YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY THE LIBRARY OF THE DIVINITY SCHOOL THE FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH THE FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH ESSJTS AND NOTES BY CHARLES ALFRED BARRY, M.A. VICAR OF CLIFFORD LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. 39, PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON NEW YORK, BOMBAY, AND CALCUTTA 1913 All rights reserved KM3 B279$ I. M. BLAISE PASCAL CUI TANTUM DEBEO CONTENTS PAGE Introduction xj ESSAY I Justification and Sanctification i Note i. Baptism 12 Note 3. Renewal 14 ESSAY II The Nature of the Church 16 Note 3. Parties 26 ESSAY III The Authority of the Church 29 Note 4. Dogma 37 ESSAY IV The Ministry of the Church 41 Note$. St. Paul's Use of the Words "Ministers and Stewards" 49 Note 6. Confirmation 51 vii viii CONTENTS ESSAY V PAGE The Benefit of Absolution 56 Note 7. The Problem of Purity 63 ESSAY VI The Sacramental Principle 70 Note 8. The Sanctity of the Body 77 Note 9. Grace and the Means of Grace 80 ESSAY VII The Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ . . 84 Note 10. The Words of Institution 104 Note 11. The Interpretation of the Words of Institution 108 Note 12. The Kinds of Sacrifice 109 ESSAY VIII The Value of the Bible 113 Note 13. Propheey 140 ESSAY IX Religion and Science 144 Note 14. Prayer 151 Note 15. Miracles 154 Note 16. The Difficulties of Faith 161 ESSAY X Christianity and Philosophy 170 Note 17. God 180 Note 18. Nature 183 Note 19. Providence 184 Note 20. Personality 185 Note 21. Religion igij Note 22. The Soul 186 CONTENTS ix ESSAY XI Note 23. Music and Poetry in Nineteenth Century . . 199 PAGE The Church and Art 188 ESSAY XII Worship: and Worship in the Church of England . 200 Note 24. The Church's Year ; Fasts and Festivals . . 217 Conclusion 219 INTRODUCTION The brief statements of this book do not claim originality, they aim at originating thought. Their dogmatic form is adopted on three grounds — I. For the sake of suggestiveness, which is often found under the impulse to contradict. 2. As ensuring precision and compelling concise ness of statement. 3. Because it is hoped that the whole taken together suggests a consistent attitude of mind sometimes forgotten, namely, that of the Ecclesiastic — a way of looking at things which the writer believes to be very congenial to the characteristic temper and spirit of the English Church. To the teaching of that Church, the author submits every statement with profound deference, retracting in intention anything that his infirmity may have misconceived or misconstrued, and seek ing confirmation for all that he has written that is sound and true. Since the speculative investigation into details is unfruitful and the study of details results in a loss of the sense of proportion, unless pursued in a full consciousness and with a clear conviction as to xii INTRODUCTION what are the greatest and essentially important matters, it seems best to make the endeavour to summarize them here, especially since the dis crimination of fundamental considerations is essential to the possession of the ecclesiastical temper. The study, therefore, of details must always be undertaken mindful of the greatest matters, viz. — I. That God is ; that He is true ; that the " Word of God " is " the Truth." 2. That all authority for the Christian is in Christ ; that the Scriptures have an Authority of Witness, so far as they testify of Him ; that the Church has an Authority of Order, so far as it carries on His work. 3. That the essentials of Faith are those " chiefly learned " from the Belief, and implied in that summary. 4. That since God made all the world He is, of necessity, " the beginning and the end " ; that all the beauty and order of the universe are necessarily related to Him ; that the " World " only hides the glory of the Presence of its all-sovereign and sus taining Creator sufficiently for the purposes of creation to be fulfilled, and earth to be a fitting stage for the activities of man — begotten by the Father of Spirits in His own image and capable of His own likeness. 5. That the inexplicable perversion of man's nature and lot has been potentially and practically INTRODUCTION xiii overcome by an equally inexplicable but equally real redemption ; that in the Life of the Son " all things are made new." 6. That God's intimacy with man is perfected by His indwelling in man, to sanctify and glorify and to carry out the purpose of creation to its con summation. 7. That the Bible supplies the facts of the case ; that the Church supplies the application to indi vidual living ; that experience supplies the con firmation to personal faith. 8. That the Revelation we have is illuminative ; that affirmations are safe, negations perilous ; that the history of Theology is largely the history of opinion, that the dogmas of the Faith are few, that over-definition is the effect of man's impatience and the evidence of his limitations. 9. That the following are cardinal Postulates of the Christian Life : — (a) That God is and is love. (b) That the life of God is at once the simplest in its unity and the most complex in its constitution of all personalities. (c) That man's personality is the image of the Divine and therefore capable of receiving the revelation of It. (d) That God has revealed Himself to men, in terms intelligible to man, in the Word and in the Incarnation, of the Word. (e) That Christ is perfect God and perfect Man. xiv INTRODUCTION (/) That all Nature and the Church are neces sarily Sacramental. (g) That the two Sacraments are to us pre eminently necessary — for light and grace. (h) That the Spirit of Christ and the Body of Christ abide a living unity on earth. (i) That the conclusions of the Creed about the Church, about Fellowship, Forgiveness and Life, are inevitable Practical (not speculative) corollaries of the preceding truths. (j) That religion is pre-eminently personal and the expression of personal relations. ESSAY I JUSTIFICATION AND SANCTIFICATION A working apparatus of technical terms is neces sary to all science, and Theology, the science of religious knowledge, can form no exception to the rule. Some are unreasonably repelled by this, being forgetful that it may be very difficult to think about and still more difficult to express, what is very simple in experience. Yet the effort is worth while, if it clears, either our understanding of religious truth or the meaning of personal experience. Among such technical terms, that of " Justifi cation " holds a very prominent place — yet it often seems only the outworn relic of bitter and ineffectual conflict, remote from present actualities of life. But, indeed, to review the course of Christian Doctrine (i.e. the general body of the Church's detailed teaching and the successive currents of prevalent opinion within it) is much like pacing some historic gallery of the past, whose walls are hung with ancient rusted arms, mantled in dust, B 2 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH cumbersome, uncouth and obsolete, yet the me morials of many a brave and serious warfare of which we reap the fruits in peace, and the ancestral sources of the familiar weapons and effectual equip ment of to-day. There is, moreover, especial reason for placing Justification in the forefront of a volume dealing with the " First principles of the Church." Martin Luther long ago, with that trenchant directness of religious instinct which is his undoubted title to greatness, fixed upon the doctrine of Justification as the mark of a stable or declining Church. And such indeed it is, for it involves the point of connection between personal and corporate religion, a point so delicately poised that the most subtle influence disturbs adjustment in balance of their claims and profoundly influences our conception of their relative value and importance. That Justification has often had an exaggerated emphasis laid upon it, to the loss of its due pro portion to the whole of Christian life, is most true and may excuse a reluctance to enter upon its con sideration, but should not lead any to overlook or underrate its crucial importance. Justification is not to be identified with " Salva tion," but it is a stage in it, the beginning of it, the foundation of it, and in itself assures complete salvation unless forfeited. Thus, if any died immediately on Justification, they would be " saved," and enter Heaven ; yet JUSTIFICATION AND SANCTIFICATION 3 living on, such will not be " saved," unless being " accounted " righteous, they become righteous in due season ; bearing the bud, the blossom, the fruit of Sanctification ; except, by God's infinite mercy, in mortal extremity, " saved as by fire " (1 Cor. iii. 10-15). In its origin, the term " Justification " means the forensic clearing of a man, through an acquittal from guilt, by judicial sentence, at a legal trial ; and this remains the fundamental significance of the word in its theological use. Viewed from without, the man is seen standing before the bar of the supreme Judge and universal Lawgiver, a rebel arraigned by an accusing con science on counts under the moral Law ; and his " Justification " is the act of a discharge from guilt and the " remission of sins " by a sovereign clemency, mercy and love. But within the man, the vital experience of such an acquittal is that of an entry upon a state of re conciliation with a God Who is Father and Saviour and Comforter. Hence, while discharge from guilt is the negative aspect of Justification, its positive aspect is that of a Divine act of reconciliation from alienation. The Justification which begins in the Divine act is perpetuated in the Divine attitude towards the soul, and the pardon that is received, issues in the state of acceptance that is enjoyed, a " state of salvation." 4 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH Thus the forensic conception of Justification involves a change of position, in respect to the Moral law of duty and the justice of God ; while the vital realization of Justification reveals a changed condition, in regard to the Gospel law of character and the love of God. There is a sharp contrast between the points of view indicated, yet they remain contrasted and not opposed, for each is the complement of the other, they are but two ways of presenting one fact, and that fact one pre-eminently of personal relation ship. The ground's of man's justification by God, admits of very simple statement. On the one hand, no works of ours can ever merit either pardon or acceptance at God's hands, or assure of that salvation which includes both ; nor can any works of ours render more complete the pardon and the acceptance that is made ours by God in Justification. Hence our Justification is " Justification by Faith," inasmuch as it is Justification by Christ's sole merits only, and not in any way for our own works or deservings. On the other hand, this same " Justification by Faith " is a " Justification by Grace," since wrought through Justification in Christ, for while our faith is indeed a means to grace, yet it is grace given through union with Christ which justifies and not our faith. JUSTIFICATION AND SANCTIFICATION 5 Yet Faith (when faith is possible) has a necessary office in Justification which isolates it in that respect from all accompanying virtues and graces ; for on man's part, Justification is " by faith only " though not by faith " alone." This office of Faith wears two aspects — Faith is necessary to Justification on its forensic side as an Instrument (we are justified Bia irianiog per fidem), since it enters and realizes the unseen taking us out of ourselves and leading us to Christ the Justifier — to claim all He is, as ours ; and all that is promised us through Him. In respect to the vital aspect of Justification, Faith is evidenced as a necessary condition in us (we are accounted righteous ek triarwc, propter fidem), bestowed upon us by the gift of God ; a condition which renders us well-pleasing in His sight, being accounted to us for righteousness, as itself the spirit of filial obedience and the pledge of future sanctification. Yet, although God reckons this faith in us " for righteousness," He does not justify us on account of such " righteousness," but on account of the righteousness of Christ, " the Just One " and the perfect fulfiller of all the Justice of God, a son in Nature, in spirit and in work, Whose obedience is our satisfaction. There is thus a clear distinction between Justi fication and Sanctification in respect to righteous ness. 6 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH Justification does not make righteous in the sense of " sanctified " ; in Justification we are " accounted " righteous, " accounted righteous " because of pardon and the absence of guilt, and also because of the presence of faith. As to the nature of this faith, since justifying faith is the faith that seeks and obtains Justification, it cannot be a mere intellectual credence either of a fact or of a truth, nor can it be a belief, conviction or feeling, respecting our own spiritual state, welfare, or prospects ; it is indeed even more than the response of the heart to the words, the teaching, the spirit or the life of Jesus : for justifying faith is personal faith in a personal Saviour, faith in Christ Himself ; not the assurance that we are saved nor the confidence that we are justified, but individual dependence, trust and reliance upon a_ Saviour WHO saves — One " given to die for our sins and to rise again for our justification " (Rom. iv. 25). Since Justification is sought and sealed in Baptism and assured and certified in the fruit of good works following thereon (i.e. in Sanctification), a comforting assurance is normally consequent on Justification, when " works " certify that our " faith " is truly a living and therefore justifying faith " working by love." It has been already indicated, that as faith is the " instrument " of man towards Justification — so Baptism is the instrument of God. JUSTIFICATION AND SANCTIFICATION 7 In Baptism, the " appeal " made to God receives the " answer " of God (1 St. Peter iii. 21). On the one hand, Baptism is the action — the operation— the work of faith, seeking grace, which is the attitude — the act — the operation of God, for (i.e. on behalf of) an individual soul. On the other hand, Baptism is the token of Justification, the application of