
such crimes would haunt them by day and by night, and
drive peace from their bosoms. And yet, in their party
measures, under the pressure of party drill, they put their
hands to any or all of these crimes, without hesitation.
In truth, and in the sight of God, they are guilty of
wholesale murder, by sanctioning unjust war. By sus-
taining measures of violence and oppression, they rob, on
a large scale. And, by lending their aid to break down
the ban-iers against vice, they become accomplices in its
guilt. And so dense is the cloud of political j^rejudice in
which they are enveloped, they will justify themselves
in practices of the greatest enormity. They are exceed-
ingly restless under the influx of light, and jealous of any
agency by which their error is exposed. Especially do they
cry out under the appUcation of moral tests and standards.
These are of all others most disquieting, because moral
truth has a penetration and pungency which a political
shield will not always intercept. The Bible, the Moral
Law, brought into contact with their politics, is an intol-
erable annoyance. Therefore they are loud in their com-
plaints against bringing the Bible to bear on politics.
They can not endure poHtics from the pulpit ; and the
reason is obvious. Being indisjjosed to confess or forsake
the evil of their ways, they seek to hide it, at least from
themselves, by shutting out the light.

Pohtics, then, of all subjects, and politicians, of all men,
are the most in need of the light of truth ; and require
the most strenuous and faithful labors to bring it home to
their case. If exposure and proneness to fall constitute

20 POLITICS AND THE PULPIT.

a reason for the more Aagorous use of jireventives or rem-
edies, then poUtical life needs to be watched over, and
pUed with moral correctives, with the most diligent and
persevering faithfulness. If any of the concerns of men
must be deprived of the benefits of moral principle, and
the instruction needful for its maintenance, let not politics
be the exception. For this involves the dearest interests
of life, and stands in near and indissoluble relation to the
interests of immortahty. The attempt often made to sep-
arate the preaching of the gospel from preaching politics,
is unwarranted and mischievous. Let those who do this
tell how the gospel can be preached without preaching
•what is for the safety, peace and prosperity of a state or
nation. If the gospel is not confined to this teaching, it
certainly includes it. So that they who talk about
preaching the gospel to the exclusion of politics are wise
above what is written, and set aside the counsel of God
by their traditions.

Such, it is believed, is a true account of poHtics, in its
moral aspects and relations. And if such be the truth, it
can not be altered or varied by human opinion or practice.
No matter what men generally think of poUtics, or how
much they pervert the thing or misapply the name. Poli-
tics has an estabUshed character and meaning. It occu-
pies an elevated station among the appointed means of
human welfare, and stands on a basis as durable as moral
obligation. Doubtless there are points in it, as suggested
in our first view, about which men may conscientiously
difier ; points which involve no moral principle. And the
rights of personal judgment in such matters are not to be
invaded. At the same time, it by no means follows that
all points or questions in politics, or that the most vital of
them, are of this description. Directly the reverse of
this is undeniably true. The vital points in politics are
moral questions, involving the principles of duty to God
and man; and these are settled and invariable. These

god's word relates to politics. 21

are not only proper, but prescribed topics of public in-
struction. They are a part of the counsel of God, and'
can not be omitted without a manifest dereliction of
duty.

Ha\'ing thus shown the nature of politics in this sec-
ond view of it, let us now consider more particularly the
functions and duties of the pulpit in relation to it.

The pulpit is here employed figuratively for the use to
which it is consecrated. This use is the promulgation of
the Word of God. If that Word takes cognizance of
man's political relations, and makes them a part of its
teachings and injunctions, the pulj^it has an official rela-
tion to politics, and can not consistently leave them out
from its supervision and its ministrations. But if the
Word of God is silent respecting political duties, or ex-
pressly prohibits their consideration, as topics of public
instruction or animadversion, then the pulpit must be
equally silent. The question is simply a question of divine
revelation in the premises.

In detennining this question, it needs only that we
recall what has just been said of moral principles and
moral agency as lying at the basis of political action.
" The Scriptures principally teach what man is to believe
concerning God, and ichat duty God requires of manP
If political duties are among those which God requires of
man, and for the discharge of which he holds every man
accountable, then politics is a part of the word of God,
and must be included in the instruction of the pulpit.
Moreover, the Bible gives sj)ecific directions in many
cases.

It prescribes the pohtical quahfications and duties of
rulers, and the political duties of the ruled.

In 2 Samuel, xxiii. 3, it is recorded by David as
follows : " The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel
spake to me ; he that ruleth over men must be just, ruling
in the fear of God." In the sojourn of the Israehtes m

22 POLITICS AXD THE PULPIT.

the wilderness, Moses was counseled by Jethro to provide
nilers for the people, of such as were qualified for office,
and the qualifications he proceeds to describe : " More-
over, thou shalt provide out of all the people, able men,
such as fear God, men of truth, bating covetousness."

This counsel was reasonable and Avise, and was sanc-
tioned by divine authority. As a part, therefore, of the
express word of God, it is clearly embraced within the
divine commission to the ministry, and should, like other
precepts of revelation, have its jilace in the pulpit.

In Deuteronomy, xvi. 18, 19, 20, Moses rehearses a
law of God in the following terms, viz. : " Judges and
officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which the
Lord thy God giveth thee, throughout thy tribes ; and
they shall judge the people with just judgment. Thou
shalt not wrest judgment, thou shalt not respect persons;
neither take a gift ; for a gift doth blind the eyes of the
wise, and pervert the words of the righteous. That which
is altogether just shalt thou follow ; that thou may est live
and inherit the land which the Lwd thy God giveth
thee."

Lest, however, it should be said that these directions
are portions of antiquated and exploded Judaism, let atten-
tion be directed to the New Testament, for unquestionable
examples of present authority.

The apostle Paul says, (Rom. xiii. 3, 4 ): " For rulers
are not a terror to good Avorks, but to the evil. Wilt thou
then not be afraid of the power ? Do that which is good
and thou shalt have praise of the same. For he is the
minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that
which is evil, be afraid, for he beareth not the sword in
vain ; for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute
wrath upon him that doeth evil."

The charactei', qualifications, derived authority, and
duties of rulers, are here embraced in one view ; all going
to show that God ruleth in the kingdoms of men, holding

SCEIPTUEAL DIRECTIONS. 23

rulers accountable as his subalterns, and giving them
instructions in his holy Word,

The duties of the ruled are no less a subject of divine
teaching. Rom. xiii. 1 : "Let every soul be subject unto
the higher powers ; for there is no power but of God ; the
powers that be, ai-e ordained of God. Whosoever there-
fore resisteth the power resisteth the ordinance of God;
and they that resist shall receive to themselves damna-
tion." So in the 7th verse of the same chapter. " Render
therefore to all their dues ; tribute to whom tribute is
due ; custom to whom custom ; fear to whom fear ; honor
to whom honor."

Whatever may be the precise meaning of these teach-
ings, one thing is certain ; they pertain to politics. The
Bible then treats of politics ; and the pulpit, to be the
echo of the Bible, to follow its guidance, and not shun to
declare all the counsel of God, can not avoid the same
field, nor be silent on the same topic.

It may be unnecessary, in the present connection, to
exj^ress an opinion as to the extent of the injunction :
" Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers." The
task in hand is not an exposition of scripture teaching, so
much as the illustration of scripture practice. This task
is to be performed by shoAving that the Bible treats of
politics, and therefore that the pulpit must do so, or leave
the track of the Bible. But the sentiment expressed,
and the duty enjoined, in Romans xiii. 1-7, are of such
practical importance as to waiTant a few suggestions re-
specting their import.

The main question in the case is, what is meant by sub-
jection to the higher powers ? Admitting that the higher
powers are those in actual possession of government, with-
out regard to personal character, did the apostle mean to
inculcate the sentiment, that active obedience is to be ren-
dered to all their laws and requirements, however immoral
and repugnant to the laws of God, or the demands of

24 POLITICS AND THE PULPIT.

right? Or did he mean to require active obedience only in
civil matters and matters of moral indifference ; and in
respect to moral duties and the laws of God, when the
edicts of human government are in conflict with tliem, to
enjoin silent subjection or passive obedience? In other
words, did he not mean to say to Christians, Do your duty
to God and the cause of Clu-ist, and silently submit to all
penalties inflicted?

To suppose the foimer meaning, would involve conse-
quences too contradictory and monstrous to be a part of
divine revelation. It Avould sanction the enormities of all
tyrants, and condemn the " goodly company of martyrs "
and faithful witnesses to the truth. It would lay Chris-
tians under obligation to be actively engaged in deeds of
wickedness.

Surely the apostle is not the advocate of despotism and
oppression, as an ordinance of God. Would he sanction
the decree of Nebuchadnezzar to worship the golden
image, and condemn the three young men for not obey-
ing it ? Would he call the edict of Herod to destroy the
infants of Bethlehem, an ordinance of God ? Would he
condemn Daniel, when he did not hesitate to disregard
a law of the Medes and Persians ; or the believing mother
of Moses, when she was not afraid to disobey the king of
Egypt?

If active obedience, in' all cases in which the greatest
crimes are committed in the name and under the forms
of government, is a requirement of the Bible, is not the
divine government a kingdom divided against itself? If
God requires obedience to laws and authority which are
subversive of his own revealed will, how can his govei*n-
ment stand ? Surely, if any hyi^othesis can be inadmissi-
ble, on account of its inherent absurdity and contradiction,
it must be that Avhich teaches that God commands and
forbids the same action at one and the same time. The
Jewish rulers commanded the apostles not to teach or to

DUTIES OF KULEES AND RULED CORRELATIVE. 25

preach hi' the name of Jesus. But by cHrect reA^elation
they were enjoined to go up to the temple, and preach
openly all the words of their divine message. Were both
of these commands binding upon them at the same time ?

The doctrine, then, of active obedience to unrighteous
rule, is not the doctrine of Paul, or of the Holy Spirit.
If the commands of God and those of earthly rulers are
in conflict, and can not be reconciled, which has often been
the case and may be again, no Christian can be in doubt
which to obey, God or man.

On this point it may be projjer to add, that when two
or more parallel lines of duty are marked out by divine
command, and have a reciprocal and equal force, the obli-
gation to observe them depends on the continuance of
their relative position. Thus, the command "Thou shalt
not kill," has its correlative obligation resting on each
individual member of society, that he do nothing which
forfeits his life to public justice. But if he become vio-
lently aggressive against the life of his fellow citizen, the
force of the prohibition, in respect to him, ceases, and
another law conies into application to his case, viz.,
" Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be
shed." " The murderer shall surely be put to death."

So the moral duties of rulers and the ruled are re-
ciprocal and correlative. They are in force while their
true relative position is maintained. Of rulers, it is re-
quired that they be just, ruling in the fear of God. Of
the ruled, it is required that eveiy soul be subject to the
higher powers, i. e., actively so far as the laws of God allow,
passively in all other respects. But if rulers depart from
the ordinance of God, and abandon the ground on which
he has placed then* authority, can they justly claim the
rights and honors of a position which they have forsaken ?
If they leave the divinely appointed basis of authority,
do they not at the same time forfeit its prerogatives? If
they abandon the ground on which God has given them

26 POLITICS AND THE PULPIT.

the right to rule, and made it the duty of others to
obey, what does their power become, but mere usui-j^a-
tion.

Does the question arise, who is to judge Avlicn the crisis
of forfeitui-e of authority occurs, or when human rule
abandons its position, and comes in conflict Avith divine
authority ? The answer is, each of the parties concerned
is to be its own judge, subject only to the decision of the
Supreme Judge of all. This is so, because each of the
parties has an alternative, a gi-ound of option, in regard to
its own course. The ruler has his alternative, to rule in
the fear of God and according to justice, or incur the haz-
ard of a contrary course, together with the judgments of
the offended majesty of heaven and earth, — judgments
both temporal and eternal. The ruled have the alterna-
tive to obey, or suffer the penalty of disobedience ; in
other words, to violate conscience, or submit to a temporal
evil. In reference to this very case, Christ says : " Fear
not them that kill the body, and have nothing more that
they can do ; but fear him who can destroy both soul and
body in hell ; yea, I say unto you, fear him." Of his duty
in such case, every one must judge for himself, in the sight
of God. Such has been the jDractice of holy men in every
age of the world. Daniel judged for himself, and acted
according to his conscience in a case betAveen existing
rule and his God. So acted the holy army of martyrs.
And so acted the apostle Paul, in resisting tlie authority
of ISTero, requiring him to deny Christ. By this, his oavii
example, he explained his OAvn understanding of the in-
junction he had before delivered resj^ecting the higher
}iowers. The community at large has an alternative of
submitting to existing powers, or incurring the hazards
and responsibilities, temporal and eternal, moral, civil, and
social, of a revolution. While this is true, it must also be
true, that the claims of rulers and the duty of the ruled

THE "lilGIIEli LxS.V,-." 27

are defined and limited by the word of God, and that the
Bible is no charter for persecutors or tyrants.*

Again. The Bible enjoins the duty of praying for rul-.
ers as a special duty, in and out of the pulpit, and thus
certifies a sjiecific relation of the pulpit to politics.

* Every subject of the powers that be has the alternative, either
of obedience to every law or ordinance of man, that does not conflict
with the higher law of him who is the one only Supreme Lawgiver,
and who is able to save or to destroy, (James iv. 12,) or to meet his
responsibilities at a human and at a divine tribunal, and submit to
the penalty. This is true, when human and divine laws agree. In
most cases, the agreement or disagreement will be obvious. In
cases where reason for doubt is found, and time admits, the ques-
tion should be prayerfully considered and conscientiously decided ;
but so as that the subject may never suffer as an evil doer.

Equally is it the duty of the powers that be to make no statute,
ordinance or law, which can, in any way or form, conflict with the
revealed will of the one Supreme Lawgiver. Isever are they
allowed to place their subjects in a position where wrong-doing
or punishment is the only alternative.

But when the powers that be are in open and decided conflict
with the win of God ; when they require what God has forbidden,
or forbid what he has required, their authority ceases to have a di-
vine sanction ; their rule is usurpation, and they have no claim to
obedience.

The practical and Immediate duty of the subject In such case,
may vary with the form of government under which he lives. If
the power be absolute and irresponsible, If there is no place for pe-
tition or remonstrance, his duty Is expatriation or revolution. But
under an elective government, every means of redress, such as
petition, remonstrance, appeals to electors, and to the reformatory
power of the ballot box should be exhausted before resort to ex-
treme measures of self-defense.

In no case will Scripture, reason, or conscience justify a derived
and subordinate power In assuming the prerogatives of its superior ;
in no case can such assumption or usurpation be justly acknowl-
edged or obeyed. So have the people of God In every age under-
stood the matter, and so have they acted ; as has been already
stated.

i^S POLITICS AND THE PULPIT.

Paul wi'ites to Timothy, as a public teacher and
preacher of the gospel, that he might know how he ought
to behave himself in the house of God, and of course in
tlie pulpit. And while he charges him, before God and
the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the
dead at his appearing and his kingdom, to preach the
word ; he also exhorts, that " first of all, sujiplications and
prayers, and giving of thanks be made for all men ; for
kings, and all that are in authority ; that we may lead a
quiet and peaceable life, in all godliness and honesty."

It is therefore a scriptural duty of the pulpit to prtxj
for rulers and all in authority. This implies some recog-
nition of their wants, their dangers, their responsibilities
to God and to the people who have elevated them to the
stations they occupy. Acceptable prayer, whether by an
individual or a congregation, must be intelligent, and the
expression of the sincere desires of those who offer it.
And it can not be thus offered without reference, in
thought, if not in word, to the characters and circum-
stances of the rulers themselves.

By this is not meant that the pulpit is called to become
a censor of the actions or administration of those who are
in authority. Much less should the solemn service of
prayer be made a vehicle of political invective, or be occu-
pied with animadversions on public affairs, under cover of
the forms of devotion. But it is meant that the very
injunction of prayer for rulers brings them and the pulpit
into a friendly relation, makes the latter their support and
auxiliary, gives them a place among the sacred themes of
the Christian Sabbath and the house of God, and connects
them in the most impressive manner with the highest
sanctities of religion. It is only the government which
is thus habitually enshrined in the prayers of its citizens,
that can with any appropriateness be styled a Christian
government.

PRAYER FOR RULERS, 29

The relation is made still more plain and particular, by
the varied form of exj^ression, in which the duty is incul-
cated. Not simply prayer and supplication are enjoined,
but giving of thanks. This part of the direction can
liardly be obsei'ved without some distinct recognition of
measures and results. To give thanks for nothing, or for
the success and prosperity of a weak or wicked govern-
ment, would ill comport with the sincerity or dignity of
the pulpit. And farther, the specified purpose, as well as
burden of these jjrayers and supiolications for rulers is,
that ^11 concerned may lead quiefand peaceable lives in
all godliness and honesty ; which is as much as to say,
thai the prayers from the pulpit for all in authority should
resi^ect not only the official station of rulers, but their
poUcy also ; that it may be such as to promote peace and
quietness in godliness and honesty. In every view, then,
the relation of the pulpjt to pohtics is clear and unde-
niable.

If to the above considerations, we add some reasons wixy
rulers should be remembered in the prayers of the pulpit,
the conclusion will be greatly strengthened. Among these
reasons, the following are worthy of notice :

Divine wisdom and guidance are always requisite to
ensure wise legislation and the faithful execution of laws.
Eulers are dependent, as well as other men. " The king's
heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water ;
he turneth it whithersoever he will," Pro v. xxi., 1. With
the best intentions, rulers are Uable to err in judgment,
and to fail in execution.

Civil and social freedom and prosperity in a community,
depend on tlie prevalence and maintenance of moral prin-
ciple. And the influence, as well as the existence of moral
principle, depends on the example and countenance of
those in authority ; on the laws they enact, and the manner
in which the laws are executed. Rulers stand conspicu-
ously before the people ; their influence and example are in
3*

30 POLITICS AKD TUE PULPIT.

a, commanding position, and in close contact with all
classes of the popnlation.

Rulers are exposed to many and various temptations.
The eye of ambition is attracted by the allurements of
honor and elevation ; the ear of vanity is charmed by the
voice of popular applause ; the heart of cupidity is touched
and excited by the prospect of emolument; and every
way, the natural propensities of the public man are liable
to be inflamed by the circumstances of his position. And
those are not wanting Avho have an interest in giving these
temptations their full effect. In this state of exposure,
rulers need, in an eminent degree, the restraining, prevent-
ing power of God's Word and Spirit. And God will be
inquired of, and sought unto, for wliat his peo^ile need.

Rulers hold the great essential interests of the nation in
their hands. With them resides the power of war or
peace. What countless multitudes of lives have been
sacrificed by the mere caprice of rulers ! What desolation
and misery have overspread the fairest jDortions of the
earth, to gratify the ungoverned passions of men placed
in authority ! How are virtue, and industry, and every
comfort blighted by misrule !

Rulers make, expound, and execute the laws, on which
depend the liberty, property, and life of every person.
They guard the sanctions of the oath, that great bond of
society.

In popular forms of government, the purity of the elec-
tive franchise depends on the influence of rulers. If they
are i^atriotic, and above the reach of those motives which
actuate the mere demagogue, they will frown on every
attempt to gain office by fraud. But if they are unscru-
pulous as to means, and insatiable as to honor or gain,
then- influence will be extensively felt in all the avenues
of power, and seen in the removal of the guards and
defenses of freedom.

Liberty of speech and of conscience are also, in a great

REASONS FOR PRAYER FOR RULERS. 31

measure, in the hands of rulers. Grant that the people
have the constitutional right to petition, to remonstrate,
and of course to examine the measures of their public
servants; grant that rulers are bound by their oath of
office to protect this right ; yet, if disposed, with what
ease can they make constructive treason of whatever is
said or written adverse to their views !

Finally, government is the channel of national sins. It
is the exponent, the corporate agent of the nation or state.
Through the government, and that only, the nation acts.
Therefore, a sin, to be national, must have the sanction,
express or implied, of the rulers. It can not, generally,
become national without the concurrence of the rulers.
Xational sins are visited by national judgments in the pres-
ent woi'ld, because nations, as such, "will haA^e no existence
in a future state. All the retribution, then, which fol-
lows national sins, involvmg the most fearful temporal
calamities, is the eifect of misrule, and comes on a people
through the misconduct of their rulers. "When the
wicked bear rule, the people mourn." And one of the
greatest of temporal judgments upon a land, and a means
by which God punishes a corrupt community, is the
administration of wicked rulers.

Such are some of the reasons why we should pray for
rulers. If the pulpit, then, is not m direct relation to
l^olitics in all its aspects, if it be not directly concerned
with all the departments of state affim-s, it does, through
this duty of praying for rulers, indirectly reach every one
of them. By express divine injunction, government in all
its functions has been brought under the cognizance of the
pulpit, in the duty of praying, and teaching the people to
pray for all in authority, that they may rule in the fear of
God, so that the people may lead quiet and peaceable
lives, in all godhness and honesty.

But why multiply arguments to show the relation of.
the pulpit to politics, when all civilized and Christian

32 POLITICS AND THE PULPIT.

nations admit such relation, and make it a ground of j^rac-
tice? They do this in the observance, by governmental
appointment, of days of fosting and tlianksgiving, and by
the appointment of chaplains for their halls of legislation
and jurisprudence, and for their navies and armies. If
the pulpit has no relation to politics, if the Bible has no
mission in regard to the secular affiiirs of a j^eoj^le, Avhy
summon the living oracle of the pulpit, the expounder of
the word of God, the deputed intercessor at the altar of
prayer, to intrude upon the precincts of political life?
What has the minister of the .gospel to do in such places,
if his office and his work are for ever divorced from politi-
cal interests ?

The call of legislators, judges, and commanders for
ministers of the gospel to officiate, in immediate connec-
tion with jiolitical transactions, is an implied admission on
their part, both of their dependence on the God of Provi-
dence, and their desire to be guided by his truth, to be
recipients of his favor ; and of the perfect consistency and
propriety of ministers of the gospel becoming their mouth
in speaking to God, and the mouth of God in sj^eaking
his word to them. It is a recognition of the pulpit as an
appointed instrumentality for the conservation of the vari-
ous political interests of the nation. The propriety of
these proceedings, who but an infidel or a heathen will
deny ?

Moreover, the service of the jiulpit, on such occasions,
is not confined to prayers, confessions, and thanksgiving.
It is expected to go farther, and instruct the j^eople from
the word of God respecting their approjiriate duties as
good citizens and good rulers, and to administer such
reproof and admonition as existing delinquencies require.
The field of these instructions is circumscribed by no
prohibitions within the limits of di^nne revelation and
sound morals. It is a wide field, including all the great

PULPIT SERVICES INVITED BY CIVIL POWERS. 33

interests of tlie nation. Here the pulpit may expatiate
"without aggression, or just cause of offense to any.

Here, tlien, the pulpit stands in very intimate relation
to politics, not only by the admission, but by the invita-
tion and sanction of the civil powers. This fact, by
itself, would be suiRcient to substantiate tlie relation as
real and just. But when we find this common consent
given to an interpretation of Scripture, which appears to
be correct on its face, the conclusion is confirmed by coin-
cidence and general agreement, beyond all doubt or ques-
tion. At all events, political recusants are put to silence
by the common law of their own system. They are not
the men to complain of the intrusions of the pulpit into
their field, when, in their sober moments, and under a due
sense of their heavy burdens, they are glad to invite the
pulj)it to help them on in the prosecution of their Avork.*

* In the history of our Republic, there never was a more critical
period than that in which, in May, 1787, the delegates of the sev-
eral States were assembled in Philadelphia to form the Constitution
for the Union. A rupture at one time seemed inevitable. At that
juncture, Dr. Franklin proposed a recess of three days, to allay the
excited feelings of the assembly ; and then concluded his speech
with these words " Before I sit down, I will suggest another mat-
ter ; and I am really surprised that it has not been proposed by
some other member at an earlier period of our deliberations. I will
suggest, Mr. President, the propriety of nominating and appointing,
before we separate, a chaplain to this convention, whose duty it
shall be uniformly to assemble with us, and introduce the business
of each day by an address to the Creator of the universe, and the
Governor of all nations, beseeching him to preside in our councils,
enhghten our minds with a portion of heavenly wisdom, influence
our hearts with a love of truth and justice, and crown our labors
with complete and abundant success."

An eye-witness of the same, remarks : " The doctor sat down ;
and never did I behold a countenance at once so dignified and de-
lighted as was that of "Washington at the close of this address." But
one voice in that august assembly was raised against this proposition
to unite the pulpit with politics.

34 . POLITICS AND THE PULPIT.

The j^iilpit, tlien, is found in legitimate and scriptural
relation to politics. They are coordinate occupants of the
same field, joint-proprietors of the same territory, fellow-
laborers in the same work. Each has, indeed, its distinct
department, each its own proper offiice and function, —
but both cooperating to the same end, both tending to
the same result. As, in the human frame, one member
can not say to another, " I have no need of you," neither
is there occasion for one member to clash with another ;
so, in the organization of society, the magistrate or citizen
can not say to the pulpit, " I have no need of you," nor
the pulpit say to the rvder or citizen, " I have no need of
you ; " but each, in its own proper sj)he'i'e, works harmoni-
ously Avith each, in promoting the public good. Church
and state must not be blended in one to the corruption
of both ; neither may they interfere with each other ; but
each, preserving its own identity, contribute its own ap-
])roi)riate aid in promoting and securing the safety, peace,
and prosperity of the wliole.

3. There is now a third view of politics, which does
not relate so much to details of administration, or to
those ethical and moral questions which are vital to
a nation's prosperity, as to those arts and measures by
which imscrupidous men seek to acquire or retain place
and power. It is politics, as the word is understood by
demagogues.