Redemption to an individual soul. It is to be concluded, therefore, that we are justified by God in an act of grace through means of grace, met on our part by an act of faith in a state of faith as its sole and only condition. The Justification which is bestowed by God's grace in Baptism, is preserved by the same grace on perseverance, and after lapse restored by the same grace in conversion or renewal. To sum up the whole subject : in Justification God does not regard us as being in any sense " holy," when we are not so in any sense, i.e. by an artificial construction. In Justification, we are " accounted righteous," that is pardoned and accepted for Christ's sake ; and the term " righteous " when used in connection with Justification is not equivalent to " holy " but means " rightwise," i.e. in a right relation to God. This righteousness is not imputed but imparted, and is a righteousness perfect indeed in kind before God, but not perfected in degree in us ; and it is " imparted " but not " infused," for in Justification 8 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH the only infused righteousness is that present faith which, as has been seen, does not itself operate to justify. The whole conception of Justification becomes intelligible to us when we remember, that in Justi fication God never beholds us apart from Christ, but always as united with Christ — united to Him, made sharers in His atonement, not as ourselves working atonement, but as receiving its benefits. Justification is by Faith as a means ; not " on account of " works, not even " on account of " faith, but on account of Christ ; not on account of anything we have done or can do, have been or can be, but on account of Christ's merits and of what He is, and the grace of God is given through the Means of Grace as Works of God, not by the means of grace as works of ours. Even justifying faith is wholly the gift of God — for Justification is not the office of man but of God. It has been said, that Justification can be viewed either as an act, in response to the act of faith ; or as a state, in respect to the life of faith ; so it may also be regarded as an end, in view of the outlook of faith to final judgment and deliverance. Sanctification follows on Justification. Justification is the initiation into a state of grace, the preparation for that Sanctification whereby we are rendered positively, not only pardoned and accepted, but adopted and holy. JUSTIFICATION AND SANCTIFICATION 9 It is only by the indwelling of the Spirit of Christ and by His graces infused in us that we become righteous in the sense of " holy," holy with " the righteousness of God," i.e. by Sanctification. While Justification is essentially a change of personal relation ; Sanctification is a change of personal character, the outcome of a changed state (sc. state of regeneration), which is itself consequent on the former change of personal relation and the counterpart of its associated state of reconciliation. As justifying faith is filial trust, so sanctifying faith is " faith working by love," i.e. filial obedience. Hence " good works " are the works of Faith, not " the works of the Law." Such good works do not merit salvation, though they are the evidence of it ; necessary in " a state of salvation," not to it. Salvation in the sense of final deliverance from sin and death and hell, is assured by Justification, if it be not forfeited ; glorification is dependent in degree on the good works of the man. St. Paul writes (1 Cor. Hi. 11, 13, 14), " Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Christ Jesus." " If " (in the final judgment) " any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward ; if any man's work shall be burned he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved ; yet so as by fire " — purged, yet destitute. While good works, therefore, can never merit salvation, since if we do all, we are yet unprofitable 10 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH servants towards God ; nevertheless, they may by God's mercy and covenant-grace, as wrought in Christ, receive reward, for His infinite merits per fectly fulfil the imperfect measure of our obedience. There are no counsels of perfection in the Gospel constituting " voluntary works besides over and above God's commandments " of general obligation. The so-called " evangelical counsels " of voluntary poverty, pledged celibacy and " religious obedience," are simply supposed special applications of Divine commandments binding on all. But " religious obedience," technically so-called, is not inculcated by our Lord as a degree of per fection at all ; voluntary poverty appears as a condition of discipline imposed only when its spirit was lacking ; and voluntary celibacy is a gift granted to those few who can receive it, for par ticular spheres of usefulness. Consequently these three " evangelical counsels " are not of the same order, and further, since they possess no intrinsic spiritual value, but are temporal expedients for conditional application, ought not to be undertaken as pledged states or under per petual vow, and cannot receive obligation by ratifi cation in such a manner. Willingness to accept such states, if it be God's will and so far as it is God's will, is of permanent obligation to all men ; their practice at any and every period of Ufe, directly dependent upon the degree in which they further at that period the attainment of moral goodness JUSTIFICATION AND SANCTIFICATION n and the efficient discharge of spiritual service. To those who are called to acceptance of such experi ences, there is granted the comfort and strength derived from the following of Christ, in a degree, in the external mode of life, yet this can never constitute a higher degree of piety than that which is attained in the imitation of His spirit, but serves alone, as the peculiar consolation of a peculiar experience. Sanctification is the actual formation of a Christian character, i.e. its development by and in act, a growth in ground cleared by Justification and vivified by union with Christ. Sanctification is wrought out, on the one hand by the consecration, the purification, the elevation, and the development of truly natural gifts, powers, and talents, being from this point of view, the frui tion of a natural as distinguished from a depraved personality, the outcome of a fallen but redeemed humanity, hence the marked individuality of Saints. On the other hand, Sanctification is wrought out by the operation, the development, and the perfecting of certain infused supernatural virtues or graces, namely the simplicity of Love, the recol- lectedness of Faith, and the detachment of Hope — from which flow the likeness of a common sanctity. Sanctification is pre-eminently the outcome of fellowship in that Holy Church, which is the normal School of Sainthood, for no perfection of Christian 12 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH character can either be developed or exhibited in isolation. It is no less true that Sanctification is the ground of the fellowship of the Saints, for the effective source of their mutual union is most surely found, deeply experienced and fully enjoyed in that Holy Communion which they have with each other and with their Lord. Those pre-eminently God's Saints are evident, for they transcend the institutional life of the Church without abandoning it. BAPTISM The grace of Baptism is not only " justification," not only the state of forgiveness of sins shared by redeemed humanity, through the common redemp tion made ours by application of the merits of an eternal Redeemer in an everlasting Covenant — it is also the individual incorporation, reception and association of a personal soul into the living member ship of Christ's Body, into the adoption of " sons," and into the enjoyment of the privileges of present provision and the prospect of future possession that inhere in a heavenly " birthright." Since the forgiveness of sin is especially applied within the Church and, moreover, since the operation of the Holy Spirit indwells and energizes the Church in a special degree and special manners, Baptism is the bringing of a soul within touch of means of all grace and the peculiar influence of the Holy Spirit. Baptism is not to be conceived as being the occasion of the gift of a new Ufe, as if by a separately JUSTIFICATION AND SANCTIFICATION 13 imparted " germ," but rather as bringing a gift of newness of life by union with an aU-pervading, aU- potent Ufe, and as characteristicaUy, the operation of a " new birth " into a sphere fitted to ensure viabihty and permanence to the new Ufe — the soul quickening into a new Ufe within the body of Christ Who is " the Life." As with the Eucharist it is impossible for us to fix the actual moment of Consecration, although we realize its consequent effect in due course ; so we are no less ignorant regarding the inception of that Divine action which is most intimately correlated with the great Sacrament of Christian Initiation into the gradual demonstration of its Ufe-giving effects. In both instances, all our knowledge is Umited to the assured confidence of a Promise of our Lord and its verification in spiritual experience. The importance of Baptism will always be reaUzed and its inclusion of infants be preserved where there is — 1. Adequate appreciation of the free gift of Divine Grace, independent of and prior to obUgation or worthiness in recipient, although its benefits are conditioned. 2. Adequate appreciation of the reaUty and evil character of " original sin," as not merely imitation but inheritance, not merely deprivation but deprava tion, disease not merely debility, decay not merely defect. 3. Adequate estimation of magnitude of benefits which adhere to inheritance of Christian Church as its proper and pecuUar possessions — as the educative and informing Sphere of Christian Life. 4. Adequate conception of Christian Discipleship 14 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH as the beginning and entrance of Christian SchooUng, DiscipUne, and Sainthood. RENEWAL Justification places man in a changed position before God — a position of discharge from guilt, and in a changed position towards Him — a state of reconciliation. The " conversion " of Scripture is fieravoia = repentance, which is an act or state capable of repetition or frequent renewal. The changed state of the man before God wrought by his justification must be preceded by, or issue in, a changed state in the man. The man must not only be in a new spiritual position, he must have a new spiritual disposition. This moral change, i.e. this " change of heart," is popularly miscaUed " regeneration," it is properly termed " renewal." This change is the fruit of the operation of the Spirit, and in itself, known to God alone ; we judge its presence by its effects as voluntarily made man's own in the changed attitude that issues from a changed wiU. What is frequently spoken of as " conversion " but more properly termed " awakening," is simply the consciousness of a changed disposition towards God, and is not essential, though most earnestly to be sought. So-caUed " sensible conversion " is simply that sharply evidenced awakening which marks the crisis, and the clearly recognized decision which marks the turning point, in a Ufe of spiritual un consciousness, accumulated carelessness or persistent misdoing — when by the grace of God, the man is JUSTIFICATION AND SANCTIFICATION 15 brought to strive and concur with the strivings and leadings of the Spirit. The essential action of God is always wrought freely ; but chiefly it would seem, in response to prayer, personal or intercessory, and to the faithful use of tie means of grace ; working most often as an insensible growth, of which man only becomes conscious, as bis attitude becomes evidently disposed towards spiritual things, as he deUberately begins to set his mind and Ufe towards God, by the power of grace without and within ; and seeks more and more that his wiU may be perfectly confirmed in the surrender to God that he has made by it. ESSAY II THE NATURE OF THE CHURCH A sense of the vital importance of personal and experimental reUgion, often leads to a certain jealousy of the claims of corporate and institutional Christianity. Yet both are necessary to the full pre sentation of the truth in its completeness and its power. If the necessities of the case are to receive due expression and permanent satisfaction, the race, as well as the soul, must be placed in adequate relation to its Divine object and source. In Christianity this requirement is perfectly fulfiUed. Christianity is a social Gospel; but, since ad dressed to faUen man in a sinful world, a Gospel that must needs approach its greatest aim — the regeneration of Humanity to the glory of God, from the side of the Individual. The Church as an Institution exists for the sake of the individual, and is addressed to the needs of each soul; while the Church as a Corporation reveals the end for which individual piety exists, and the sphere in which it is fulfiUed. THE NATURE OF THE CHURCH 17 The faith held, the ministry enjoyed, the sacra ments observed, are aU means to a yet greater end — to make men and women individuaUy better, more personaUy " Christian " ; it is the work of the Church to draw men nearer Christ and to make men more Uke Him, buttding up those that beUeve, and converting those that beUeve not. The Church's origin is by a Divine institution, and not a human arrangement. The Church is no mere outcome of the natural instinct of association ; no expedient after-thought, for the promotion of Christian progress in devout Uving and spiritual feUowship and godly knowledge. Nor can the Church be recognized as existing in an ideal unity of any number of faithful individual beUevers, isolated it may be in profession and practice. The Church exists by the institution and com mission of Christ Himself, Who ordained visible means of admission and continuance therein ; and gave to it the abiding sanction of His own authority over its order, its constitutions and its ministry. The Church therefore exists as a visible feUow ship, into which entrance is ministered by Baptism ; in which, spiritual Ufe is strengthened and refreshed by Holy Communion ; and by which is appUed the spiritual succours of Confirmation and Absolution ; possessing a definite Faith as the condition of mem bership and communion ; administering the dis- cipUne of an oversight which regulates ahke the c 18 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH conduct of Character and Worship ; and provided with an ordered constitution of its Ministry and Means of Grace. According to the only presentation of it pos sessed in fact, the Church exists as a visible organiza tion including both good and bad; its history stained with human frailty, imperfection, and sin ; its aims thwarted and perverted by foUy and by ignorance; yet an organization ever manifesting more or less prominently in its history, a common ministry, sacraments, and creed ; ever claiming universaUty of Faith, Mission, and Obedience ; ever presenting the standard of a perfect hoUness and singular efforts after it ; apostoUc in origin, in spirit, and in fellowship of DiscipUne and Worship. The Church, therefore, is " holy," because the spirit of hoUness dweUs in it, supplying the caU, the inspiration, and the means to hoUness ; yet the Church is not pure, its holy ones are mixed with those careless of hoUness and unholy. This is a trial to religious souls ; they want the Church to be like Heaven where all are good. Their consolation is to be found in that " Com munion of Saints," which is both narrower and wider than the Church ; known in extent alone by God but enjoyed by all united in " The Love of God, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the feUowship of the Holy Ghost." The Communion of Saints is also the comfort of the mourner, the lonely, and the depressed, and provides the incitement to THE NATURE OF THE CHURCH 19 warfare, the hope of rest and the assurance of triumph, as it exhibits HoUness sought, deepened and gained. The Church is obviously a visible society, by reason of the very existence and character of its Divinely appointed Sacraments. It is no less evidently so to thought, as " The Body of Christ." AU the sources which we possess from which to gather the idea of " a body," whether spiritual or natural, necessitate our conceiving of it, as either permanently visible or as possessing the capacity for visible manifestation. The whole natural animal creation exhibits constant visibiUty of body ; the mysterious appear- ings of the Resurrection-body of the Lord seem to reveal the capacity for visibiUty rather than its necessity. Both facts have weighty bearing on the thought of the Church visible. On the one hand, to speak of the Church on earth as an " invisible Church," is to empty the name of its especial and pecuUar significance, sub stituting for it, either a partial conception of the " communion of saints " ; or stiU more probably, an hypothetical feUowship of the " Elect " in the Calvinistic sense, which, whatever else it might be, could never represent the Church either of History or of the New Testament Epistles and Records. On the other hand, the Church is truly invisible, 20 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH even in its notes, in so far as they are pre-eminently moral or the evidence of intrinsic spiritual principles. In their most conclusively convincing aspect, the Notes of the Church are marked by a profound inwardness, in common with the whole being of that Church which they serve to identify 5 for we beUeve in the Church itself, in those respects in which they reveal it — that is to say, as a supernatural society enshrined under earthly conditions. In other words, the Church is invisible, so far as it is supernatural ; though its evidences are not, but are manifest in that visible society which is the outward side and setting of a spiritual realm " not of this world." In this sense, the Church of God, Uke the Kingdom of God, is " within you," " amongst you " ; and its existence only reaUzed when the fuU meaning of its Notes is revealed to an eye of faith. It is a mistake to endeavour to obtain such notes of the Church as shaU provide us with an exclusive definition of its boundaries. " Notes of the Church " are to be viewed as marks whereby it is prominently evidenced and made known — characteristics which it is never without, rather than essentials without which it cannot exist — for identification, not for isolation ; so that we may easily perceive the existence and reaUze the character of the Church as a society — as a Divine society. The writers of the Reformation period, for instance, on both sides, spent much useless labour THE NATURE OF THE CHURCH 21 in the depiction of the notes of the Church in such a manner as either resulted in vague generahties, which exclude by impUcation much most marked in the historic character and constitution of the Church, or else such as made the assumed task of isolation easier by unwarranted narrowing down (with or without accretions at the same time) of its permanent characteristics. It is best to be content with the statement, that the Creeds designate the Church, One, Holy, CathoUc, and ApostoUc ; because it is a Society exhibiting in manifold ways and unique degree, unity, sanctity, universaUty, and apostoUcity. It is especially necessary to beware of making the term " CathoUc," a term of exclusion rather than of inclusion. It is, in its original idea, essentially comprehensive. FoUowing St. Cyril of Jerusalem, it may be said : — the Church is CathoUc, because everywhere teaching the whole truth, making spiritual provision for aU classes and conditions of men, and fitted with all sorts of spiritual graces and gifts. So also, the old saying " salvation is of the Church " must not be made to teach exclusive salvation within the Church, nor be interpreted as if equivalent to the assertion of "no salvation outside the Church." It declares the fact that by a Divine Covenant, salvation is as a " state," the pecuUar Birthright of the Church, and assures that the most periect 22 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH " salvation " possible is attainable in the Church, by a progressive growth therein. To deny its possible attainment outside can be of no vital concern to us, and, therefore, no right of ours. Many good and devout men who are not members of the Church as alone we know it, are yet evidently sharers in " the communion of saints " of " the Kingdom of God." It is most important to remember that the " Church " corresponds to the " Kingdom of God," not extensively but intensively — not constituting its exclusive or exhaustive range, but affording its most evident and highest manifestation on earth. Nevertheless, it remains true that a " Christian " is normaUy defined as one who belongs to Christ in virtue of incorporation into His Body by Christian Baptism ; the Church being, of necessity, entered by a sacramental rite, for it is itself a society sacra mental in character, because a visible organization, animated by the Holy Ghost. The Church is the Body of Christ informed by the Spirit of Christ. As such, the Church is constituted the Organ on earth of the risen life of Christ in glory, con tinuing the Work of an ascended Lord — the realm of operation of a supernatural Ufe. The Church as " the Body of Christ " may be regarded from three distinct standpoints that may THE NATURE OF THE CHURCH 23 be termed without irreverence, the Morphological, the Physiological, and the Biological. The Church as a body is an Organization : — a whole, capable of increase, possessing a definite structure, made up of diverse parts, of which each has its proper development, yet such that the growth of each separate member is ruled and subject to the perfection of the whole. The bounds of this great System stand forth clearly, distinctly, unmistakably, as the outUnes of " a city set upon a hiU " and are defined in " One Baptism," " In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost," " unto the remis sion of sins." The breadth of range within these boundaries of the Church's constitution is the pledge of the plasticity of the Church, as it is adapted to the needs of every age and confined to the spirit of none, under the moulding control of that indwelhng Ufe which is at once the Cause and regulator of its growth. It is this which makes the history of the Church, the history of the unfaiUng providence of God. But the Church as a body not only exists and grows, it also works, and as a centre of work and activity, it is an Economy. By a manifold development and adjustment of speciahzed function towards a common end, and an entire interdepend ence in a common aim, the Church is constituted the fitting instrument of fuUest activity towards God and man. 24 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH The economy of the Church discharges a twofold work of ministry to the Glory of God and the salva tion of man, by a worship and a service, that are aUke sacrifice. Thus, the efficiency of the CathoUc Church is estabUshed under the inspiring direction of the indwelhng Ufe, and is enriched by the free fruition of a unity exhibited in the triple theological Virtues of Faith and Hope and Love possessed. But the Holy CathoUc Church is more than either an organization or an economy ; it is an Organism, informed by one Ufe, and that Ufe, the Life of Christ our Lord. The Body of Christ indwelt by the Spirit of Christ — this is at once the most complete and crucial pre sentation of what the Church is : for the indweUing life fixes Type, and thus ensures the stabiUty of that " New Creation " against which the gates of hell shall never prevail. The Church's source, desire and satisfaction is Christ ; and holding fast the Head she finds her most Divine and Godlike Unity in Him — for Christ is the true Unity of God and man. Nothing unites the Church so closely, and by nothing is its Unity so closely reaUzed, as in its own relation and the personal relation of each of all its members in particular, to that Divine Unity Which is the object of its being — one God, known as Father, Saviour, and Sanctifier. The Church is marked by the highest kind of Unity as " a state," for it is the only perfectly THE NATURE OF THE CHURCH 25 adjusted expression of man's freedom and man's dependence in his moral and spiritual position and relations 5 but it is yet more characterized by a Unity of Life, that exhibits the deepest (because the most Divine) grounds of human Kinship. Viewed in its practical operation, the Church presents the spectacle of a FeUowship of Redeemed humanity — the Family of God, a leaven destined to renew the world by its labours and presence in it. It affords, at the same time, an ensample of Re stored humanity, — which provides to those within a School of HoUness, the Home of DiscipUne and Worship ; and displays to those without, the Evidence of the unseen Kingdom of God, in the existence of a " chosen people " whose privileges and obUgations witness to God's universal Kingdom over aU. The two chief treasures the Church has to offer to the matured Christian, already trained in the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Ten Command ments — and faithful in the acceptance of these — are the Holy Bible and the Holy Communion. It is, therefore, essential that absolutely free access to these should be always jealously guarded and scrupulously preserved. The rest of the Church's Institutional System may then be rightly and frankly accepted, as affording an invaluable historic environment for development in Christian character. Beyond this, the immediate concern of^ the 26 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH Individual ceases and the interests of the Corporate Ufe begin. But it cannot be too strongly emphasized how large a place those interests of the Corporate Ufe have in vital reUgion. It is even the case that a quickened sense of the importance of the corporate Ufe of the Church and of the duty of sharing to the utmost in its missionary activities conceived in their widest possible range is needed to enforce that sense of sin and grace which Ues at the root of personal reUgion, since it is necessary to realize that omission is sin as well as commission, and what, too, the actual power of grace can do. These obUgations of membership are thus bene ficial because obligations to Christ, not to the Church, which they yet build up through HIM, " from Whom all the body fitly framed and knit together through that which every joint suppUeth, according to the working in due measure of each several part, maketh the increase of the body unto the building up of itself in love " (Eph. iv. 16). PARTIES Every man is born with a temperamental aptitude for the ready recognition of specific aspects of the Faith ; and this natural bent is often confirmed by the fostering of training, surroundings, and the selective action of the will. This bias of appreciation when organized, issues in the formation of Parties, each exhibiting a tendency to depreciate the value of THE NATURE OF THE CHURCH 27 any other point of view than its own ; and the exaggeration of self-importance, in such parties when estabUshed, to the existence of Divisions — while reaction from this result often engenders a general attitude either of indifference or scepticism — minimizing the importance of truth held or attained ; in the one instance forgetful that every endeavour ought to be made definitely to apprehend truth, and to maintain firmly that which is comprehended as positive truth, confident that Truth is great and wiU prevail; and, in the other, faiUng to reaUze that in matters of faith and practice, while it is often necessary to make a critical estimate in order to attain a practical judgment, it is never desirable to cultivate or maintain a critical attitude as the state of settled disposition. Conviction is often brought home to ourselves, as weU as others, not by controversy but by life. The true way to defend the Faith is to confess it ; the true way to commend the Faith is to practice it. The bond of love towards God and man, truth and hoUness, is the best antidote and preservative against the solvent of creduhty or unbeUef. It is always necessary to remember that a CathoUc Church is preferable to an uncathoUc party : a " party " can be but a part, and the whole is ever greater than its part. So also the proportion of the Faith is alone maintained, when based upon the recorded revelation of a manifested divine Ufe, and guarded by the history of the World, the Church, the Soul. The types of Christian Standpoint, exhibited in the recognition of faith, may be classified roughly under three heads — 28 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH i. The Low. This reaUzes strongly the intimacy and freedom of grace. Its method is to value experimental experience of feeUng, laying stress upon the beginning of salvation and regarding this Ufe as a prelude to the life to come which gains its characteristic im portance from the opportunity afforded for spiritual decision. Its danger is a famiUar individuaUsm of reUgion. 