Politics, in this view, often includes immoralities in
principle and practice, unjust and arbitrary measures, and
even acts of impiety and persecution, alike subversive
of duty to God, and the welfare of a nation. And it
is asserting no more than the truth warrants, to say that
practical politics, in our country at this . day, is more
or less of this stamj). It is seldom, if ever, that the
desecration of great moral principles is seen aside from
the path of political movements. Political aspirants and
party leaders are wont to make large inroads into the

CORRUPTIONS OF POLITICS. 35

province of morals, and to carry with them trains of
followers and retainers. It is by no means uncommon
that moral issues of vital character, the dearest interests
of freedom, are involved in a political campaign ; by no
means rare, that these issues are the pivot on which the
whole question moves, the weight that tm-ns the scale.
The observance of the Sabbath, the suppression of intem-
])erance, profaneness, or gambling, are not seldom the
questions from which political capital is extracted, by
opposition to morals, and aj^peals to the worst passions
of a fallen race. Every popular election gives testimony,
more or less abundant, to the potency of these appeals.

To ajjpreciate duly the amount of coiTujit material
A\'Tought into the fabric of practical politics, it Avill be
necessary to take a broader view of this field, and ex-
amine the actuating forces in some of the gi-eat political
movements and revolutions of j^ast times.

What Avas politics, in the history of the British Isles,
during the domination of the houses of Tudor and
Stuart? What was politics in the reign of bloody
Mary? On what piinciples were questions of prerog-
ative, allegiance, and treason then decided? Were not
poUtical questions then constructed from subjects moral
and religious, in the purest sense? What Avas politics
when the first James uttered his famous maxim — " No
bishop, no king?" What was politics when, under his
successors, not only civil freedom, but the rights of con-
science and the first princij^les of morality and religion
were all but annihilated ; when Claverhouse and Jeifrey,
hke two infernal spirits, rioted in public misery, and the
hills and valleys of England and Scotland were stained
with streams of innocent blood ? What was politics
when the Puritans were driven by oppression, first into
decided testimony to then* principles, and then, for that
testimony, into exile ?

Y^hat was politics in France during the reign of ten'oi'.

36 POLITICS AND THE PULPIT.

when the Bible and Sabbath were denounced, when
licentiousness and atheism were installed as national
deities ?

What was politics when the fathers of the American
ReimbHc declared for freedom and independence ? Was
it with them a mere question of taxation without repre-
sentation ? Did they not discover, in the folds of the
contest, the question of the rights of conscience ? Were
the Pilgrims of Plymouth Rock and the veterans and
patriots of 1776 to rise before this generation and testify,
would they not assure us that their politics and the
politics of their day involved, not mere municipal or
commercial questions, not mere problems of finance, but
great moral principles and rights ? Would they not say
that they resisted aggression on one point, because sub-
mission would invite aggression on other points, and
because they saw a princijile involved in that one question
which lay at the foundation of all their moral and religious
well-being, as well as of their civil and social freedom ?
Did they not feel that all for which they had braved the
perils of the ocean and the wilderness was at stake ?

"What is the politics of the present day, and of this
land? Are they merely questions of party ascendency;
merely points of speculation and opinion, or expediency ?
Are they nothing more than the adjustment of pecuniary
interests, or assignment of offices and emolument ? Are
no great moral principles involved, no great questions
agitated and at issue, which deeply affect the moral state
of the whole nation, which will extend their influence, foP
good or evil, for weal or woe, to unborn generations ?

To enumerate all the obUquities of practical poUtics,
would be a hopeless task; but justice to the truth re-
quires that some of the evils which beset their path,
should be kept in view ; that the way may be prepared to
judge of the relation which the pulpit has to politics of
this character.

FALSEHOOD AND SLANDER. 37

Political movements are liable to abcund in falsehood
and slander.

When moi-al obligation is disregarded and conscience
silenced, as they are in these movements, it is natural to
call to aid all available means, and to make most use of
those which are most easily obtained, and most effectual.
Among these means, misreiirescntation and detraction are
foremost, and they serve their purpose before they can
possibly be detected and refuted. In common cases, the
temptation to falsehood is greatly weakened by its doubt-
ful success, and the anticipated reaction which truth must
finally produce. But political falsehood is pecuharly
adapted to be successful. No matter how certainly truth
may triumph in the end ; in the meantime, the election
passes by, the falsehood has done its work, and the politi-
cian cares for nothing more. This is a point where the
political press is gi-eatly in fault. And the facilities for
tliis practice increase the temptation to its recurrence.
By this means, a strong tide of moral corruption flows
over society, and misrepresentation of facts and character
becomes a current, and almost necessary resort of politi-
cians. But, as before said, poUtical falsehood is as cor-
rupting as fxlsehood of any other form; while its
popularity and prevalence serve to shake the pillars of
truth and confidence in the community.

Politics enlists, also, or draws in its train, other prac-
tices which tend to j^ublic demoralization. It becomes
associated with Sabbath breaking, gambling, profaneness,
intemperance, and general licentiousness, for the purpose
of gaining suffrages from those addicted to these vices,
and the popularity and power which are coveted. It
tampers with oaths of ofiice, in the administration of jus-
tice, and thus weakens or dissolves one of the great bonds
of free society. Tlie sacredness of the oath and its bind-
ing force, are essential to the very existence of such
society. In a republican government, it is the safe-
4

38 POLITICS AND THE PULPIT.

guard of legislative, judicial, and executive integrity.
When, therefore, the moral power of the oath gives way
before the blinding, hardening influence of selfish, corrupt
politics, not only is the republic brought into peril, but a
moral evil, of fearful magnitude, is inflicted upon it ; the
floodgates of perjury are opened; and who can calculate
the result !

Nearly allied to the crime of perjury, is the fraud of
filse voting, or false returns of votes. Frauds at the
ballot box are, in a moral view, an aggravated form of
crime, and peculiarly injurious in their consequences.
And it is difticult to say in which direction they are most
hurtful and alarming ; whether to the liberty, or the mor-
als of a community. In some of our States, the
rights of citizenship can be reached only through certain
qualifications, and the exercise of those rights is preceded
by the elector's oath. Now, if the qualifications are not
possessed, the applicant is not an elector in view of law.
Consequently, the oath he takes is a filse oath, and known
to be such; he is morally guilty of perjury.

Moreover, the rights and benefits of suffi-age belong to
legal voters, and to them only. These privileges are
property as much as any other possession. Every legal
voter in the community has in possession, and ought to
have in enjoyment, a certain share or proijortion of a
joint stock, made up of the shares of all the legal voters
in that community. He is entitled to a certain proportion
or share of influence in maldng laws, and executing them ;
in laying and collecting taxes, and applying them ; in de-
ciding questions of public interest and j^olitical economy.
This share or proportion of influence is his property, sub-
ject exclusively to his control and use. If, then, illegal
voters come in to occupy a share of this privilege, they
take it from the rightful OAvners ; or, Avhat is the same in
eflect, they depreciate, by what they take, the value of
what remains. This may be carried so far as to destroy

ILLEGAL VOTING. 89

wholly the value of the privilege to the rightful owner.
What, then, is every act of illegal voting, whether by -vdo-
lence or fraud, but an act of robbery ?

To have a correct view of this matter, suppose a joint
stock company formed, for the jDrosecution of some branch
of business. Those who become legal members, and
invest 2)ropei-ty in the concern, have an exclusive claim to
the management. Every real stockholder has a right to a
proportionate share of influence in regulating the concern
and disposing of its avails. This is his right, his property.
Suppose that persons, without property in the company,
intrude, and by violence or false pretences assume the
rights of real owners. Do they not take and use the prop-
erty of others without their consent ? And may they not
become so numerous as to alienate and pervert the prop-
erty altogether? What are such usurpers but transgres-
sors of the eighth command of the decalogue ? The ille-
gal voter does the same thing. The privileges of the
franchise are the property of the legal voter, and the most
valuable of all his property, because that on which every
other possession depends. To take from him his just
share of these privileges is to rob him, in that jDarticular,
not only, but in all that depends upon it, it may be of life
itself. The amount of this plunder is far greater than at
first appears. In a communiiy of four hundred legal
voters, if one hundred illegal votes be intruded, the value
of each freeman's franchise is depreciated twenty-five per
cent. This is a loss that would be felt and heard from, in
regard to any other species of property. And yet the
farmer can better afford to be plundered of one-fourth of
his crops, the merchant of one-fourth of his stock in trade,
the mechanic and manufacturer of one-fourth of then*
products, the professional man of one-fourth of his income,
than the freeman of one-fourth of his franchise ; because
the latter gives value to all other property. It is marvel-

40 POLITICS AXD THE PULPIT.

ous that freemen should quietly submit to be plundered
of the most precious of all their earthly possessions.

Illegal voting is in principle no better than highway
robbery. Nor is the moral state of those that employ it,
or purposely profit by it, in any respect better.

It is a maxim venerable for age and truth, that the par-
taker is as really guilty as the perpetrator. The accomplice
is liable to indictment and punishment, as well as the
actor. If the illegal voter is a robber, he Avho uses such an
instrument, and enjoys emolument or honor obtained by it,
is so likewise.

In countries where the sovereignty resides in the legal
voters, it can be possessed only by derivation from them.
It may, for the time being, pass over to their legal repre-
sentatives. But it can pass only from its original posses-
sors, and only in legal form. Those that have no sov-
ereignty can give none. An illegal voter, then, can give
no right to office, and convey no authority. No one,
nominally in office by virtue of illegal votes, can have a
moral or legal right to exercise its powers. He is not the
representative of sovereignty at all. All his official acts
are usurpations. He has no prerogatives beyond those of
a private citizen. If he presume to officiate on such
ground, he does it on his moral responsibility. So far as
he is cognizant of the fact, or has reason to believe it a
fact, he is an accomplice in robbery. If human scrutiny
is not adequate to the detection or prevention of the evil,
there is a tribunal which is competent to discern and
avenge all such aggression on the rights of men. This is
what every office-holder and office-seeker, as well as every
illegal voter, should ponder. He should count the cost of
such a work of injustice and depredation. He is invad-
ing his neighbor's rights, — living by plunder ; and is, in
truth, a robber, so far as he gives or receives the avails
of illegal votes.

SLAVERY. 41

It is also true that jiolitics has to do with the question
of human shaveiy.

Among the despotisms of the earth, slavery entei's con-
sistently into politics, because the basis of despotism is
that, by divine right, one individual as supreme, and a few
others, as a privileged order, are entitled to the services
of all the rest of a community ; in other words, the masses
of men were made to be menials to a higher order, pos-
sessing power and skill to manage and command. But
in a government organized on the principle that " all men
are endowed by their Maker with certain inalienable
rights, such as liberty and the pursuit of happiness,"
slavery is a political heresy ; and can, by no possibility,
become an article of a political creed but by usurpation,
nor without inflicting a deep, if not a fatal, wound on the
vital principle of government. If, however, slavery is
forced into such a creed, it brings all its inherent qualities
and responsibilities with it. So that it still remains an
open question for the investigation of tlie moi'al and reli-
gious teacher.

In this third view of poUtics, the duty of the pulpit to
expound and apply the word, and to declare all the coun-
sel of God, remains the same as before stated. If the
Bible teaches morality, it of course rebukes immorality ;
and to do the same, is therefore the legitimate province
of the pulpit. Its obligations, indeed, are rather increased,
because crime, incorporated into public policy, is rendered
much more influential and dangerous. Immorality con-
fined to individuals, or to private and sequestered locali-
ties, is a small affair compared with immorahty flooding
the community, and mvested with the honor and patron-
age of public station.

Does a political connection change the nature or lessen
the evils of immorality ? If not, why should it be pre-
tended that the relation of the pulpit to it is changed ?
The change of name or of use does not change the thing
4*

42 POLITICS A^^U THE PULPIT.

or its relations. Call intemijerance politics. What of
that ? Is it not intemi^erance still, and all the worse and
more alarming for its new alliance ? Call profaneness
slander, or slavery politics. What then ? Are they any
better for the name ?

But it will be said that political issues are made to de-
pend upon these practices ; so that, if their nature is not
changed, their circumstances are ; and they can not be ap-
proached without hitrusion into things that belong not to
the pulpit.

As to the change of circumstances, it is not for the bet-
ter but for the worse, and makes the duty of the pulpit all
the more urgent. As to the intrusion of the pulpit into
the province of politics by the rebuke of vice, it is an in-
verted statement. The intrusion is all the other way.
The truth is, by espousing the cause of immorality, poli-
ticians have intruded into the province of the pulpit, and
put themselves in direct conflict with its duty. Now, the
question is, shall the pulpit give way to the intrusion, and
abandon its work ; or shall it still maintain its ground ?
In other words, shall it recede from the post assigned by
God, at man's bidding ?

The truth on the j^oint just now under consideration,
needs to be duly considered and settled, that the merits
of any conflict between politics and the pulpit, respecting
immoral practices, may be justly estimated, and the cen-
sure bestowed where it belongs ; and that the pulpit may
not, through timidity or false modesty, be frightened from
its path of duty. Who will say that immorality is an evil
which the pulpit is not most solemnly bound to expose and
denounce ? If, then, politicians undertake the defense
and patronage of crime, who is the aggressor, who is the
intruder, at whose door lies the fault ? Shall politics run
under the Avheels of moral obligation, and complain of
aggi'ession, or seek for sympathy because of wounds re-
ceived ? Sh:ill politics be placed as a shield l>cfore ini-

WHICH THE AGGEESSOE? 43

morality, and then complain of annoyance from the darts
of truth ? Shall it be subjected to a demoniacal posses-
sion, and then cry ovit against him who rebukes it in God's
name, like the man who dwelt among the tombs, " What
have we to do with thee ? Art thou come to torment us
before the time ? "

Suppose a field intrusted to the care of two keepers.
One of them is charged with the fences and general secu-
rity. The other is chai-ged with the cultivation and the
sowing of good seed, and both are accountable to the
owner of the field. It is manifest that, while each attends
to his own part of the work, and is fiuthful, the peace and
prosperity of the field, so far as means can go, are safe.

But the man of fences and defences becomes aspiring ;
he wishes to get possession of the field. The man of cul-
tivation and seed stands in his way. He must be over-
awed or put down. The fonner begins to sow tares. The
latter remonstrates, and resists. The fonner complains
of aggression and intrusion, and aj^peals for sjTiipathy in
his behalf. The seedsman avers it to be his duty to pre-
vent such solving by all lawfol means. The fenceman
avers that the tares are a part of his domain, and that he
is bound, at all events, to defend them ; not as tares, but
as liis property. Now which of these is the intruder and
aggi-essor ? And more : would the seedsman have been
more faithful and dutiM to his employer if lie had joined
with the other and divided the spoil ; or if he had pni-
dently declined all contest, and put hunself right in Ms
own eyes, by a timely conservatism, a care for liis own
safety, and an entire neglect of the interests of the owner
of the field ?

The right and duty of the pulpit to speak of sin in
political connections, are the same as to speak of sin else-
-where. It can not be called in question for so doing, save
only as it may abuse that right. The abuse may be
restrained, not the right. If a man abuses his personal

44 POLITICS AND THE PULPIT.

liberty, he is liable for it ; but forther than this, he is not
to be restrained. If, in particular instances, the pulj^it
oversteps its limits, using its liberty as a cloak of mali-
ciousness in that particular ease, the abuse is a matter to
be called into account, and proper satisfaction and secuiity
may be demanded. But the correction of abuse, and the
restraint or alienation of rights, are two very different
things.

The rights and duties of the pulpit are not derived from
man, nor are they dependent on human authority. There-
fore, so long as it keeps within the lawful bounds of dis-
cussion, exposition, or instruction, it is amenable to no
human authority as to the topics of which it shall treat.

Is it claimed that any discussion of a subject in the
pulpit, connected with politics, is an abuse of its rights ?
Then let the charge be sustained from the natiire of the
subject, or the word of God. The abuse must not be
nominal or constructive ; not determined by partisan zeal
or prejudice; but by some common and acknowledged
standard. If party dictation is made the standard of use
or abuse, if the personal pleasure of politicians becomes
the criterion of patriotism or treason, then is this institu-
tion of divine appointment subjected to gross injustice and
tyranny.

The union of church and state is, on all hands, justly
deprecated. But this principle, if rightly interpreted and
justly applied, forbids the encroachment of the state upon
the church, as much as the encroachment of the church
upon the state. Grant that the pulpit has, and ought to
have, no authoritative control over the poUtics of the com-
munity, and can properly approach it only by moral
instructions. So, on the other hand, the state, or its
authorities, can have no control over the instructions of
the pulpit, and can approach it only with moral influence.

For the same reason that the state should steadfastly
resist all attempts of the pulpit to intrude into any of its

irORAL EESPOXSIBILITY OF THE PULPIT. 45

political functions, by assumption of power and authority
not its own, should the pulpit as strenuously resist all
attempts of the state or of i>oliticians to intrude into its
special rights, by interdictions or restraints, in respect to
the topics of its instruction. The pulpit has its rights and
place, and its just claim to protection, in the exercise and
enjoyment of its rights, as well as the state, or as indi-
A-iduals. And it may be added with obvious truth, that
Avhile the pulpit is employed in its own moral field, the
political adventurers who invade that field in quest of
political capital, and therein suffer rebuke, have no ground
of complaint.

But there is another view to be taken of the position
of the pulpit, in the great area of public and political
morals, and that is the view of its responsibility to God.

We have seen that the pulpit, as an appointed moans
of communicating the word of God, has a right to deliver
its message, ^dthout hindrance or molestation. We have
now to see that, with this right, the pulpit has also
the duty, and is charged most solemnly with the duty,
and is held responsible to God for the faithful discharge
of the duty, of declaring the Avaraings and rebukes, as
well as the promises of God. The pulpit is required to
do this at the hazard of ever}i;hing valuable on earth,
even of life itself.

In the domain of moral government, responsibility is
spread out over all its subjects. IndiAidual responsi-
bility, official responsibility, circumstantial responsibility,
attend all conditions and actions of men. No exemption
can be found. And while it is made the duty of the pul-
pit to publish and illustrate responsibility in respect to all
classes of citizens, it is itself, so far from being exonerated,
loaded with an accumulation of responsibility of fearful
weight. Its charge covers the whole moral field where it
is placed. In an important sense, even, its field is the
world. So fir as the presentation, explanation, defense,

46 POLITICS AND THE PULPIT.

and application of moral truth are essential to the present
or future good of man, so far the pulpit is answerable for
facts and consequences. The divine command is this,
viz. : " Thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn
them from me. When I say to the Avicked, O wicked
man, thou shalt surely die, if thou dost not speak to warn
the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in
his iniquity, but his blood will I require at thine hand."
Xo exception is here made in favor of wicked politicians,
wicked rulers, or wicked parties. They all come within
the circle of moral obUgation, and must therefore be
equally the objects of warning and admonition. The
penalty of neglect is to incur a large share in the guilt
and misery of their ruin.

The pulpit, then, has a divinely appointed and consti-
tuted relation to politics; especially to corrupt and
immoral politics. This relation can not be evaded. The
responsibilities of it must be met by faithful performance,
on pain of swjft and signal condemnation. The pulpit
not only may, it must preach politics. So far as politics
are blended with immoral principle or practice, as it
generally is more or less, so far the moral law and the
gospel condemn it, and woe to the pulpit that withholds
the warning, whatever political web is marred, whatever
political ^3ath is crossed, or whatever political schemes are
exposed and defeated.

Such are the ordinary duties and responsibilities of the
pulpit.

But special occasions may arise, when moral obligation
in the common transactions of life is openly violated ;
when reckless speculation and commercial frauds are rife ;
■when honest industry and frugality give place to daring
adventure and extravagance ; when the hasty acquisition
of wealth, by any means, is the controling puii^ose of
business ; when ruinous panics are sprung upon the public
by deceivers ; when public confidence is shaken and

PUBLIC VICE TO BE REPKOVED. 47

scattered ; and when financial gambling takes the place
of fair exchange. Occasions may arise when the spirit of
fraud and violence may i:)ervade political as well as com-
mercial operations ; when the sanctity of the ballot box
may be violated; when false returns of electoi\al votes
may be made, to subserve the purposes of demagogues ;
when the ignorant are imposed upon by false reports ;
when measures of oppression and usurpation are executed
under forms of law ; and when political intrigue and syco-
phancy play their part, to the shame of liberty, and no
less to the shame of common decency and common sense.
Such occasions, whatever may be their political bearing,
indicate a condition of stupendous moral corruption.
Politics is steeped m wickedness. Those that do such
things fear not God nor regard man. Amidst such raging
elements of depravity, the pillars of the social fabric must
shake, if they be not utterly demolished ; while every
hope of immortality is shrouded in gloom.

When such occasions arise, it concerns the pulpit to
inquire most seriously, how far they are justly to be
charged to its own neglect ? How far, through ajiathy or
fear, has it failed to prevent or mitigate the evil ? It
can not be silent or neutral in such emergencies.

And then, again, it concerns the pulpit, in the midst of
these i:)olitical tornadoes, to rouse itself to vigorous action ;
to stem the torrent of vice flowing in upon the sacred re-
treats of social and Christian life ; to rebuke, openly and
sharply, the aggressors and ofl^enders; to succor the
tempted ; to sustain the falling ; to comfort the afiiicted ;
and to gather the broken, scattered fragments of the gen-
eral wreck, and reinstate them in order, peace and
security. Let no treacherous plea of moderation, con-
servatism, or charity, cast dust in the eyes of the watch-
man, or paralyze his arm. Moderation, conservatism and
charity, are precious virtues in their place. At the same
time, they are not incompatible Avith truthfulness and de-

48 POLITICS AXD THE PULPIT.

cision. Must moderation always be shaking with chills ;
must conservatism have the j^alsy : must charity be blind,
deaf and dumb ?

Besides, the names of excellent virtues are words, not
things. And as words, they may be misa]->plied. Is it
not possible, and sometimes convenient, to gloss over the
most shameful neglect of duty with these charming
names? A conservatism that just keeps self out of
harm's way, is not the moral quality needed in the pulpit,
especially in times of trial. AVhy have a pulpit, if it must
never announce any thing but what people like to hear ?
Why have a watchman, if he must never be allowed to
say any thing but, " All is well ? " Each man might as
well say this for himself, and on his bed.

When, therefore, a moi-al crisis arrives in connection
with i)olitics, the pulpit has occasion for a Avork of serious
review and reflection. Events seem to say, it has not been
faithful to its trust, it has not dealt truly with its message
from God, else things would never have come to such a
pass. Had the pulpit been vigilant and emphatic in its
work, would all the moral bonds in the community be
thus loosened, all the barriers broken down ; Avould the
moral sensibility of all classes be thus obtuse and inert ?

And then the pulpit has a future in prospect. What is
that future to be, and how modified by existing influ-
ences ? This is a great question, on the practical solution
of which the moral welfare of society and the destiny of
future generations depend. Is the pulpit to be bound in
chains, and led a captive in the triumi^hal march of some
political chief, or doomed to do menial service in the
kitchen of some successful demagogue ? Or is it to be
used as a political decoy, to draw the whole flock into the
meshes of the fowler ?

It is time that this whole subject of th<3 jDowers, func-
tions, and duties of the pulpit were considered anew ; — ■
time that its office, as originally projected in the counsels

THE EIGHTS OF THE PULPIT TO BE VINDICATED. 49

of heaven, should be explamed and vindicated ; time that
it were known by every one whom it concerns, whether
the pulpit be a human device, based on human opinion
and authority, subject to human caprice and popular im-
pulses, set up for the sole purpose of giving an audible
echo to the popular voice, erected as a rostrum to exer-
cise the vocal organs, where men may clerically beat the
air and talk to vacuity about nothing, or, whether it be
an instrument appointed to communicate the word of
God to men, to all men, in all conditions and stations of
life ?

If there is no need of this, why is there so much op-
position, and so much hesitation as to the efficient dis-
charge of its duties ? Why is it that the faintest allusion
to existing and rampant immoralities is met with the
charge, as if an offense, of preaching politics ? Why is it
that, in the midst of abounding moral corruption, no voice
of rebuke is heard fi-om many pulpits ; and from others
only the feeble remonstrance of Eli to his wicked sons ?
Why is it that any pulpits should, in such circumstances,
thank God that they are conservative ; that is, neither for
the truth and Christ nor against them ; thank God that
they are no fanatics ; that they make no disturbance or
divisions ; that they countenance no agitation ; that they
ciy Peace, peace ! when God has said there is no peace ?
Why is it that one branch of pulpit duty is placed in in-
vidious contrast with another, the exposition of the way
of salvation set over against the rebuke of open sin ; as
though the gospel could be preached without inculcating
repentance and reformation; or men could be saved in
the service of their lusts and vanities ? Why is it that
the pulpit has lost so much of its ancient dignity ; and is,
to a great extent, regarded as a mere tool of conventional
morals, manners, and doctrines, a toy of fashion and ca-
price ?

The foregoing considerations are of special importance

50 I'OLITICS A^D THE PUl^l'lT.

to a community under a republican form of government.
The peculiar structure of such a government brings the
pulpit into immediate and effective communication Avitli
the fountain of sovereignty. Under other governments,
the higher poAvers are fenced off with fonns and etiquette,
and are rarely accessible to moral instruction or j:)ious ex-
ample. Despotic and hereditary rulers stand on an eleva-
tion which few can approach ; and still fewer with the
voice of admonition and warning. But in a republic the
sovereignty resides with the people. They are the higher
power ; and all authority is delegated, and sent forth from
a level where all classes meet in equality. Here the pul-
pit is in direct and familiar intercourse with the sov-
ereignty. It meets the sovereignty every Sabbath day. By
its teachings, and by every appropriate influence, it forms,
molds, and, to a great extent, educates it. In the fimily,
in the school, and in all the paths of familiar intercourse,
the pulpit applies to it its plastic hand. In feeding the
sheep and lambs of Christ, and in watching for souls to
win them to him, the pulpit simultaneously trains up citi-
zens and prepares them for political duties. The pulpit,
then, thus situated, without any assumption of power
foreign to its sphere, without any encroachment on the
affairs of state, must, of necessity, exert a vast influence
on the jjublic and political character of a community. At
least, it has a fxvorable opportunity for so doing. If this
influence be not put forth in all its strength, and in the
right direction, the pulpit must be wanting to itself, and
to the interests entrusted to its guardianship.