2. The Broad. This reaUzes strongly the benignity and univer sality of spirit manifest in the Gospel. Its method is to value philosophical insight of thought ; laying stress upon the conduct of Ufe and regarding this life as an education for the life to come which gains its characteristic importance from the opportunity afforded for spiritual distinction. Its danger is a subjective idealism of reUgion. 3. The High. This reaUzes strongly the dignity and responsi- biUty of man's position before God. Its method is to value Humility and Obedience of WiU, laying stress upon the Means of Grace and regarding this life as a probation for the Ufe to come which gains its characteristic importance from the opportunity afforded for spiritual growth. Its danger is mystical legaUsm. ESSAY III THE AUTHORITY OF THE CHURCH Consideration of the Church's Authority is best approached mindful of the fundamental exhibition of authority presented in the relation of parent and child. The authority of a parent over a child is obviously twofold; on the one hand, there is the provisional authority which trains, discipUnes and controls (a regulative authority) ; on the other, the permanent authority of a moral relationship (absolute authority). The former is a means to moral ends ; the latter is the expression of a moral end itself. The essential authority of the Church is not absolute but conditioned : it is the authority of Historic Witness, verified by the authority of the Written Word ; for the sole authority which is absolute, is that of God as revealed in His incarnate Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord ; to Whom the Church testifies and aU Scriptures witness. The exercise of this authority by the Church is not coercive, deterrent, or concentrative ; but persuasive, winning, pervasive : for it is the spiritual 30 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH authority of influence, and not merely an administra tive authority of power. The authority of the Church in matters of Faith, is accordingly declaratory ; declaring that which it has received " from the beginning " ; and thus, by exclusion condemning novelties of doctrine. The Church is not a judge between opposite opinions, nor can it by legislation determine new articles " of faith " ; it is the guardian of the Truth, which it enunciates on the unbroken testimony of a chain of historical witness ; and the declarations it makes of this witness are checked, preserved constant and confirmed by Holy Writ. Hence Historic Evidence witnesses what was the BeUef of the Church at any given time and up to that given time ; the " agreeableness " of Scripture to such a beUef, alone proves whether that beUef was indeed " The Faith " ; and both combined, lead to a verification of the Truth. Even the decrees of Councils are affirmations, not expositions of the Faith ; safeguards, rather than sources of positive teaching ; the Scripture is the source of positive teaching, and its essential truths are enshrined in the Creed. It is, therefore, obvious, from the nature of the case, that there is no binding authority of necessary truth, either in the decisions of General Councils, or the general consent of the Church. Yet both are in the highest degree influential upon the faith of individuals ; and moreover the THE AUTHORITY OF THE CHURCH 31 authority of General Councils, based upon Scripture and accepted by general consent, is the highest affirmative, definitive and regulative authority possessed by the Church for the guidance of its teachers and the instruction of its members. The two great Credal Dogmas of the Church are those concerning the Trinity and the Incarnation ; these the Church emphatically proclaims as received from the beginning, and declares them alone neces sary to that " everlasting salvation " which is the " birth-right " of aU its members. Conclusions and consequences by extension from these two fundamental " Christian " dogmas, have the limited authority consequent on general acceptance or assent — that is to say, they have a tempering influence on the doctrinal beUefs and the reUgious tenets of individuals. Deviations in pious opinion are checked and rectified by the atmosphere of undefined tradition in which they breathe ; error being, at once, unstable and transitory by its very nature, especiaUy in a sphere wherein the eternal Spirit of Truth abides, broods, and operates. The greatest danger of the Church is over- definition, the making of unessentials, as if " de fide." The ordering of God's Church manifests His providential guidance in this, that the two cardinal dogmas being enunciated, History has prevented the accumulation of a burden of subordinate authori tative definition. 32 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH The exercise of authority by the Church in laying down the conditions of visible feUowship with itself is final ; yet if such conditions violate Scripture, the consequences of their imposition cannot exclude from the Communion of Saints, even though they may suspend its evidence. Moreover, the Church cannot rightly impose aught, as a condition of membership, in respect to the substance of faith, save its minimum, impUcitly contained in the Baptismal Formula of Admission and Initiation. But the Church naturaUy associates the fuU confession of the Nicene Creed with the Rite of Communion ; and may impose stiU more detailed standards of doctrine as conditions of its sanction upon the teacher. The primary aim of Church authority in general, and of the Creeds in particular, in respect to matters of faith, is : — to preserve intact the unity of the whole faith and to maintain the proportion of a complete Faith, for purposes of practical piety and reUgious understanding. The Church has, besides, authority in respect to Rites and Ceremonies, binding upon the individual who is called upon to perform them, but which must not be " repugnant " to Scripture. In the divided state of Christendom, every coherent portion of the Church has of necessity to settle regulatively questions which arise in respect to order, administration and discipUne. THE AUTHORITY OF THE CHURCH 33 The consentient, continuous and ancient Witness of the Church is bound to exercise the most pro found influence upon the individual inquirer ; on the one hand, by affording a test whether a doctrine held, is Ukely to be true, thus impressing the personal judgment into a sense of grave responsibiUty for its decision ; and, on the other hand, in the degree by which conclusions approved as true on independent grounds are substantiated, encourag ing increased confidence that by such investigations a right solution wiU be attained of the problems with which they are concerned. In ordinary, it is legitimate, and indeed inevitable, for the majority of persons, as weU as unavoidable, on most points, with any person, to leave the responsibiUty for truth of detail on the teaching body ; but the teachers are required to verify what they teach, that is to say, to verify both what the " de posit " committed to the Church, as a teaching body, is ; and also to determine what may be arrived at by legitimate scientific treatment and philosophical expansion of the received essential basis of doctrine, at the same time so distinguishing such results, inferences and deductions, that they may not be regarded as if " de fide." Towards the same end, the right of personal inquiry on the part of its indi vidual members is not only respected by the Church, but encouraged to the fullest extent possible in each case ; and personal judgment on any point that becomes insistent in personal reUgious experience D 34 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH or crucial to personal spiritual weU-being becomes an imperative duty, for which each individual must acknowledge final responsibiUty before conscience. Since " the Church to teach, the Bible to prove " expresses the relation between the dual authority in matters of faith (cf. Articles 6 and 8), it is necessary to determine the nature of that " proof," which is to be sought, expected, and accepted from the Scriptures, as the decisive criterion of ecclesiastical doctrine. " Proof "in its ideal inteUectual relations means absolute certainty, requiring an infaUible guide ; in its moral relations " proof " is a reason able assurance commending itself to the conscience, and requiring a sufficient guide ; but " proof " in the spiritual relations of Ufe is a reasonable assurance of such a kind as permitting and submitting to the exercise of Faith affords the ultimate conviction of certainty. It is only when Faith is reduced to inteUectual assent that an infaUible assurance of the truth of tenets held can be regarded as necessary ; if Faith is no less the spiritual energy of a moral disposition towards God, then such an infaUibiUty is obviously either inadequate or unnecessary. The supposition of " infaUibiUty," as in some way pertaining to the Church, is not pecuhar to Roman CathoUc theologians ; but has never been claimed by the Church. Spiritual " infaUibiUty " is preservation from all error, either of morals or faith. THE AUTHORITY OF THE CHURCH 35 In the former sense, it has never been expected, in man's known frailty ; but the latter has seemed more probable from its dwelling in a more abstract sphere. Yet, there have been times when it has been not merely " Athanasius contra mundum," but even " Athanasius contra ecclesiam." To acknowledge, thankfuUy, that the universal Church has hitherto been kept from faUing into dogmatic error, is far different from attributing to it, as a possession, that which has been due to God's overruling Providence. To beUeve that the Church wiU never be per mitted to faU into permanent error in the essentials of faith or morals, is fuUy justified by the promise, " the gates of heU shall not prevail against her " ; but that is not to estabUsh the freedom of the Church at any one time, from even general corruption in doctrine or practice ; although it may be weU beUeved that our Lord's crowning assurance, " Lo, I am with you always," makes certain that there wiU always abide a seed of recovery and a remnant of faithful ones, even in the worst degradations the Church may suffer. Yet aU is to be ascribed to God, and to His pro vidential Government ; not to any attribute proper to the Church, as the Church. We beUeve that the Divine guidance will surely, if slowly, manifest its influence as time flows on, never permitting infaUible judgment, but ever witnessing with increased assurance to the truth. 36 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH Two forms of revolt are evidently possible against the twofold authority of the Church. Heresy is the violation of the unity of Christian Dogma : Schism is the violation of the unity of Christian FeUowship. In the case of either, there must always be actual wilfulness, if there is to be personal guilt ; and that guilt wiU be in proportion to the degree of actual wilfulness and the consciousness of it. The spiritual consequences of revolt to the Individual are therefore determined by the Motive for it, and the estimation of Heresy and Schism as " sin " can alone be determined and pronounced from the Judgment-seat of Christ. The Church can only deal with heresy and schism by a countervailing excitation of the Faith or Charity violated ; marking the consequent restriction by discipUnary diminution or cessation of feUowship, as Uving substance contracts when stimulated. There ought to be no need of corporate disciphne in the Church, only of extrusion or exclusion from it. Disciphne in the Church is to be provided by the pubUc opinion of the Church ; this, in turn, arising from a sense of the obUgations of membership on each individual conscience, with practical expres sion of approval or disapproval in the instinctive (and for the most part unconscious) choice and exercise of fellowship. The Church possesses no control over the con science, mind, or spiritual life of its members, save THE AUTHORITY OF THE CHURCH 37 by consent ; and even then, can only exercise that control indirectly — by appeal, suggestion, or influence ; for no right of access exists against the inviolable integrity of human personality. In conclusion, it may be pointed out that as a matter of fact, the great body of the Church's Doctrine receives its chief value as a series of pro tective outworks around that essential nucleus of Christian Knowledge which it at once enshrines, elucidates and protects from shock ; just as the Church's Institutional System presents to the enjoy ment of Christian Privilege, the same " Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, Love of God, and FeUowship of the Holy Ghost." DOGMA The popular estimation of Dogma. Many profess to accept " doctrine " while they reject " dogma." The reason of this is obvious ; even speaking of " earthly things," we cannot escape from the evident need to teach, the presence of material for teaching, and the influence wielded by the things taught. " Dogma " is resisted because it renders prominent the element of Authority latent in aU teaching. Moreover it seems possible to shelter oneself, in this position, behind the New Testament Scriptures : "Do they not draw a Uke distinction ? " " No one can deny their recognition of doctrine, but what of their attitude towards dogma ? " Use of the word in the New Testament. The word is rarely used. 38 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH i. It occurs twice in connection with secular matters — once, of the arbitrary decree of an earthly potentate (St. Luke ii. i), once, on the Ups of perse cuting Jews pleading a Uke Edict (Acts xvii. 7). 