In further illustration of this subject, let us consider the
consequences of excluding the pulpit from this field.

In the first place, it tends to the utter annihilation of
the pulpit itself

The practised and unscrupulous pohtician raises such
issues and employs such measures and agents as promise
most for the success of his schemes. Every truth and

TIIK I'Ll.l'lT ANXUllLATED, 51

principle of religion is made biit a foot-ball for his con-
venience. He may, with the French Directory, choose
atheism as an article of his political creed. He may deny
Divine Revelation, and cast the anchor of his hope in the
turbid waters of infidelity. He may find convenient a
denial of Christ's divinity ; or he may hope to make po-
litical capital by inveighing against the peculiar doctrines
of the gospel, such as the sovereignty of grace, justifica-
tion by faith alone, or the new birth. He may think his
cause AvUl gain patronage by associating with it immoral
and licentious practices ; such as Sabbath desecration, the
liquor traffic, polygamy, slavery, or even idolatry. A po-
Htical issue may be made to involve the abrogation of
Christian worship, the shutting up of the house of prayer,
or the banishment of every professed disciple of Christ ;
the extinction, so far as human power can effect it, of the
Christian church and the Christian name. In short, there
is nothing belonging to morals and religion that may not
be implicated and put at issue in a political campaign.

If, then, the pulpit is to be excluded from any one point,
because the politician has adopted it, where shall this ex-
clusion stop ? A single concession in the case puts the
pulpit entirely at the mercy of the politician. He has
only to extend his enclosure, taking one point after
another into the prohibited district, to keep the pulpit on
the retreat, until the whole list of topics for the pulpit is
under veto. And thus the pulpit is left with nothing to
do but to study poUtics instead of the Bible ? The gos-
pel of one time and place, must not be that of another.
In truth, the pulpit pubhshes no gospel at all, and should
better not make the pretense of doing it. Instead of the
title of pulpit., or a station whence the Word of God is
announced, it should rather be called the station of time-
servers, — a tower of political weather-cocks.

In the complex organization of human society, there
are many heterogeneous and discordant elements. Skep-

52 POLITICS AND THE PULPIT

tics, libertines, formalists, and fanatics abound ; each have
their own j^ersonal and party interests to subserve ; and
all these become potent political elements. Of course,
no one of these is willing to have his prospects
injured, by the exposure of the moral blemishes of
his system, and therefore wishes to keep them hid. The
pulpit discusses the being of God, or the inspiration of the
Scriptures. The infidels object, on the ground that their
politics are assailed, and their hold on the public mind
weakened. They demand that the pulpit shall confine
itself to the gospel, and leave alone speculation and meta-
physics, and above all, pohtics. The pulpit next proclaims
that without holiness no man shall see the Lord ; or what
is the same thing, that drunkards, profiine swearers, liars,
gamblers, and unclean persons, can not enter heaven. The
libertines of the audience are offended, and it is all because
the pulpit preaches politics! They have calculated on
much aid from those who love their lusts, and such preach-
ing darkens their prospects. They insist that the pulpit
shall preach the gospel^ shall tell men what they shall do
to be saved, and not be meddling with private affairs, and
above all, not be meddling w^ith politics. The pulpit
inculcates justice and equity among men ; it teaches that
to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly, is the sum of
true religion. Or, in another view of the same truth, it
proclaims from the word of God th^t to remove the heavy
burdens, to break every yoke, and to let the oppressed go
free, is what God requires, and what he especially de-
lights in. At once another class are oifended. They can
not endure such preaching. Their craft is in peril, the
pulpit must bow to their dictation, or be required to de-
part out of their coasts. Their gospel is, the submission
of servants and the unlimited rule of masters. They
demand that the pulpit confine itself to this gospel, and
abstain from such politics as justice and judgment; or the
golden rule, to love others as ourselves, — to do to them as

THE PULPIT ANNIHILATED. 53

we wish tliem to do to us. The j^harisee, the antinomian,
and all who venerate forms, days, saints, and canons, insist
that the pnlpit shall confine itself to their gospel, and not
meddle with such politics as the thoughts and motives of
the inner man. Heretics and apostates can not endure
doctrine or creed. They abjure metaphysics, speculation,
and abstraction ; the substratum of all character, in their
view, consists in facts and acts. To expose the moral
defects of their system is to encroach on then- rights, is to
prejudice their cause, is to disparage their gospel, is to
impugn their politics. Therefore, they cry out to the pul-
pit, '■'•Preach the gospel and abstain from politics ! ^''

Now in such case, what is the pulpit to do ? The com-
mand of divine authority is, " Preach the word ! " " But
hold," says one, " you must not cross my path, weaken my
influence, and hold my practice up to public odium ; for
in so doing you trench on my politics." " Hold," says
another, and another, and " Hold," say they all ; " preach
our gospel or preach nothing." If the pulpit is to be
governed by these demands, where is its Avork, and what
has it left ? It can not find a text in the Bible but will
carry reproof to some one, and therefore not a text that
Avill carry it clear of politics. If the pulpit concede to
one, it must to another ; if it yield one point, it must yield
the whole. The trumpet of the pulpit must give an
uncertain sound, its breath must evaporate in unmeaning
generahties, it must be wrapt in silence, or it must u.tter
the Word of the Spirit without partiality.

Let it not be said that this sketch is mere caricature or
exaggeration. Every particular mentioned has been again
and again involved in poUtical contests, which have
drenched the earth with blood. The pulpit has often had
these foes in political garb, and has encountered them suc-
cessfully only by taking to itself the whole armor of God,
and standing fast in the truth. In this case, he that seek-
eth to save his life by undue concession, will lose it ; while
5* ''

64 POLITICS AND THE PULPIT.

he that apjaarently loseth his Hfe by faithful testimony,
will save it.

If the pulpit is to be excluded fi-om the field of politics,
what is to operate as a restraint and corrective for politi-
cal sins and corruptions?

That these iniquities are numerous and flagrant, will be
denied by none. Among them, fraud, slander, misrepre-
sentation, imposition, covetousness, insatiable ambition,
and treachery, stand conspicuous. "Who does not know
that political contests are a vast drama of j^erjury, fraud
and falsehood ? Every wrong of this class has a respon-
sible author, and his sin will find him out. Political sins,
as before remarked, have no special license, but possess all
the tui-jDitude of their class in common life. If there be
any perceptible difierence, poUtical sins are the most hei-
nous. If crimes are aggravated by the maUgnity which
they indicate, by the evils which they meditate, and the
extent of injury which they inflict, it must be admitted
that political sins are among the most flagitious. They
have a distinct malicious aim ; they are not a bow drawn
at a venture, but an arrow deliberately sped to an object.
The victim is in the eye, and the barb is dipped in poison.
The oflender can not plead in extenuation, inadvertency,
or thoughtlessness. The evil done is done of design, and
shows malice prepense. And the extent and duration of
the evil are greatly enhanced by its political connection.
Individuals may be i-obbed of their good name, which is
better than precious ointment, more valuable to them than
mines of gold ; they may be loaded with unmerited odium,
their feelings lacerated with calumny or derision ; and
thus acts of most flagrant personal wrong may be perpe-
trated. But this is only a part of the wrong. The victim
is a public man, holding public ofiice, or a candidate for it.
The interests of the whole community are in a sense
bound up with his reputation, and his hold on pubhc con-
fidence. His ability to be useful, his influence for good,

THE ONLY CORRECTIVE FOR PUBLIC CRIMES. 55

depend chiefly on his standing in the public view. To
destroy his reputation unjustly, is to injure the whole com-
munity, to take from every man, woman and child, the
good he might do them. It is public as well as private
robbery. And it renders public service so disgusting that
persons of sensibility will generally shun it, and few, except
the reckless and profligate, will submit to the sacrifice.
Political sins, therefore, are especially aggravated, because
most purely maUcious and most extensively mjurious.
To pass them by, because connected with poUtics, is to
trifle with moral obligation and accountability. It is to
adopt a rule of poUtical action, that countenances and
sanctions the greatest crimes. And if these things may
be allowed in political action, how long can they be con-
fined to that action ? Will they not spread abroad over
the face of society, and corrupt alike character and con-
duct in all i-elations ?

If the pulpit, then, is to be excluded from this field of
pohtics, — if it may not rebuke slander, fraud, perjury, and
fiilsehood, because they are interwoven in the texture of
politics, how and by what means are these evils to be re-
strained and corrected ? "What is to stay or check a flood
of moral corruption, in all the walks of life ? Once sup-
l^ose the pulpit put to silence on these points, and what is
the inevitable consequence ? Together with declining
moral principle, and the prevalence of ignorance and
consequent obtuseness of moral feeling, there would come
in a state of moral laxity endangering every interest, and
coiTujDting every agency. The oath would lose its moral
power and biuding force, and false swearing, fidse voting,
and reckless usurpation, would soon lay low in the dust
ever}^ pillar of freedom and virtue.

Once more, to exclude the pulpit from the field of poli-
tics, is to abjure the government of God, and his control
of the afiairs of men.

The Most High God rules over the entu-e universe of

56 POLITICS AND THE PULPIT.

rational beings. The jDrinciples, laws, and penalties of his
government are revealed in his word, and the pulpit is the
annunciator and expounder of that word. Where the
word of God may go, the pulpit may go. Where the pul-
pit is excluded, the word of God is excluded. If, then,
the pulpit is excluded from the field of politics, the word
of God, and of course the government and sovereignty
of God, are excluded. If the pulpit must not preach poU-
tics, the Bible must not teach politics, and God must not
control politics, nor call their actors to account.

But is this so ? Are we informed of any district or
province in the moral domain of Jehovah, Avhere politi-
cians have license to act as they please with impunity ?
It would almost seem as if they themselves believed that
they had discovered such a territory. But the moral gov-
ernment of God extends over all rational creatures and
all their actions. He will call political actors to account ;
he will open the book of their political history, the record
of their public as well as private life. Even in respect to
those measures and aims which are most purely poUtical,
and which are simply matters of human judgment and
temporal interest, God takes knowledge of motives and
aims. The minutest details of business are reached by
that law which takes cognizance of every thought. The
most exciting scenes and most intense emotions of party
strife are all before the eye of God, and registered for
account. Even rulers, in their highest elevation, and in
the plenitude of their power, are but servants who must
give an account of their stewardship.

The attempt to exclude the pulpit from the field of
politics is therefore an attempt to exclude the God of the
pulpit from one province of his moral kingdom. It is the
same, in effect, as to say that Jehovah has no concern with
it ; that divine authority and supremacy are suspended in
respect to political proceedings ; that moral obligation or
Christian duty may not be enforced, or even explained,

THE SCRIPTURES OUR ONLY GUIDE. 57

any farthei' than politicians are pleased to permit. This
is, in effect, to resign the moral government of God to
them, so that, when we say, " The Lord reigneth, let the
earth rejoice," we must add, " politicians excepted ! " And
who does not see that if the moral responsibility of poli-
ticians be excepted, all other moral resi^onsibility must
go with it, and thus Jehovah, as a moral sovereign, be
dethroned '?

But it may still appear to some to be inexpedient^ though
it be lawful, for the pulj^it to enter the field of pohtics, or
meddle with any thing within it. There may be those
who are ready to ask, Are there not aspects of that field
which are unseemly and repulsive even to its notice?
things too base and corrupt for clerical handling? And
will not the pulpit be more likely to be useful, as the
instrument of saving souls, to abstain entirely from all
such tojiics?

These are questions of such magnitude that they can
be safely answered only by an apj^eal to the Scriptures.
What men of God have done, or have been directed to
do, in such cases, makes clear the true expediency of the
matter. Whether the pulpit be rej^resented by proj^hets,
apostles, or ordinary teachers, acting under a special or
ordinary commission, the principle is the same. If there
be inherent Avrong, imprudence, or inexpediency in a spir-
itual teacher's treating of political afiaks, in one case, there
must be in all cases. If holy men of God, under divine
guidance, did not hesitate to take poUtics in hand, as
watchmen of Zion and expounders of the Bible, then the
principle is determined — the question remains no longer
open.

It will be taken for granted, that, as the pulpit is but
the symbol or insti'ument of divine communication, and
derives all its importance from that use, it may properly
be considered as substantially identical with all other
means or instruments used for the same purpose. In other

58 POLITICS AND THE PULPIT.

words, the ][mlp%t denotes religious, moral, and spiritual
teachers of every grade, and their instructions, in what-
ever manner imparted.

We refer, then, first to Jeroboam, the king of Israel,
who adopted, as a leadmg measure of his administration,
the worship of the two golden calves, at Bethel and at
Dan. The pohcy of this measure was, to divert public
attention from the stated worship and instruction of the
temple at Jerusalem. The king of Israel thus betrayed
his own conviction that the pulpit had a duty to perform
towards politics, because he had no hope of corrupting
the peoi:)le but by first corrupting religion. A venal and
idolatrous ministry was the chosen and chief instrument
of his wicked rule, whereby he made Israel to sin.