2. It is appUed twice to Church matters, in an unfavourable connection, in passages of St. Paul's Epistles, where the Apostle speaks concerning the tyranny of obsolete ordinances and regulations, " that were against us," but now are " blotted out " — obsolete ordinances and regulations, the acceptance of which involved antagonism to the fundamental principles of the Christian Church. It is to be observed, however, that these passages exhibit, not St. Paul in opposition to dogma, but the clash of opposing dogmas. The proclamation is that of a herald who announces, " le roi est mort," but, with instant breath continues, " vive le roi." 3. In the expression " Dogmas to keep," or more UteraUy, " to guard " (Acts xvi. 4), the word and the thing alike emerge into Ught in connection with the activities of the Church at the earUest period of her history with a significance already fully developed and clearly defined. It is an amply sufficient reply to the objection " that the decrees to be guarded were, in this case, practical and not doctrinal," when it is answered that aU dogma is essentiaUy and primarily practical, although its formulation may involve and require a doctrinal basis (such as these decrees undoubtedly have), or on the other hand, its practical significance may underhe the doctrinal form which its statement assumes. In fact, " dogma " and " doctrine " are but the twofold aspect of God's revelation received in the Church : " dogma " as apprehended by her, THE AUTHORITY OF THE CHURCH 39 " doctrine " as taught by her. In a word, " dogma " is the " form " of " doctrine." The relation of Dogma to Authority. It has been already stated — Absolute authority exists alone in God and in our incarnate Lord. Such absolute authority is the authority of Direct "Revelation. The authority of the Church and of Holy Scripture is the conditional authority of Mediate or Trans mitted Revelation. The authority of their witness is based upon that of Him to Whom they witness and is manifest in proportion to their witness to Him. Both in Holy Scripture and in the Church, there is evident a twofold authority — (a) The relative authority of teacher, i.e. the Church or the Writer is responsible for the expression of revealed truth. (b) The absolute authority of Author, i.e., God Himself, for the substance of the truth revealed. Conceptions as to the Nature of Dogma. Three estimates of dogma exist — 1. Dogma is essentiaUy the absolute expression of the truth. According to this view, dogma is, as it were, crystalline— a crystal : regular, clear, formal, precise, but Ufeless. Its nature widely dissevered from Ufe by its existence as a crystal. Its nature incapable of giving Ufe and very incompletely of sustaining it. Its biological relation is restricted to that of being a " by-product " or an " excretion " of the Church's Ufe. Its existence is that of a " deposit," an 40 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH " abstraction," — and if the soul be loaded with useless or effete matter, it will become diseased, as surely as the body. This view forgets that the Church is a living body with characteristicaUy organic produce. 2. Dogma is regarded as the temporary shrine of an incommensurate truth. According to this view, the relation of Dogma to truth is like that of the Husk to the Kernel — protective, merely, to the new Ufe, until its strength is developed. But the husk is a protection needed for the kernel isolated from the parent stem, and the doctrines of the Church cannot have any meaning apart from the Church, but exist in unbroken continuity with the Ufe of which they are the outcome. 3. Dogma is the vital expression of practical truth. According to this view, the CrystaUoid in the tuber or the seed is a truer figure of what dogma is. Though not inorganic, it is crystalline in form; though not isolated from permanent relation with Ufe, its temporary form is yet subservient to the uses of Ufe. It is a product of Ufe — separated out from Ufe, yet enshrined in Uving environment — stored up for future benefit to Ufe, in face of present dangers — destined to be dissolved on contact with Ufe into forms assimilatable by Ufe, that it may be utiUzed in Ufe and to Ufe's sustenance and increase. Until brought " in touch " with Ufe, dogma remains unserviceable to Ufe. At all times there is the strongest possible con trast between the narrowness of the hard-and-fast fines of dogmatism, and the precision of the subtle outUnes of dogma. ESSAY IV THE MINISTRY OF THE CHURCH So far as the evidence goes, the Early Church (i.e. the Church of the first two centuries) was strongly sacramental and as markedly unsacerdotal. The witness of Silence cannot fairly be made — by any doctrine of reserve that refrained from casting that which was holy before the unclean, or of care to avoid ambiguity in the presence of Judaistic and Pagan phraseology and ideas — to overthrow the positive witness of historic testimony on this point. The Sacramental Word and Act was then the chief thing ; not the actor or speaker, the Agent of their enaction. Afterwards the focus became distorted ; and he who did assumed a false prominence in relation to what was done. This change came about because the thought of corporate authority was displaced by that of indi vidual power. In the Early Church the reahty of Priesthood was not sharply distinguished from its regular exercise. Hence the deposed priest was really 42 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH regarded as a layman. Hence, too, we do not find any evidence that the Early Church recognized an " indeUble character " impressed by ordination. Indeed, the grace of Ordination was conceived of as a special trust rather than as a personal en dowment ; the grace given appertained to the office and work rather than to the officer. In the Christian Church there is a difference of priestly work rather than of priestly character. In the earUest ritual of the Church the Bishop appears as the central Officiant and the Presbytery as his assistants. The conception of the independent position and activities of the priest is of later growth. In time the conception of an ecclesiastical Officer and Steward of Christ, whose honour lay in his Authority in the Kingdom of God and his Office in the Household of Faith, was superseded by that of the Mediating Priest, whose glory lay in the possession of inherent supernatural powers and the custody and control of means of grace. Such a conception logicaUy ends in the priest finaUy becoming the director of individual con science and the arbiter of individual destiny. In the one case the priest ministered for the weU- being of a community and to that of its members ; in the other he arbitrates and works that weU- being. This is the change from a " medium " or an " intermediary " to that of a " mediator " ; it is SacerdotaUsm. THE MINISTRY OF THE CHURCH 43 Sacerdotahsm is difficult to define, because it is a temper ; an accent rather than a thing. It is the spirit inherent to such a conception of the Priesthood as claims the exclusive possession of pecuhar supernatural powers inhering independently in a Person or Order in consequence of the isolated bestowal upon each of an individual gift, instead of laying stress upon the distributive discharge of ordered spiritual function which characteristically marks the administration of the Sevenfold Gifts of Christ committed to the Church. It is one of the greatest blessings of the EngUsh Reformation that it enabled the Church of England to recover, reassert, and revive the more primitive and purer view, while she continues to maintain the necessity of Orders in a Visible Historic and ApostoUc Church, to reiterate the dignity of the Ministry and to emphasize the pre-eminently sacra mental character of the Church's Ufe. No Christian is more sacerdotal in function than another; the Priesthood is only representatively sacerdotal, the Organ of a body in which aU are aUke Priests. Yet aU have not the same ministerial functions or the Uke authoritative commission. The order of Priesthood is one which dispenses sacramental grace, but does not control it ; one which administers sacramental grace, but does not bestow it. The Christian "Order of Priesthood" is cha racterized by ministry, not by sacrifice ; its office 44 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH is pre-eminently pastoral, and the Order of Priest hood exists on behalf of the Sacrificial Order of the Church. So far as the Order of Priesthood exercises sacri ficial functions, it does so representatively, not mediatoriaUy. Its exclusive functions are in order to and in consequence of sacrifice, not those of sacrifice itself — thus some to consecrate, aU to offer ; some to administer, aU to celebrate. In a word, in the Christian Church there is no sacrificing Order, but a sacrificing people in due order ; and the Sacerdotal Order of the Church is wider than the threefold orders of ApostoUc ministry within it. Since the Priesthood is the most numerous and widely distributed Ministerial Order, its members have naturaUy been immemoriaUy responsible for the universal and chief and central Act of the Church's Worship, especiaUy in those portions that are of most weighty consequence, such as> for instance, the Consecration Prayer. Hence a limitation due to order, as sharply marked as if due to doctrine. "The Ecclesiastic" is "The Priest" of the EngUsh Church. He is yet more the Officer of Christ than the Officer of the Church; and his office is aUke magisterial and administrative. He is the spiritual statesman of the Kingdom of God amongst men ; in the world, yet not of it ; exercising THE MINISTRY OF THE CHURCH 45 the Authority of Christ in the Realm of the Power of God. It is easy to misunderstand the aims of Ministry ; it is not easy to over-estimate the Dignity of the Ministerial Office. From the earhest times, when we can trace the History of the Church as a settled great visible organized Community, three Orders are found. Our position is one of historical fact, not to argue whether ancient immemorial and universal Custom be right or wrong — though if we beUeve the Church to be divinely guided (as we beUeve the individual to be) we shaU have a strong bias to beUeve such an order right. The triple order of the Ministry we do not know to have immediate divine Institution or Necessity ; it has sufficient and adequate authority to ensure its vaUdity as weU as Canonicity or regularity. To reject its completeness is to incur irregularity and to endanger vaUdity ; indeed, in the Early Church that which was irregular was counted thereby invahd. Moreover, the evidence of commission and hence of vaUdity should be clearly manifest in an historic and visible organization, by an historical and visible witness ; hence the indispensable cha racter of the Episcopal Succession. Hence also, while we do not deny the reality of other "Ministrys," we are unable to recognize such ministries as " ordered," i.e. as possessing 46 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH the speciahzed functions of the Episcopate, the Priesthood, or the Diaconate, which mark the historic Economy of the Church. The unbroken order and uniform custom of the Church in respect to the threefold Ministry and its functions is most impressive. That which is novel we must decUne to recognize in this matter. By nothing is the Visible Continuity of the One CathoUc and ApostoUc Church more clearly evidenced than by the Historic Episcopate and the immemorial speciaUzation of function in the ordered Ministry of the Church. The history of the Development of the Orders of Christian Ministry is more of antiquarian than practical value. The foUowing points, however, require to be noted : — i. The fixed order of CathoUc Ministry only dates " from the Apostles' time " ; theirs a unique position and office. 2. The " Orders " represent the local (and locahzed) elements in the Christian Ministry. They were at first twofold eirio-icoiroi, also called irpEofivrepoi ; and oWkovoj (cf. St. Paul's Pastoral and other Epistles). It is probable that the stages by which the local Episcopate assumed its final and permanent form were different in different places, their issue in a uniform order being due to the establishment in a THE MINISTRY OF THE CHURCH 47 position of greatest stabihty of the same factors, in a system of which they formed the constant elements. From this point of view the historic development of £he Ministry appears as a series of osciUations, more or less varied in different areas and bringing about temporarily diverse or divergent inter relations ; but issuing in a uniform settlement, poten- tiaUy present from the first in the constitution of the Church and the elements of the Ministry. St. James of Jerusalem from the first approxi mates very closely to the later conception of a Diocesan Bishop, in respect to his Authority ; and the function of Ordination may have been regarded as a necessary consequence of such a position of authority, quite apart from any special supposed commission or " gift " to ordain. The intense reverence for the central and primary ministerial authority of the Bishop in very early days would stamp his activities with a pre-eminent vaUdity, and restrain aU others from their usurpation through an innate fear of presumption. It would never enter their minds to question the power where there was the authority, nor to recognize the power where the authority was less evident. The fact that the Episcopate owed its authority to " custom " would certainly not justify any individual presbyter or presbytery in "taking to himself " or assuming pecuhar Episcopal functions 48 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH contrary to that estabUshed " custom " ; to do so would be irregular and uncanonical, even " invahd " in the sense of " precarious," as endangering both the guarantee and the reahty of " Mission." The evidence of " Mission " is " Order." There is no evidence that any presbyter ever dared to arrogate to himself the authority to ordain as a Presbyter until the Reformation. There is also no evidence whatever that the Episcopate originated from the presbytery by usurpa tion — from the position of " ruUng eldership," " superintending presidentship," as primus inter pares in a purely presbyterian sense. So far as the Witness of Church History is con cerned, it may be noted here that the latter part of the second century exhibits fuUy developed the Historic Episcopate and an estabUshed Tradition of its primitive origin and succession ; at the same period we also find no less marked an emphatic insistence upon the undisputed supremacy and supreme authority of the single " Bishop." The early conception of a Bishop's Office seems to have been that of authority, administration, and, according to the Clementines, teaching ; that is to say, he is regarded chiefly as the visible centre of Ecclesiastical Unity, the source of Government, and the depositary of ApostoUc Tradition. In their measure and order the Presbyters co operate in these respects with him. THE MINISTRY OF THE CHURCH 49 ST. PAUL'S USE OF THE WORDS "MINISTERS AND STEWARDS" " Let a man so account of us as the ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God." St. Paul speaks under difficult circumstances — men misunderstand the aims of the ministry, they did not over-estimate its dignity. In answering them, St. Paul's chief care is to correct the appreciation of its aims, yet so that he does not appear to disparage its claims. The manner in which he does this is suggestive — he gives no abstract definition of the ministerial office, nor does he even present it as viewed in its completeness, towards God as weU as towards man, he simply states how they (his hearers) are to regard it. " Let a man so regard us." Two aspects of the ministerial office are exhibited in his figure, drawn from two separate sources — the Jewish and the Gentile World respectively. He first declares the " standing " of the ministry and then the " activity " of the ministry. 