But this policy Avas displeasing to God. He therefore
sent a prophet to rebuke the crime, and to denounce the
judgments of offended Heaven upon it. The prophet came
to Bethel, and, in the presence of the king and his court,
cried against the altar, while the king was standing by it
to offer incense to the idol. Did that prophet preach poli-
tics? So, it seems, Jeroboam understood it; and, like
other rebuked and thwarted pohticians, he was offended.
He had no liking for political preachers, and sought to
apprehend and punish the faithful servant of God. In
hot haste and wrath the king stretched forth his hand
from the altar, sajdng, " Lay hold on him ! " But his hand
withered, and he was fain to seek reUef by an appeal to
the pity of the prophet himself Not content with this
experiment, the king next attempted to corrupt the man
of God by his hospitality. What he could not do by
power, he hoped to effect by flattery ; he would bribe him
whom he could not frighten. In this attempt, also, he
signally failed. This instance affords an example of the
relation of the pulpit to politics, under special divine direc-
tion. And the story of the " old prophet," who finally
seduced him into error, is not destitute of instruction in
this connection.

A CONSEKVATIVE PROPHET. 59

This " old prophet " and his sons, being residents at
Bethel, had Avitnessed the doings of Jeroboam in liis
attempt to corrupt and mislead the people. But, so far
as appears, they gave no warning and made no remon-
strance. The old prophet either remained silent, or, if he
exercised his office at all, he was careful to avoid the
courtly topic of the golden calf; though it was a topic
pertaining to his office, and most immediately and deeply
interesting to the nation. He might have been, in the
worldly sense, prudent. For it was hazardous to all
worldly interests to oppose a man of Jeroboam's power
and shrewdness. It is very probable that he did not
believe in the propriety of preaching politics. He thought
it rather becoming to confine himself to a safer and more
profitable field of labor. Having the reputation, and
probably the stipend of a prophet, he was content to keep
his place and support his fixmily in dignified quiet, while
all his neighbors were plunging into idolatry. Or he may
have been a man of great modesty and moderation. He
was not so self-conceited as to suj^pose that he knew more
than all his cotemporaries. Especially, he could not pre-
sume to put himself m competition with Jeroboam, the
great man of the age, and the hero of the nation. Besides,
he was a man of peace ; the church, he thought, needed
rest, and would be injured by controversy. And, much
as he deprecated idolatry in the abstract, he saw no way
for its suppression in existing circumstances; and the
easiest and safest way, in his view, was to be conservative
and keep still. If, at any time, he was hardly pressed by
conscience, he could silence its remonstrances by referring
to the example of Aaron at Horeb. Golden calves were a
Bible institution, so far as that a good man had made one,
and the Bible had recorded the fact.

The old prophet, therefore, felt reproved and chagrined
by the boldness and faithfulness o:^ his younger brother.
And instead of joining with him, and strengthening his

60 POLITICS AND THE PULPIT.

liancls in the work of reform, or, at least, in an honest
testimony to the truth, he set himself by deceit to
ensnare the man of God, and involve him in trouble. The
old prophet stands recorded on the inspired jiage as a
deceiver and a traitor. lie is a warning to all reputed
prophets, old and young, of the evil consequences of
tami^ering with jjolitical sins, of holding their peace
when they should speak, or of using the sacred office
only for purjooses of personal ease and tem2:)oral advan-
tage.

The subsequent history, also, of the man of God him-
self, who was seduced by falsehood to disobey his orders
to his temporal ruin, holds up a Avarning to all the ser-
vants of Jehovah entrusted with his message, and ixnder
his orders, that they turn not aside at the suggestion of
pretended friends, even though they may have the office
and repute of " old prophets."

Asa, king of Judah, though in the main a good and wise
prince, committed the political and moral error of making
a league with the king of Syria. At that time Hanani,
the seer, came to him and said : " Because thou hast
relied on the king of Syria, and not relied on the Lord
thy God, therefore is the host of the king of Syria escaped
out of thine hand. For the eyes of the Lord run to and
fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong
in behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.
Herein thou hast done foolishly, therefore from henceforth
thou shalt have wars." Did not Hanani preach politics in
so doing?

If Asa, in his offended j^ride, resented the seeming
intrusion, and rewarded the faithfulness of his friend and
spii'itual guide with a j^rison, the fact only illustrates the
tendencies of fillen nature, when left to itself It proves
neither the king's wisdom nor the prophet's im2:)rudence,
but rather confirms our conviction that there was need of
a special warning from Heaven to recall the erring moii-

EXAMPLE OF ELIJAH. 61

arch from his deiDartiire from God. And it further evinces
tliat he -was in a Avrong state of mind, when it is added,
'•Asa oppressed some of the people at the same time."
Oppression and impatience under reproof are very often
found in company.

The prophet EHjah, in his day, had much occasion to
deal with pohtics, because he lived in evil times, during
the reign of some of the worst of Israel's kings.

Ahab sold himself to Avork wickedness against God and
his people. He established idolatry by law, and used all
the influence of his station and authority to corrupt the
nation. Such was his open and avowed policy. Against
this policy Elijah was commissioned to bear public and
solemn testimony. And when accused by Ahab of being
a troubler of Israel, that is to say, an mtermeddler, and agi-
tator, he replied, "7" have not troubled Israel, but thou
and thy father's house, in that ye have forsaken the com-
mandments of the Lord, and thou hast followed Baalim."
Did Elijah i^reach politics? Was he a traitor?

And not only did Elijah preach politics, but he followed
it with correspondmg action. He put the whole retinue of
Baal's priesthood to the trial. He prevailed against them
and abolished the system. In so doing he awakened the
bitter resentment of Jezebel, the powerful and malignant
patroness of the prevalent policy. "With bitter vindic-
tivcness she denounced the political prophet and his agi-
tations, and, woman and queen though she was, declared
with an oath that her vengeance should be satiated with
his blood. Was Elijah a rebel ? Was he out of his
place ? Was he guilty of sedition and outrage ? Or was
he faithfully serving his country and his God ?

In the reign of Ahaziah, the son of Ahab, the same pol-
icy was adopted that had distinguished the preceding
administration. It was idolatry, from the throne to the
cottage.

Ahaziah fell sick, and sent to inquire of Baakebub,

ess POLITICS AND THE PFLPIT.

the god of Ekron, as to the issue of his disease. But tlie
angel of tlie Lord said to Elijah, "Arise, go up to meet the
messengers of the king of Samaria, and say unto them,
Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that ye go
to inquire of Baalzebub, the god of Ekron?" "Now there-
fore, thus saith the Lord, Thou shalt not come down from
that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die."
When this message was reported to the king, and he was
informed that it came through Elijah, the man of God, he
was incensed, not at his own wickedness, but at his faith-
ful reprover. He regarded the message as constructive
treason, and proceeded to order out a military force to
arrest the rebel. But Elijah cast himself on the protec-
tion of his God, and was dehvered. Was Elijah in the
right while thus interfering with the king and his affairs,
or was he a rebel ? Doubtless the king and his courtiers,
and all interested politicians would affirm the latter. But
this is not the decision of Elijah's God, by whose order
he acted, and by whose jDower he was defended.

In another instance the j^olitical ministration of Elijah
was remarkable and instructive. Jehoram, the son of
Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, had married Athahah, the
daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, and walked in all the sins
of the house of Ahab. His policy was unjust and cruel,
and eminently calamitous to himself and to the nation.
To secure himself from rival claims, he slew all his
brethren, the princes of Judah. Edom and Libnah
revolted. And while the public affairs were filling into
confusion, he devoted himself to the promotion of idola-
try, and its attendant licentiousness. In tliis postiu-e of
public affiiirs, the patriotism of God's prophet was aroused.
And while this profligate king probably took care not to
come within reach of his vocal ministrations, there came
to him a writing from Elijah, saying, " Because thou hast
not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat, thy flither, nor in
the ways of Asa, king of Judah, but hast walked in the

ELISHA. 63

ways of the kings of Israel, and tast made Judah, and
the inhabitants of Jerusalem to go a whoring, Uke to '
the whoredoms of the house of Ahab ; and also hast slain
thy brethren of thy fother's house, which were better
than thyself; behold with a great plague will the Lord
smite thy people, and thy children, and thy wives, and all
thy goods, and thou shalt have great sickness." (2 Chron.
21 : 12.)

This, it must be confessed, was plain dealing with a
wicked ruler. And though it was not from the pulpit,
viva voce, — though it was a protest or remonstrance sent
in writing, it Avas nevertheless the testimony of the pulpit.
It was also in the name and by authority of the God of
Heaven, so that the duty and expediency of the measure
are placed beyond question. The circumstances of this
example are all in illustration of the truth that the pulpit
has a duty in relation to poHtics, both as an auxiliary and
a reprover.

The history of Elisha, the successor of Elijah, and a
faithful witness against prevalent political corruption,
gives similar instruction.

On one occasion, Elisha had confeiTcd a great favor
uj^on his nation in disclosing the secret counsels of their
enemies, and thereby frustrating their designs. The Syr-
ians, exasperated thereby, rallied all their forces to reduce
Samaria by siege. An extreme scarcity was soon felt in
the city. The king, instead of resorting to the pi-ophet
and his god for succoi-, flew into a rage, laid all the blame
to Elisha, and uttered a profane threat against his life.
Thus selfish and wicked men deal with God's ministers.
Their services they forget, their reproofs they resent, and,
one way or the other, they will inculpate their agency,
and find, or make occasion to regard and treat them
with abuse.

Amaziah, king of Judah, having invaded Edom, brought
away the gods of the land, and set them up as his own.

64 POLITICS AND THE PULPIT.

For this the anger of the Lord was kindled against hii7i ;
and a proi^het was sent to say to him, " Why hast thou
sought after the gods which could not deliver their own
peoj^le out of thine hand?" "And it came to pass, as he
talked with him, that the king said unto him, ' Art thou
made of the king's counsel? Forbear; why shouldst
thou be smitten ? ' Then the prophet forbore, and said,
*I know that God hath determined to destroy thee, be-
cause thou hast done this, and hast not hearkened nnio my
counsel.' " Here was a servant of God accused of in-
trusion and threatened with stripes, for delivering a mes-
sage of God in rebuke of idolatry, because the chief ruler
had made it a j^art of his politics. The prophet preached
politics undoubtedly, and he did it by divine command ;
and the king's rejection of the reproof was the harbinger
of his ruin.

The prophet Amos was sent of God to rebuke the sins
of Isi'ael, during the reign of the second Jeroboam. This
Jeroboam had a priest at Bethel, superintending the wor-
ship of the golden calf The name of this priest was
Amaziah. " Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent to
Jeroboam, Icing of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired
against thee in the midst of the house of Israel ; the
land is not able to bear all his words. For thus Amos saith,
Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely
be led away captive out of their own land. Also Amaz-
iah said unto Amos, O thou seer, go flee thee away
into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy
there : but proj^hesy not again any more at Bethel ; for it
is the king's chapel and it is the king's court."

Plere again we behold a minister of religion reproving
political sins, and political men and their minions smart-
ing under such reproof. Jeroboam and his .idolatrous
priest resented the prophet's interference. Idolatry was
a national institution ; its seat was at Bethel, where it
had the patronage of the king and his court. It could

REFOKMATION UNDER JOSIAH. 65

not be spoken against without assailing the politics of
the government. Therefore, if the prophet must de-
liver his message, they insisted that he should flee
away into the land of Judah, and prophesy there. The
prophet, so far from being frightened by this menace or
convinced by this logic, repeated his message with greater
emphasis, and added a special denunciation upon the
pliant priest of Bethel.

A more pleasing instance of obedience to the message
of God's embassador occurred in the reign of Josiah, king
of Judah.

The word of God had been neglected, and its teachings
had so far fallen into desuetude that its very existence
Avas forgotten. It was lost in the lumber and rubbish of
the temple. The consequence was that the government
and the people had gone far astray. The preceding
reigns of Manasseh and Amon had been devoted to idola-
try. Josiah commenced a reformation ; but he proceeded
wath filtering steps, and without the hearty concurrence
of the people. They needed light ; and the lamp of the
word was hidden among the stuff.

At length, in repairing the house of God, Hilkiah, the
high priest, found the book of the law of the Lord, given
by Moses. It was brought to the knowledge of the king
and read before him. The effect on the king was most
happy. He commanded the priest and his assistants to
inquire of the Lord for him, and for them that were left
in Judah, concerning the book that was found : that is to
say, he commanded them to inquire for the meaning of
the word of God, and its apijUcation to their case. The
response was a veiy severe rebuke. " Thus saith the
Lord : Behold, I will bring evil on this place, and upon
the inhabitants thereof, even all the curses that are writ-
ten in the book which they have read before the king of
Judah ; because they have forsaken me, and have burned
incense to other gods that they might provoke me to
6*

66 POLITICS AND THE PULPIT.

anger with all the works of their hands : therefore my
wrath shall be poured out upon this place, and shall not
be quenched."

This admonition was followed by immediate reforma-
tion. The elders of the people were convened, the words
of the book recited to them, and the king and all his
realm entered into a solemn covenant with the God of
their fathers.

Here was no flouting, nor threatening about preaching
politics; but the word of God was received with all
readiness of mind, and the consequence was, a national
reformation, and, for the time, a national salvation.

The prophet Jeremiah, during several succeeding reigns,
found occasion to deal largely with politics in his public
ministrations. His was the unenviable lot to bear public
testimony against the prevalent sins of the government
and the nation, and to incur the odium and ill usage com-
monly attendant on such a duty. Nevertheless, he was a
true prophet, a loyal citizen, and a genuine patriot. The
rulers of the nation had made a deep plunge into all the
wonted immoralities of idolatry, and the judgments of
God were gathering over the land. Already premonitions
of their coming were heard in the distance. Of .these
warnings Jeremiah was the appointed herald. Conse-
quently his great and almost exclusive work was to preach
politics, and to preach it in the most offensive form. He
was by ofiice a political reprover, both of government and
people.

The king of Babylon was advancing from the north and
east with a mighty army of invasion and conquest. The
question then was. Shall the invader be resisted, — shall
Jerusalem be defended, or shall submission be conceded ?
The king of Judah and his counselors decided upon the
former alternative as the only manly and patriotic course ;
but Jeremiah was divinely directed to inculcate a different
line of policy, and insist on submission to the king of

JEKEMIAH. 67

Babylon as the only means of national safety. The rea-
sons for this course were cogent and conclusive. The
truth was, the rulers and people of Judah had a contro-
versy with their God. The nation had gone far astray,
had provoked their God to the degi-ee which requu-ed a
chastisement in vindication of the divine honor, as con-
nected with their history. And now God gave them the
alternative either to humble themselves under his mighty
hand, by submission to the king of Babylon, and thus
prevent a siege, a sack, and a captivity, or to resist the
appointed instrument of divine displeasure, and suffer the
consequences. The rulers and people of Judah did not
recognize God in their calamities ; they saw only the in-
strument by which he Avrought his pleasure among them.
In doing this they committed a great political eiTor, — one
very common in human pohtics. The hand of God is not
seen nor acknowledged by men of mere worldly wisdom ;
their controversy with God is not regarded or provided
for ; therefore their measiires of defense are often the
most direct and certain means of their ruin. Jeremiah
exhorted them to submit to the rod of divine correction,
wielded by the king of Babylon, and assured them that it
would be a lengthening of their tranquillity.

But the politicians of that day and nation were men that
regarded neither God nor his prophets. They were wise
in their own eyes, and left to that judicial blindness and
infatuation which always presages an overthrow. They
rejected the instructions of God by his servant; and not
only so, they proceeded to arrest and punish the prophet
as a disturber of the peace, as a traitor, a rebel. He was
thrown into a dungeon, at the peril of his Ufe. The
charge against him was, that he preached politics ; which
was unquestionably true. But was he criminal and
treacherous in acting according to a divine command, and
in pointing out the only path of safety ? What was the
result, but the confirmation of the prophet's message, anJ

68 POLITICS AND THE PULPIT.

the defeat of his opponents? A long and destructive siege,
a demolished city, a rifled temple, a subjected nation, and
a captivity of seventy years, proclaim to the world that
the pulpit has a legitimate concern with politics ; and that
its admonitions can not be safely neglected.

We may adduce, lastly, the example of Ezi-a. He was
a priest, a lineal descendant of Aaron. To him had been
entrusted the care of conducting the people on their
return from captivity. It ajjpeared that simdry of their
leaders had adopted, and were carrying out the policy of
amalgamation with the nations around. By this depart-
ure from the law of the Lord, Ezra, its expounder and
teachei", Avas greatly moved, and through his influence
effective measures were taken for the removal of the evil.
On another occasion he j^reached publicly in exi^osition of
the law in its bearings upon the civil as Avell as the religious
affairs of the nation, and received from the people that
defei'ence and obedience which showed how clearly they
recognized his right to speak on all matters of duty in the
name of Jehovah.

The Kew Testament is no less explicit in its instimctions
concerning this matter. Some of its recorded examples
and teachings ai'e the following:

John the Baptist was the harbinger of Christ, the con-
necting link between the old and new dispensations.

What relation had the pulpit, in the person of John, to
pohtics ? The chief ruler, in his day, was an l^nprincipled,
profligate man, and a cruel tyrant. He had taken his
brother's wife to himself; and thus, not only as an indi-
vidual person, but as a ruler, a jDublic man, was hving in
open violation of the moral law. Here then the question
was fairly at issue, whether political rank was to be a
cover for immorality, and a bar to reproof from the min-
ister of religion. And in the example of John, we have
his judgment of the case. John might easily have kept
himself aloof from pohtical scenes ; he might have con-

JOHN THE BAPTIST. 69

fined himself to the wilderness, and to his homely fare,
and have left kings and courts to themselves, if he had
been desirous of an excuse. But here was a great iniblic
crime, and here was the pulpit, in the keeping of John ;
and he was not the man to shrink from responsibility.
" It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife," was
his fearless utterance. " But it cost the Baptist his head,"
says the politician, and the conservative preacher. True,
and if any person prefers the favor of the tyrant to the
fidelity and fortunf of the martjT, he is at undoubted
liberty to take his choice. But if any professed servant
of God had said to John, " It were better for you to have
preached the gospel, and told sinners what they must do
to be saved, than to be thus meddling with politics ; " we
can easily imagine the reply which this fearless preacher
of righteousness would have made to him.

Will it be said that John did not preach politics dis-
tinctly, but simple morality ? The answer is, he preached
both in one, because the crime of Herod had political
bearings and efiects. This is a very common case. Moral
questions and principles are so interwoven with political
issues, as to be incapable of sepai-ation. Might not the
partisans of Herod have said to John, "You are meddling
with political afiairs in your preaching ; you injure the
popularity of our king; you Aveaken his influence and
raise prejudice against his government, by exposing his
faults, and reproving his vices?" Might they not have
said to him, "Whatever be your motives or your weapons,
however pure the one or spii-itual the other, the effect is
the same ; our party is damaged, our measures are inter-
fered with?" If John might have been, and perha2)s was
considered an intruder and ofiender by politicians of his
day, his example is suggestive of what is becoming to
ministers of religion in all similar cases. It shows that
honesty and fidelity will not allow them to keep silence
on questions of vital interest to all sound morality and

70 POLITICS AND THE PULPIT.

piety; even tliough the performance of duty cost the
sacrifice of favor, earthly interest, or life itself

Politics, in the time of our Saviour and in the field of
his ministry, related for the most part to questions and
observances pertaining to the ritual law. The paying of
tribute to Ctesar had indeed its place, as a mere secular
topic, and was easily disposed of by the Great Teacher,
" Let Csesar have his own, and let God have his own," was
a platform of poUcy worthy of its author, however little
it might comport with the views of those who propounded
the question. But the main and exciting inquiries of the
day among the Jews were, what would give ascendency
to Pharisees, Sadducees, or Herodians; by what means
each sect or party might take the honore and the spoils.
These questions of course involved moral principles, and
the popular solution involved much immoral practice. One
issue was, whether fonn and name were not the same as
reality and substance; whether the letter was not the
same as the spirit. Another was the question, whether
the apparent avoidance of one sin, or excess of sanctity
in one point, gave license for any degree of iniquity in
all other points ; whether frequent fasts and long prayers
in the comers of the streets would aiFord a license to
destroy widows' houses, and bind heavy burdens ; whether
"corban," labeled on an ostentatious gift or pretended
charity, would relieve the vain practitioner from the claims
of social and moral obligation? These and such like
questions were the political issues, in the days of Christ's
public ministry among the Jews. Did Christ deal with
them, or did he not ? Did he consider them forbidden
topics of public instruction and reproof, because uiter-
woven with the pohtical issues of the time ? Did he not
rather, on that very account, take them in hand and treat
them in the plainest and most pointed manner? Let any
one read the appeals and rebukes of our Saviour, ad-
dressed to the Scribes and Pharisees, the rulers and leaders

EXAMPLE OF CHRIST. 71

of the people, the poHtical men of the day, and then let
him say, if he can in truth, that Jesus Christ never preached
politics ; or that he avoided great moral questions of prin-
ciple or practice, because of their political connections.*

It is not necessary to the present pui-jjose to claim that
the ministers of Christ, being fallible men, would be justi-
fied in saying all that he said, or doing all that he did.
All that is claimed is, the right and duty of the pulpit to
bring truth to bear on the moral principles involved in
politics. And surely, if there is any inherent wrong in
the practice, any intrusion, any officious meddling in the
case, the sanction of Christ's examj^le would have been
withheld, and the practice prohibited. Can the example
of our Loi-d and Master comport Avith that reserve and
silence in relation to political aflfairs, wliich by many are
esteemed to be the height of wisdom ? And if such cau-
tion is according to the will of Christ, why is not an
exception made in the commission, " Preach the gospel to
every creature ?" Why did not the Master say, " Preach
the gospel, except where and when it will cross the path
of political aspirants, or expose and reprove the sins of
political leaders ? "

If then a criminal charge can be brought against the
pulpit, on the ground that it interferes with politics, it
must lie, with equal propriety and force, against Him
whom the pulpit is commanded to follow. In this view

*It is true that the scepter had departed from Judah -when Jesus
Christ, the Shiloh, had come in the flesh. The Roman was the par-
amount authority. The Jews, however, had some relics of political
power blended with their ecclesiastical forms. To both forms of
politics our Lord addresses liimself, in his ministry. To the former,
in the message which he sent to Herod, when he said, Go and tell
that fox, &c., and in the declaration made to Pilate, " Thou
couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given
thee from above," — (John 19:11) He treated politics in the Jew-
ish form, as already stated.

72 POLITICS AND THE PULPIT.

the charge of course refutes itself, and recoils ujDon those
by whom it is preferred.

It is next in order to inquire how this subject was un-
derstood and treated by the apostles of our Lord.

Shortly after the ascension of Christ, two of the apos-
tles, Peter and John, were a2:)prehended and brought
before the great Council of the nation to answer for their
23 reaching. And what did they i^x'each ? — That Jesus
Christ, the Son of God, had been wickedly rejected, per-
secuted, and crucified, at the instigation of the rulers and
the jieople ; and therefore, that the violent death of this
jDcrson Avas an event for which they were responsible. —
Why was this preaching offensive to the Council ? Be-
cause they were conscious of its truth, and because it
exposed and reproved their cherished jiolicy. Their poli-
tics, at the time, were directed to the utter suppression of
the doctrine and foith of Christ. The preaching of the
apostles was therefore as pointedly and offensively ]3olitical
as any preaching could be. It attacked and condemned
their favorite measures, thwarted their plans, and brought
the blood of an innocent man upon their consciences.
They of course felt a lively interest in preventing the
ajjostles from handling such topics as these.

After consultation, they called the apostles and com-
manded them not to speak at all or teach in the name of
Jesus. Here the political authorities came into direct
conflict with the ministry. The higher powers put them-
selves in hostile array against the mandate of the King of
kings. They ventured to commit themselves and their
politics to the suj^pression of what the God of heaven
and the King of Zion had undertaken to defend and pro-
mote. How did the apostles understand their rights, and
duties in such a crisis ? Did they concede to usurpation ?
Did they submit to the secular powers in such a conflict
of claims ? Far from it. " Peter and John answered and
said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God

PETEK AJS'JD JOHK. 73

to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For
■we can not but speak the things we have seen and heard."

Being let go, they went to their own comj^any and
made report. The whole company united with them in
praising God, for the grace given them to suffer for his
name's sake. They continued in supplication for more
grace, that, with all boldness, they might continue to
speak and preach the word of truth. And they did con-
tinue to preach Jesus and the resurrection, notwithstand-
ing the political interdict under which they were laid.

On a subsequent occasion, these same preachers of
politics, and their associates, were arrested by the civil
powei- and lodged in the common prison. But their
divine Patron sent his angel to open the prison doors and
bring them out; and he said to them, "Go stand and
speak in the temple all the words of this life." They did
so. Again they were arrested, and brought by the officers
and set before the Council, who sternly reprimanded them :
" Did not we straitly command you that ye should not
teach in this name ? And behold ye have filled Jerusalem
with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man's blood
on us." Peter offered the same defense as before ; viz.,
"We ought to obey God rather than men." And he
failed not to improve the occasion to bring home to their
consciences the prohibited doctrine of Jesus, and to bear
emphatic testimony to his truth. When the rulers heard
this they were cut to the heart, and took counsel to slay
the apostles. But their rage yielded at last to the wise
suggestions of GamaUel, and the prisoners Vv ere dismissed.
And they went from the presence of the Council, rejoicing
that they were counted worthy to suffer for Christ's name.
And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased
not to teach and to preach Jesus Christ.

This was a severe test of the rights and functions of
the pulpit, and a signal triumph of its faithfulness and
truth. Had the apostles shrunk from duty, had they been
7

74 POLITICS AND THE PULPIT.

conservative and time-serving, the result must have been
very different, both to themselves and to the cause of
Christ. If pohticians had prevailed to silence the pulpit
then, where had been the gospel in after ages ?

The history of Stephen affords another illustrious exam-
ple of similar fidelity.

Let it not be forgotten that Judaism furnished the
materials of the popular politics of that day. It Avas in its
service that ambitious men sought emolument and power.
It is no purpose to say that this is no question of politics
now. Politics differ with circumstances and places.