1. The Ministers of Christ. (Jewish source. The standing of the ministry.) The word employed, different from either of the kindred ones used in other passages ("servant — 8ouXoc — of Christ " (Rom. i. 1), and " good servant — SiaicovoQ — of Jesus Christ " (1 Tim. iv. 6) ). The word employed has an interesting history — The stages of its use in classical Greek are : (1) a rower in a war gaUey ; (2) a toiler ; (3) a subordinate official (such as an orderly to a commander), an herald. In the Gospels and the Acts, it is used particularly of Jewish underUngs, civil and sacred, save in two most significant instances, viz. — E 50 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH i. " From the beginning were eye witnesses and Ministers of the Word " (Luke i. 2). 2. (By our Lord Himself) : "My Kingdom is not of this world ; if my Kingdom were of this world, then would my Servants fight, that I should not be dehvered to the Jews : but now is my Kingdom not from hence " (John xviii. 36). The " ministers of Christ " are the Officers of the Kingdom. Appropriately to this, the term is never used in the Epistles— save of the office of the ministry in this place. In this figure congenial to Jewish thought, the standing of the ministry is set forth. The position is one — subject but not servUe, responsible and therefore honourable — subordinate to God, not to man ; that none may boast or despise. 2. Stewards of the Mysteries of God. (Gentile source. The work of the ministry.) This thought of " stewardship " drawn from the Gentile idea of the Family (viz. the clan, the house hold, the steward, the KYPIOS). Under this figure is set forth the activities of the ministry, viz. — Oversight, Providence, Guardianship ; the Clergy are to direct, to feed, and to maintain. (a) The Clergy are to regulate, to govern, to control the household of Faith. Their ApostoUc charge is " to command and to teach," to " exhort and to rebuke," with aU authority ; and, by the power and commandment of their Lord, through their ministry, " to bind and to loose," " to remit and to retain " within the family Of God. (b) Furthermore, it pertains to their office, to THE MINISTRY OF THE CHURCH 51 feed with fit nourishment, each and all over whom their care is given. (c) Theirs also, Presbyters as weU as Bishops (according to the Ordination Service of the Enghsh Church — in this a unique and pecuhar example), to preserve and to guard the proportion of the Faith. These functions are performed by virtue of the guardianship of Stewards — to whom is committed a " trust," a " gift," a " deposit " ; for they are " stewards of the mysteries of God," commissioned to administer out of the treasury of Grace, things both new and old. The characteristics of the Clerical Office are pre eminently Pastoral (feeding, direction, guardianship, oversight and rescue) ; all pecuhar and so-caUed " sacerdotal " functions being subordinate to the Pastoral Work of provision and the Official Steward ship of administration. Placed in a position of special authority, they exercise that authority by special service, and by serving, they command. The most Priestly work of the Clergy is often done in the most " unpriestly " fashion ; and only thus possible. CONFIRMATION " Confirmation " is essentiaUy an ApostoUc Benediction— the concluding Blessing in the service of Initiation pronounced by the Bishop; a rite analogous to the Laying on of Hands by the Apostles, not necessarily identical with it. There is absolute silence about the practice of Laying on of Hands, as a continued usage of the Church in connection with Baptism, until TertuUian. 52 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH That Baptism and Confirmation are closely connected, is witnessed by the universal practice of the Eastern Church, which administers Confirma tion immediately after Baptism. That Confirmation is the Complement of Baptism, and not a mere adjunct, is no less clearly shown by the immemorial appointment of the West, in dis sociating the times of their observance. That Confirmation is the Completion of Baptism, is emphasized by the Echo and Affirmation of Sponsorial promises and vows, in the Rite as observed in the Church of England. But though not its mere associate, Confirmation is no rival in dignity to Baptism, the lesser rite depends for its grace upon the greater Sacrament ; even as the Institution of the one, as " necessary to salvation " by Christ, surpasses the foUowing of the Apostles' Example to edification. The close conjunction of Baptism with Confirma tion in the time of the Fathers was not favourable to appreciation of the distinction between the Grace of Baptism and that of Confirmation. The upspringing of an elaborate Ceremonial, with recurrent and but sUghtly varied and uncertain symbohsm, in connection with their twofold obser vance, increased the elements of confusion. The gradual substitution of Unction for the Laying on of Hands completed ahke a " corrupt foUowing of the Apostles " and the obscuration of accurate doctrine. Only the separation between the two Offices in the West gave promise of an eventual reformation in rite and clarification in doctrine. The Prayer-book Service, in its very restraint of Ceremonial and moderation of language reflects most THE MINISTRY OF THE CHURCH 53 truly, the position of primitive days, and the indeter minate position in its deeper aspects of the teaching of those early ages, to which it presents a return in what has been catted " indefiniteness of language," as compared with theirs. Any consideration of the doctrine of the Grace of Confirmation must bear in mind the following general principles : — 1. The laying on of hands of the Bishop, finds its precedent as a rite, in the example of the Apostles ; and derives ¦ its significance from his position, as the Depositary of all Ministerial authority, gifts, and action. 2. Every ministration in the Body of Christ, is an Administration of the Spirit of Christ. These principles are common to the case of Con firmation and Orders aUke. To proceed : Baptism is an entrance into the Church, the Church is indwelt by the Holy Spirit, each Christian is caUed " a Temple of the Holy Ghost," it is said, " those who have not the spirit of Christ are none of His." The Personal Spirit is given to each, by virtue of His indwelling in the Church ; when the new hfe is made theirs by spiritual regeneration and incor poration into the body of Christ. The Holy Ghost then becomes the portion of the Christian's inheritance ; Ufe-giving Lord to be in voked, but not to be prayed for, as if not already ours. St. Augustine says, " We say therefore that in baptized infants, though they know it not, the Spirit of God dwells." Confirmation, on the other hand, is not the primary impartation of the gift of the Holy Ghost, 54 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH but its perfecting in all His Sevenfold fulness of grace, the normal entrance into the plenary enjoy ment and assistance of those bounties which inhere in the primary Gift that is already ours—by Invoca tion, Evocation and Confirmation, of the Holy Ghost. The Consecration to the Priesthood of the whole Church which Confirmation is, has a natural analogy to the consecration of Ministerial Priesthood. In both, it is not the gift of the Holy Ghost as a Person that is to be received ; He is in us — but it is " Holy Spirit," a gift, a grace, " Chrism," that is given ; His energizing operation, not His immanent indwelhng. In a word, sources of spiritual Character are then bestowed, but not the source of spiritual Ufe itself conferred — that spiritual Ufe on which att " Charac ter " must be founded, and from which alone it can be educed and developed " in measure." Confirma tion, as already impUed, appears to be the bestowal of no element of spiritual Ufe, yet Confirmation is not merely Uke the " quickening " of the child in the mother's womb, an awakening to the exercise of individual powers ; it is even more, it marks the viabiUty of an independent spiritual Ufe. ' ' Baptisms and the laying on of hands " are terms to a stage of spiritual experience. Confirmation is a spiritual " coming of age," accompanied by a maturation of spiritual endowments. It is also the opportunity and occasion of spiritual fruitfulness ; for Confirmation opens up aU revealed Means of Grace for the formation of Christian Character. As, in respect to its " grace," Confirma tion cannot be isolated from Baptism — since Con firmation is the benedictory Ratification of Baptismal THE MINISTRY OF THE CHURCH 55 Grace and intercessory Request for its increase — and as there is required from all beyond the age of infancy certain spiritual quaUfications, before they may receive even Baptism itself — in order to receive the Grace of Confirmation those " now of years of discretion and having learned," must exhibit a yet fuller measure of personal fitness and quahfication. This follows from the Nature of the Rite, both in its relation to Baptism and in the character of its grace. It is impossible, therefore, to ignore or be un mindful of, the presence of spiritual disabiUties, when they exist in the case of such as are of an age to be confirmed, whether they arise from the pro longation of spiritual infancy, incapacity, infirmity, or ahenation. Iraeneus wett says, The gift of the Spirit " is only bestowed on those whose hves are adapted for it." To such, in Confirmation, the Holy Ghost grants a development for progress in grace. ESSAY V THE BENEFIT OF ABSOLUTION " Absolution " is a Church term, because, unlike " forgiveness," it has exclusive reference to the Church, andnot to the World of Redeemed Humanity. Absolution signifies the release from bondage ; remission, the forgiveness of a debt. Hence the phrase " the Absolution or Remission of sins " (a phrase due to the Puritans) is not a redundant or explanatory expression for one thing, but the two aspects of one Act from very different points of view. In this complex sense the Absolution is, on the one hand, the declaration and assurance of God's pardon and forgiveness ; on the other, the conveyance and restoration Of a freedom lost or impaired through sin. Besides the effect of sin in bringing guilt towards God, it affects our relation to Humanity. And, since Christ has taken human nature into Himself, God's forgiveness must be conjoined with man's — " the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins." Hence Absolution is the application of the Divine Forgiveness to the wounded Soul by the THE BENEFIT OF ABSOLUTION 57 pitying hands of that good Samaritan, with Whom, according to the flesh, it is set at enmity — pouring in oil and wine ; gifts given indeed by God, but administered by His Church for healing and relief, for " benefit " and " comfort." Speaking of Christian folks alone, God does not forgive " in Christ " apart from the Church which is His body, but forgives by restoration of unity with that body, to which is granted in an especial — because covenanted — degree, " the forgiveness of sins," and to be in Uving unity within which is to be in a " state of salvation." The depreciation of the need of " Absolution " is due to a defective estimate of the results of sin. By sin we do an injury against redeemed humanity ; we play, as it were, the part of Adam in a " New Creation " ; we react in a degree the Tragedy of the Fall ; we are traitors against our restored, common birth-right, untrue alike to our " nature " and our " calling." Moreover, the channels of our union with the body are choked, and our fellowship in its unity checked as well as rendered injurious — therefore the offence against the brethren must be done away, ere our restoration is complete. Absolution is therefore at once the conveyance of the Church's release and the declaration of God's pardon. God's forgiveness indeed acquits freely and fully of " guilt " ; it does not necessarily, therefore, remove the effects of sin. 58 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH Such are, alienation from our fellows and estrangement from the means of grace, both spiri tual evils ; and also temporal punishment that is a temporal " evil." Absolution is the remedy to provide for the removal of the two former of these ills, a first aid provided for the assistance of a soul bound by the infirmities consequent on these two spiritual evils — evils, however, in the remedying of which man's forgiveness and assistance has a real part to play in its new unity, power, justice, and tenderness in Christ, " restoring such a one in the spirit of Charity." Absolution being the declaration by man, and therefore removing sense of estrangement from our fellows — of God's pardon, and therefore removing that estrangement from the means of grace, which ultimately is sense of alienation from God, Absolu tion is not merely removal of Church censures, but the renewal of Church Communion. Hence while Absolution brings removal of Church censure and access to the means of grace and to Communion, yet it is not the same as Church Dis cipline, but underlies it as a principle, exemplifying the blessing of a free and bold access towards God " in Christ " and " through the blood " of Christ. All " Christian " forgiveness has an especial