The question of Christ's Messiahship was a question of
the continuance of the Jewish state and polity. To preach
it was to proclaim a new kingdom which should supplant
the ancient constitution of the nation, and abide for ever.
It was, besides, totally subversive of all the systems of
false religion, and all the idolatry and superstition of the
age. For this reason the Jews hated Christianity; for
this reason the Pagans hated it, and considered it as much
opposed to their political views and interests as to their
religious fiuth. And, though the form and name of oppo-
sition have changed since, yet there is the same spirit,
and substantially the same reason for opposition now.
And if the complaints against the pulpit for preaching
politics were analyzed, and traced to their source, they
would be found to contain much of the old leaven of
opposition to Christ and his doctrine. It is important to
know this truth, that the nature of these complaints may
be appreciated, and that the effort to illustrate the rights
and duties of the pulpit, by examples from the Bible,
may not be suspected of wandering from the point, and
introducing examples not relevant or applicable.

Stephen was an able and eloquent advocate of the doc-
trine of Christ. He stood forth in its defense, and thus,
without intending any aggression, he was denounced as a

75

political agitator. He is thus desciibed on the inspired
page :—

" And Stephen, full of foith and power, did great won-
ders and miracles among the people." If any evidence
were needed to show what sort of preacher he was, or
that he was objected to, as a political preacher, in the
ordinary sense, we find that evidence in the character of
his accusers. They were of the very class who are always
soonest'ofiended by the Christian doctrine, in application
to theu- state and practice. They were the restless, unrea-
sonable, carping politicians of that day and place, exam-
ples of their class in every age. "Then there arose
certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue
of the Libertines and CjTenians and Alexandrians, and
of them of Cilicia and Asia, disputing with Stephen.
And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the
spirit by Avhich he spake." Being thus foiled in argument,
they betook themselves to the common resort of all weak,
indefensible causes, and all defeated advocates of such
causes, viz., misrepresentation and violence. They sub-
orned men to be false witnesses against Stej)hen. They
stirred up the peojile and the rulers and the scribes, and
came upon him and caught him, and brought him to the
Council, and laid many grievous oiFenses to his charge.
In short, they made a great agitation and uproar, and
held Stephen responsible for the Avhole.

The crisis had now come, when he must either yield to
false accusation, retract all that he had said and done, or,
sustained by an approving conscience, and casting himself
on the protection of his Lord, stand his ground, and bear
a martyr's testimony to the truth. If Stephen had been
conscious of any fault ; if he had been guilty of any im-
prudence ; if he had abused the privileges of his office ;
if his zeal had led him beyond the bounds of propriety ;
if he had failed to render due respect to the higher
powers ; this was the time and the place to recant. What

76 POLITICS AXD THE PULPIT.

then do we hear from this man of God ? Did he express
regret '? Did he take back one Avord, or modify one state-
ment, to please his enemies, or to screen himself? Let
every one read his^ plea, recorded in the seventh chapter
of the Acts, and judge for himself.

The reiteration of such a political discourse, with so
pointed an application, produced a marked effect, such as
might be anticipated. " When they heard these things they
were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their
teeth. They cried out with a loud voice, and ran upon
him with one accord, and cast him out, and stoned him to
death." They used the logic of all weak and defeated
causes ; while the holy man employed his last breath in
praying for them, saying, " Lord, lay not this sin to their
charge."

In this example the rights and duty of the pulpit, in
relation to politics, are fully asserted and sealed with a
martyr's blood.*

The apostle Paul, in his missionary travels, came to
Thessalonica. As his manner was, "he Avent into the syn-
agogue, and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out
of the Scriptures ; oj^ening and alleging that Christ must
needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead ; and
that this Jesus Avhom I preach unto you is Christ." This

* If it should be objected to these views that the Jewish High
Priest and Sanhedrim had no political power in the days of Stephen,
— I reply, that while the supreme power had passed from the Jews
to the Romans, they were still allowed by favor to administer their
own laws, civil and ecclesiastical, so far as they did not interfere
with Roman authority or extend to capital punishment.

The case of Gallio, a Roman deputy at Corinth, is an illustration.
Gallic said to the Jews, " K it be a question of words or names,
and of your law, look ye to it, for I will be no judge of such mat-
ters." To a certain extent their politics were blended with eccle-
siastical forms among the Jews, and constituted a part of their
system.

PAUL AT THESSAXONICA. I I

W'^as political prcacliing in a city of the Gentiles, thongli
confined at first to the resident Jews. It Avas understood
to be political preaching, and objected to as such. A
mob was collected by the unbelieving Jews, and "certain
rude fellows of the baser sort," Avho complained to the
authorities : " These," said they, " that have tui-ned the
world upside down, have come hither also. Whom Jason
hath received, and these all do contrary to the decrees of
Caesar, saying there is another king, one Jesus." Here
the political feature of Paul's preaching comes to view.
However little he had thought of politics, and however
little occasion there Avas to accuse him for meddling there-
■with, yet to his audience it was political pi'eaching, con-
trary to the decrees of Caesar, and bringing forwai'd a
rival to him as king. So now, it is impossible to preach
the gospel faithfully, and not encounter the same com-
plaint. He however did not hesitate as to his duty. He
had received his commission from a higher than human
authority, and he shrunk not from executing it foithfully,
" not shunning," in his own noble words, " to declare the
whole counsel of God." His example so recorded, and
commended by Christ's manifested presence with him,
and by the approbation of mankind in all ages, is our suf-
ficient warrant in all similar cases.

In some cases political questions, or those esteemed
such, are found bound up with immoral practices for the
sake of unjust gain. Parties based upon these, worship-
ping at the shrine of mammon, are, beyond all others,
intolerant of oj^position. From these, the pulpit, dealing
in reproving and corrective truth, is wont to receive most
bitter persecution.

The apostle Paul had ample experience of hostility
from this quarter. In his travels, he came to Philippi,
preaching the gospel. In that city was a company of
persons who were practicing upon the superstition and
credulity of the people, and making money by the arts of
7*

78 POLITICS AND THE PULPIT.

a soothsayer whom they had in their keeping, and proba-
bly daimed as their property. This damsel put herself
repeatedly in the Avay of the apostle, and annoyed him
with her equivocal laudation. At length, Paul, lamenting
her miserable condition, and indignant at the iniquitous
imposture of which she was the unhappy instrument,
rebuked the evil spirit, and restored her to health. The
result is most graphically told. "And when her masters
saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they caught
Paul and Silas and drew them into the market-place unto
the rulers, and brought them to the magistrates, saying,
' these men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city,
and teach customs which are not lawful for us to receive,
being Romans.'" Here is the old complaint of political
px-eaching applied to a work of mercy. Their accusers
dare not tell the truth, because it would expose their
malignant fraud. They w^ere ashamed to confess then-
base motives ; and so, to be revenged, they must involve
the whole city and raise a political issue about Roman
customs. The usual effects of such a procedure followed.
"And the multitude rose up together against them, — the
preachers, — and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and
commanded to beat them. And when they had laid many
stripes upon them they cast them into the prison, charging
the jailer to keep them safely; who, having received such
a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made
their feet fast in the stocks."

In glancing over this narrative we see tnat the apostle
acted in perfect consistency with his office and mission, in
relieving a fellow creature from Satanic influence, and in
thus ending a vile traffic. That their accusers made a
folse charge, to cover their own iniquity, is equally evi-
dent. They dare not bring their cause to trial on its
own merits : they charged a political offense solely witli
the design to blind the magistrates and excite the multi-
tude. Their pretenses were all deceptive and malicious.

PAUL AT PHLLIPPI. 79

They pretended to be concerned for the peace of the
city, which they only had disturbed and long abused.
They arrogantly claimed to be the city^ and their cause
the public good, when they were only a knot of pestilent
depredators, who lived by plundering the i:)ublic. They
assumed that they were the only patriots, and the keepers
of Roman dignity and customs, and that all that opposed
them were traitors and fanatics.

It is also observable, that Paid and his companion gave
no heed to these false accusations. They neither retreated
nor retracted, but quietly submitted to the storm, and in
the end had no reason to regret their course.

If preaching politics be admitted to be a valid objection
against the pulpit, then, as in this case, every selfish and
immoral scheme will avail itself of this plea, and shelter
itself under this pretense. If politics be forbidden to the
pulpit, every thing will be called politics which selfish
men do not like to hear. It is very probable that if
much of the complaint against political preaching were
traced to its true source, it wovdd be found to originate
in motives as unworthy as those which instigated the
mob at Philippi. Oppression and fraud dare not set up a
plea in their own name, and on the merits of their own
cause. They must put on the guise of politics. They
seem to be deeply concerned for the peace and union of
the community; they have awful forebodings of civil
dissolution and commotion, when there is none existing
or to be feared, but of their own making.

If then the question occurs, What shall the pulpit do,
when it is beset with such accusations? the answer is,
Do as Paul did ; preach the truth, the whole truth ; cast
out the evil spirits ; bear testimony against evil works :
and if unprincipled men call it politics, let them call it so;
if they raise a storm, submit to it quietly ; if they cast
you into prison, go thither and pray and sing in the hear-
ing of the prisoners. God can make the wrath of man to

80 POLITICS AND THE PULPIT.

praise him. And those who trust him in the faithful per-
formance of duty, will have reason, as Paul and Silas had,
to be thankful for their sufferings. It is not to be for-
gotten that a flourishing church, in Avhich Paul took great
satisfaction, arose at this a- ery city, and in connection with
this political preaching.

Another incident in the history of the apostle is so
illustrative of the truth now in view, that it can not in
justice be omitted.

In Ephesus, one of the chief cities of Asia Minor, was the
magnificent temple of the goddess Diana — accounted
one of the seven wonders of the world. This temple
and its rites brought together vast multitudes of people,
and gave employment to many tradesmen and artificers.
They furnished the chief business of the city, and con-
stituted a principal element in its politics.

Among others who thrived by these means was one
Demetrius, a silversmith. He had estabUshed himself,
under the ausjDices of the tutelar goddess, as a manufac-
turer of silver shrines, or models of the temple and the
idol. These were in great demand by pilgrims and devo-
tees that came thither to worship ; and the manufacture
of them was, therefore, a j^rofitable business to a portion
of the citizens.

Into this famous city came the apostle Paid, jDreaching
Christ. A great commotion was speedily excited. The
deep foundations of idolatry were shaken by the power
of the gospel, and they who made gain from the ignorance
and vice of the mvdtitude were alarmed. Their craft
was in danger. They banded together accordingly to
resist and expel this aggression. And what did they con-
clude to do ? Did they come forward honorably and
frankly, and plead their personal interest ? Did they say
that this preaching and this moral reform were likely to
injure the secular business of a number of them, who had
fattened on public vice ? No, for this would be too bare-

CONCLUSION. 81

faced even among heathen and idolaters. Accusation of
political preaching would be far more effective. Suddenly
they were seized with a great zeal for the honor of Diana.
They could not bear to see their city and their religion
suffer. They could not brook any dishonor done to either.
Hear what this band of patriots have to say in the fullness
of their zeal : " The temple of the great goddess Diana
will be despised, and her magnificence be destroyed, whom
all Asia and the world worshii^eth." As usual, an angry
mob was gathered, and Paul was denounced as a political
agitator, a fanatic, a disturber of the public peace, an
enemy to the city and country. The real offense was,
that the gospel, which Paul preached, exposed their
iniquity ; and, by undei-mining the idolatry of the place,
dried up the sources of their Avealth. It was, with them,
a question of pecuniary profit solely ; and their motive
was selfish and sordid. Paul had said nothing of their
craft, nor yet of their idol : nevertheless he must be held
responsible for any construction they were pleased to put
on his preaching. He understood this, and therefore dis-
regarded the complaint. The " town clerk " also under-
stood it, and vindicated the course of the apostle, and
dismissed the people. The consequence of Paul's labors
in Ephesus, notwithstanding these complaints and out-
break?, was the conversion of many persons, and the
gathering of a large and prosperous church.

Whether, therefore, we regard this subject in the light
derived from the acknowledged design of civil govern-
ment, the instructions and precepts of the Scriptures
respecting the pulpit, or the inspired examples given as
to its administration, we are led to the same conclusion.
The moral goverment of God is supreme over men in all
the relations of human life ; and the Pulpit, as its ap-
pointed embassador and representative, is divinely charged
with the full and clear enforcement of its claims in all

82 POLITICS AND THE PULPIT.

circumstances whatsoever. It is to speak ever, with the
dignity and solemnity befitting its exalted character ; it is
to avoid extravagance and misguided zeal ; winning if
possible by persuasion — yet fearing not to use, if need be,
the sterner tones of rebuke ; shunning not to declare to
men — both the rulers and the ruled — the whole counsel
of God. Thus doing, it becomes the firmest ally and sup-
port of government; and pohtics, thus instructed and
purified, becomes a department of the highest ethics.
The Christian statesman and Christian minister meet in
fraternal accord, as among the chief benefactors of society.

"Tlie pulpit, in the sober use
Of its leg-itimate, peculiar powers,
Must stand acknowledired, while the world shall stand,
The most important and effectual guard,
Support and ornament of virtue's cause."

^K