quality and efficacy—" confess your sins one to another and pray one for another that ye may be healed." THE BENEFIT OF ABSOLUTION 59 Yet this is particularly so in the case of the " elders of the Church." This is because by virtue of their office they both speak in Christ's stead and also as the voice of the Church. Absolution is, in a word, the power of the Church exercised by its officials with an authority entrusted by Christ. The whole activity of the Church, and hence every act of the Church's Ministry, is inevitably characterized by a remitting and retaining of sins. It is this truth which is most solemnly declared in the words of our Lord in the upper chamber, narrated in St. John xx. 23. That declaration did not institute Absolution, but recognized the Church as henceforth empowered to absolve, by the mission of reconciliation com mitted to it. The fundamental exposition of the Principle of Absolution and its Institution by the Command of Christ is reatty narrated in St. John xii. 2-16. It is most significant that the saying of our Lord at that time, " What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt understand hereafter," applied equatty at the time of their promulgation to each of those great discourses which were afterwards to be illumined by the Sacramental Rites of the Church. The disciples did understand the teaching of individual humility already; hence St. Peter's 60 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH refusal. Our Lord impressed the lesson they evi dently showed themselves able to receive, and left for the time to come the deeper significance of His words and Act. In the words of peace to the conscience-stricken and troubled disciples on the Resurrection morning, they were prepared to receive the reminder of the teaching of the Passion night, and commission to exercise a coUective humility, personaUy exhibited by the body of Christ towards each erring one, and " to restore such a one in the spirit of humility." It is sometimes said, " what right has the Church to pick and choose which institutions of our Lord she will continue to observe — why keep the Holy Communion and reject the washing of feet ? " The words of our Lord in this case clearly show that a spiritual act lay hidden for the time, concealed by this outward washing which the disciples already understood ; when able to receive it, the permanent institution of Absolution was recognized alike by our Lord's commission and the Disciples' practice ; and Absolution as a quasi-sacramental rite fulfils ever in the Church — the washing of feet. Considered in its relation to the Individual, Absolution is in its essence the personal renewal of Baptismal Grace, the restoration of spiritual privilege and freedom in a state of salvation, to gether with release from the fear of God which hath " torment," and from receiving as punishment that Divine temporal discipline which should be THE BENEFIT OF ABSOLUTION 61 accepted as the chastisement of a son — rather than pardon or release from guilt or even its temporal penalties. Hence, like Baptism, Absolution requires re pentance and faith for its efficacious reception and operation. Hence also the unjust refusal of Absolution cannot hinder the gracious bestowal or restoration of God's covenanted benefits and blessing. In harmony with these considerations, it is obvious that to secure the due administration, purpose, and effect of the Rite, absolution is best given generally and appropriated by the individual. Only in cases of exceptional necessity should it be given and appUed to the individual as an individual. The Church of England recognizes only two such cases : first, where else the person is deterred from communion, though desirous of it ; and second, when the person is unable to prepare for death because of a troubled conscience. The administration of Absolution is naturatty assigned by the Church to those to whom the Cure of souls is committed either directly or by devolu tion, i.e. on the Diocesan Episcopate primarily and upon the Parish Priesthood. This is the practical ground for a restriction which is sometimes given a sacerdotal construction. Since Absolution is a corporate function its exercise can alone be looked for in the ministerial Organs of the Church. 62 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH The Ecclesiastical Administration of Penance, conceived in its deepest and truest aspect, lays stress on the necessity of confession rather than on the " benefit " of Absolution. Such confession of specific sin is immediately connected with prayer for forgiveness ; the sub ordinate and subsequent benefit of Absolution depends on these and follows from them, and is the authoritative ratification of their consequences. To sum up — The words " Receive ye the Holy Ghost : whose soever sins ye forgive, they are forgiven unto them; whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained," were not spoken to the Apostles only, but to the disciples — to the whole community that was to become the Church. They recognized with the authority of Christ the power of Absolution committed to the Church. To " absolve " is to " set free." God in Christ is the great Absolver because He sets free from the guilt of sin by His forgiveness ; from the power of sin by His Grace. None but God can forgive sin or give grace. Yet God gives to man in " the Body of Christ," absolving work to carry out, the authority and power to release not from the guilt and power of sin but from its burden and its spiritual temporal effects, by declaring the forgiveness granted by God in Christ, to quieting of conscience, and by restoration in the Christian fellowship of the means of grace. THE BENEFIT OF ABSOLUTION 63 The corporate ministry of reconciliation is dis charged through those to whom is committed the official cure of souls, all the work of whose ministry involves in its effect the remission and retaining of sin. Finally, there is a pecuhar quality in att Christian Forgiveness ; it is full, free, and effectual, in a measure that can only exist where there is the special incitement and obhgation to forgive which it possesses, and where the Holy Spirit is present and works with special power and grace. The whole consideration of the place and value of Absolution is confined to the Church ; we are entirely ignorant of the manner of application of the Divine Forgiveness in the world outside ; hence the Church can exercise and claim authority and power in this respect, only in regard to its own fellowship ; and the benefits of its exercise are governed by the spiritual conditions obligatory on its members. THE PROBLEM OF PURITY The Church has ever upheld a noble ideal of purity, yet has not always supported that ideal, either by wise argument or advanced it by sound developments. Nevertheless, the fact remains, even if the methods be in any respect impugned. No revolution so wholesome as that wrought and upheld by Christianity in this respect is conceivable. As has been already imphed, the advocacy of the 64 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH Church for its cause has not always been faultless, nor its efforts on that behalf, wett balanced. A visionary immaculacy has sometimes been detrimentally substituted for an attainable chastity, while sexual purity has been exalted into " the one thing needful " and the equally imperative demand for unsullied truthfulness ignored. . A natural revulsion from the crying evil of the heathen world, and a legacy from the animaUty of its outlook, from early days fostered in the Church an attitude which found some encouragement in personal pecuUarities characteristic of St. Paul the Apostle to the Gentiles ; and more excuse, in mis conceptions of his counsels and attitude. A perfect ideal was inherited from our Lord, from His words and from His example, but the point of view of the Christian Community suffered depra vation through the corruptions specified and thus innumerable evils were bred, the lasting influence of which has not yet disappeared. Purity is much more positive than negative — and the necessity for cleanhness of hfe is even greater than that for cleanness of hfe — nothing short of absolute chastity in thought, word, and deed, can ever satisfy the elevation of Christian Principle. God's Creation demands reverence alike for aU natural ties and for aU natural endowments. Hence, the error is extremely grave and perilous, when Sex is hidden as if itself and not its abuse, was a shameful, an ilUcit and forbidden thing — instead of being exalted as rightly pervading and dominating mortal Ufe — especiaUy when, as it should be in Humanity, glorified by its offspring Love. For the misdeeds of Passion (i.e. sexual love) pale THE BENEFIT OF ABSOLUTION 65 before the enormities of Appetite (i.e. sexual lust), divorced from love. It is God's alone, to gauge the relative enormities of sins, it is man's to fear the enormity of aU sin ; yet within the range of any one kind of wrongdoing, it is certainly possible to distinguish degrees of heinousness. AU sins of the flesh are clearly condemned in that they involve the wronging of another ; they are obviously aggravated in the degree in which desire is wilfully inflamed, its gratification sought with calculating selfishness, or its impulse absent, or subservient to ulterior ends. No duty is more imperatively incumbent upon the Church than the rectifying of the world's social treatment of the problem, or the revision of its judgments in respect to sins of the flesh. In no matter is it more necessary to distinguish between sins of infirmity and deadly sin. Sin can never be venial, for all sin is deadly if persisted in, but the Church must discriminate between the sin that is deadly and the sinful acts which may f aU short of it ; for by deadly sin is meant a rooted sin — a sin of habit or character which is the source of many other sins, while sins of infirmity are sins of impulse, neither inherent in character nor confirmed by habit. One assertion must be absolute : the Church can recognize no other union as permissible other than Marriage ; for every other form of association in volves injustice, insecurity, or infamy. Since the basis of the matrimonial contract is the acknowledged attachment of a mutual Love, it evidently requires for its perfect reaUzation that which Christian Marriage demands in respect to the 66 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH marriage tie — that it should be a voluntary exclusive union between a single pair indissoluble till death — while the consummation of such a marriage is obviously prepared by hves of antecedent continence on the part of those who contract it. The advanced civilization of modern Ufe has undoubtedly refined and extended the companion ship of wedded Ufe, and hence it is the more to be regretted that the attendant artificial conditions inevitably tend to defer or impede the possibihty of entrance upon the state of matrimony. When Marriage, however, is possible, the ends of marriage have become reversed in importance, for when the Marriage is one of wedded Love, the supreme importance of the relation is found in the mutual society, help, and comfort (both spiritual and temporal), which the one has of the other ; the second ground for matrimony still remaining of undiminished importance ; while the desire for children foUows as a matter of course — though not unintelhgently, regardlessly, or irresponsibly. That such marriages, contracted early and regulated accordingly, are the greatest possible security for Purity and the due of the young to-day, calls for a recognition and encouragement not always tendered even by the Church. Before this, the struggle of Boyhood finds its most inspiring incitement in the spirit of " noblesse obUge," as on the part of those who are the Knights of Christ and who owe reverence to all womanhood for love of their Mother, a motive augmented later, in young Manhood, by thought " for the sake " of the Wife that may be ; by a deep conviction of the weakness that acknowledges defeat — except to seek the Divine forgiveness at once, and at the same THE BENEFIT OF ABSOLUTION 67 time once more renew effort by the Divine help besought — together with a vivid sense of the sinful ness ahke of self-confidence and despair ; and by habitual reception of Holy Communion. The further, practical, considerations which f oUow also demand attention, if the deUcacy of the problem and the difficulties of the situation it involves are to be fairly faced or fully met. No warning against " the first sin " is needed so strongly as in the case of illicit intercourse between the sexes ; for the very naturalness of the instinct, act, and gratification, tends to mask the falsity of the position ; disposes to its confirmed adoption, and implants — at any rate in the case of men — an often indelible craving for the satisfaction of a want become natural out of due course. No appeal, once felt, is foregone with such diffi culty, especially when the associated famiharity, homeliness and intimacy of the relation, impinges on a lonely, dull, and straitened Ufe. From the time of its inception, men are Uable to become engrossed in sexuaUty, especiatty at certain periods of Ufe or under certain circumstances, but never more than, when debarred of absorbing " hobbies," deprived of pleasurable excitements, or debarred from free association with social equals of corresponding age and of the other sex, when over wrought or over-anxious. Even the essential disciphne in physical abstin ence, is very Uable insensibly to drift apart from the preservation of mental purity ; in the struggle to be continent, the mind is abnormaUy sensitive to im pressions, and readily becomes excessively — and therefore, morbidly — absorbed in just those interests which are, for the time, best largely left aside. 68 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH Nor is this the only deterioration against which a continent hfe has to guard ; although the possible extravagances in marriage, of a Ufe continent before marriage, are deprived of serious harmfulness, when met with a wise understanding of their cause and a deep appreciation of the value of that which they accompany — finding as they do, their best corrective, in the swift reaction of instinctive deUcacy sure to ensue. Since true purity consists in reverence for sex, not in aversion from it, the natural craving, with each stage of development, to know its meaning at that stage, has the fuUest right to complete satisfac tion — and the normal stages of due knowledge appear to be successively, the individual bodily structure — with a preliminary suggestion of its function ; then, its complement, and the actual relation of the sexes ; and finally, the character and consequences of their intercourse, as it exists in human Ufe. In the case of the more inquiring sex, a knowledge that there is a cycle of development in specific function, and the approximate ages of its inception, growth, maturity, full activity and decUne, possessed early in its course — is indispensable to check the evolution of a crude philosophy of hfe, as permeated and ruled throughout by sexual passion ; just as a plain understanding of the real aspect and direct service of the parts of primary character in the other sex, well replaces the vague aUurements conjured up by the ardent imagination of ignorant youth. For both sexes, some knowledge of such secondary characters as distinctive temperament is necessary in early maturity, since the ascription of identicaUy like passions to the two sexes, may easily occasion THE BENEFIT OF ABSOLUTION 69 undue anxiety for settlement, when the affections are deeply engaged, or an equally undue satisfaction without it, as well as premature disappointment after it ; while it also discourages false views of Ufe and the motives that sway it, dangerous to innocence, and dangerously misleading to ignorance, in social hfe. Shock to cherished ideals of hfe, or breakdown in fundamental ways of regarding it, not only always cause such immediate distress, but are also aUke so unsettling to mind and character, and leave so in- deUble an impress upon both, that no necessity can be more imperative than that they should be formed in real correspondence with nature and therefore truly worthy of it. The extended disciphne in continence for men, is in close correspondence with the prolonged adolescence of women, both attaining the nubile condition in the lustrum after majority ; it is invaluable, therefore, both in estabhshing and con serving the virihty of a wholesome frame, and in favouring insight into the complex nature, ends, and obUgations of Ufe ; while above aU, it chastens the affections, develops self-control, nourishes and fixes ideals, and generatty — conduces to form a character of moral integrity, mental clarity, spiritual insight, personal charm, and singular influence. ESSAY VI THE SACRAMENTAL PRINCIPLE The Analogy of Nature and Revelation is in nothing, seen to be due to origin from one Author, more than in the Sacramental Principle running through both. All the outward products of man's activity exhibit that Principle and the sovereign sway of all Art is based upon it; for the outward product of man's thought and active skill bear the impress of his whole personahty, and witness to the nature of him, who wrought them in the entirety of his personality ; moreover, they not only bear the impress of his nature in the totality of his powers, they are instinct with the power and energy of that which they reveal and from which they spring ; so that they " affect us," that is, produce " effects in us," being charged with the creative potency of that life from which they originate and upon which they therefore depend. So all Nature is sacramental — an embodied Revelation of God Himself, vivified with the energiz ing power of Him Who created it and Who immanent therein sustains it. THE SACRAMENTAL PRINCIPLE 71 Hence the Sacraments of the Church are not to be conceived of as exclusive or sole channels of Sacramental Grace ; but as Revealed and therefore " necessary " — exhibitive, illuminative, and pre eminent Means of specific Grace. The exhibition of the Sacramental Principle culminates in the Incarnation of our Lord. The Incarnation is supremely Sacramental, both as the Revelation of the unseen Father in the Incarnate Son and in its revelation of Grace as well as truth, of spiritual energy as well as reality. Accordingly, Revealed ReUgion, in its absolute form, is essentially Sacramental also. The Sacraments must never be regarded apart from their preparation. Judaism, it is true, was symboUcal rather than sacramental, because im perfect ; yet it nurtured the Sacramental Sense until He came. In Christianity, the sacramental character of the One ReUgion is fully manifested, until He come again ; yet realized through a further gradual pre paration than that afforded in Judaism. Anticipated by mysterious discourses, the Sacra ments were at length instituted under the most impressive circumstances ; the one, before the Death, to witness to an everlasting Presence ; the other, before the Ascension, to witness to a never-ending Fellowship ; until, when the completeness of the gift was assured at Pentecost, Baptism became the 72 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH first Apostolic Counsel, and the Breaking of Bread the first Christian Practice. The contrast between this fact and the com paratively smaU place subsequently occupied in the Apostolic Letters by the Sacraments is amply accounted for on a threefold ground : partly by the preparedness of those addressed to accept them, just as to-day little stress is laid upon Theistic Apology in Church ; partly through the unquestion ing use of them by those who were converts, for strife over the Sacraments did not arise till Mediaeval times ; and, to some extent, doubtless — from the discipline of silence towards those without, necessary to avoid the profanation of sacred things by those incapable of appreciating them, according to the precept of our Lord Himself, and to avoid mis understanding of the Christian practice, since heathen calumnies were to be refuted, as the Apostles taught, by life rather than explanation. On the other hand, the very indirectness of Apostolic aUusion shows the familiarity and accepted- ness of Sacramental Usage and Doctrine, since it is only to familiar and accepted matters that " allusion " can be made. The above considerations, then, fully explain why greater prominence is not found to be given to Sacramental Doctrine and Observance in formal shape in the Apostolic Epistles. In harmony with the position suggested, yet all the more significantly, on turning to the Gospels, THE SACRAMENTAL PRINCIPLE 73 it is to be observed that they contain not only the brief, if pregnant, record of the Institution of the Sacraments, such as the " facts " of the case would require in Historic Memoirs of that character, but also what might not be anticipated, very full pre ceding discourses regarding their essential and under lying principles. So, again, the Sacramental Principle in the Early Church displays itself from the earhest sub-apostoUc times and bears no appearance of being introduced as a corruption from without or of having been formulated through external in fluence, whilst its characteristics are such as would mark an apostohc " tradition," if we can judge by the existing apostohc writings. The practice and teaching of the primitive Church, both in respect to the simpUcity of the outward part and the definiteness of the inward part of these Holy Mysteries, stands in marked contrast with the complication and obscurity of the heathen mysteries, and hence was not Uable to corruption from those sources. Moreover, neither theory nor use was sacerdotal ; the very fact that there can be any question as to who administered them shows that it was the Rite and not the Celebrant which was the centre of thought and importance ; hence these observances did not lend themselves to be magnified in the interests of a " caste." But indeed the difficulty of the ReUgious problem 74 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH hes not in the salvation of " the soul," but of " the body " ; it was the resurrection from the dead of the Body that was the stumbling-block, as it is the redemption of the Body for which creation groans in travail and waits in hope. Hence the Sacramental Principle is not only " meet " as part of a great System, it is also " apt " in response to a great need. Since the normal state of human Ufe involves soul and body united, reUgion must take impartial account of both the internal and the external, to make complete provision for the complex situation. What God has joined together cannot be put asunder without most serious loss and wrong ; and therefore Christianity not only acknowledges the most direct concern with body as with soul, but also that the relation between the internal and the external, the spiritual and the material, is of the most intimate nature, the most far-reaching consequences and the utmost importance. Any attempt to dissociate their elements is aUen to its practical Genius, and any attempt to depreciate either element is contrary to its CathoUc Spirit. Hence Christianity does not despise the Sacraments as aids to faith, or under value them as means of grace. They are in both respects absolutely fitted for the Ufe of such beings as we are, Uving in such a world as we Uve in, and they meet the most urgent needs that arise from both these conditions. The Sacramental Principle as an aid to faith gives THE SACRAMENTAL PRINCIPLE 75 definiteness to the outgoings of faith and fulfilment to the appeal of faith, doing away with the necessity of mere feeUng and affording consolation to the soul oppressed by physical conditions or temporal mutabihty. The Sacraments being not exclusive in their significance but conclusive, even as the Church is in relation to the Kingdom of God, they are the certainties of a hfe of supernatural confidence and assurance. Yet they are much more than an aid to faith, else those whose faith was strong might dispense more and more with Sacraments ; they are not merely occasions of spiritual communion in grace, but instruments of spiritual communication of grace. Just as the Incarnation is the greatest of all Sacraments, so the Church is essentiaUy sacramental in its nature and its activities as " the Body of Christ " — the Organ of an invisible Spirit, the visible organization enshrining an unseen hfe, the especial instrument of the continual exercise of the Power of Christ. The additional benefits of the Sacramental Principle enshrined in the Sacraments admit of very brief statement. The Sacraments constitute a protest against Manichaean and Ascetic error ; they constitute a protest against subjective Pelagianism, for grace is given and must be given before man can take or faith receive ; they constitute a witness against 76 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH the exaggeration of individualism, through their existence as social rites ; they constitute an assur ance that our hfe is hved in a supernatural sphere ; they constitute an evidence of the consecration of Nature now — the natural being, so to speak, interpenetrated by the spiritual — and of the hope of a perfected BUss in body and soul hereafter. The efficacy of the Sacraments is witnessed at once by the fruit of sainthood and by the experience of believers. To sum up — The existence of external rites as Rites charac terizes a reUgion of Law — of Works ; the existence of external rites as Sacraments belongs to a rehgion of Grace — of Faith. The existence of Sacraments is a witness to the need of " grace." The fewness of the Sacraments is a witness to the potency of grace ; the use of Sacraments so simple, so few, so exceptional in character, a Test of Faith ; the Institution of Sacraments by the Word is the pledge of the efficacy of their institution and operation. The two great sacraments of the Gospel are in kind, " universaUy necessary " to man generically, even though they cannot be said to be so in opera tion to men individuaUy, being here in Earth at least necessary to " salvation," that is to spiritual health, hereafter being left in God's hands and to His love. THE SACRAMENTAL PRINCIPLE 77 Hence it has been often pointed out that God is not bound — in the way of limitation — by the Sacraments, but we are ; — bound to seek the grace of God, by the definite means of grace which He has revealed to us, not without them or even as if apart from them. The due use of the Sacraments is of infinitely greater importance than the exhaustive explanation of their character — if, indeed, such be possible to us — for how we may and can benefit by them is a more profitable question than how they can benefit us. Hence the Church, for instance, in the Blessed Sacrament, directs us rather to consider how we may profitably enjoy the Body and Blood of Christ and duly receive them, rather than to consider how they are present, or how they are bestowed. THE SANCTITY OF THE BODY The sanctity of the body is far too often over looked, ignored, or underrated. As " our lower nature," it is often put forward as affording a crude explanation for the origin of evil, and even as a ready excuse for its practice. Man has a lower nature — but it is his faUen nature, not his body as body. His degradation and depravity has its root in a warped personality ; and although the body is debased to bear fruits of bitterness and manifest " what spirit we are of," in deeds for which we shall be judged, yet " sins " are but the evidence of blight, when " sin " cankers and corrupts the core of life within. 78 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH If men dread " a sin " more than " to be sinful " it is because the punishment of " a sin " is often more speedy, temporal, and evident, than the retribution that falls upon the nature whence it sprang. The Christian can certainly never accept the body of man as " our lower nature," except in respect to its subordination to human personality. When Christ rose from the dead, it can only be said that He took again upon Him a Body which was the Body of His Glory, and " a lower nature," only in reference to the Divine. It is true that the body of man is as yet " a body of humiliation," which through sin may indeed be made only too easily, the body of shame ; but, so far as its destiny is concerned, destined to be " a glorious body " through grace. So long as Christ sits at the Right Hand of God, a mean estimation of the body ought to be impossible, as impossible as it will be when He comes again and we see Him as He is. For there, in highest heaven, abides — not soul alone, but body also ; a glorified humanity which holds the supreme place that heaven or earth affords. We have indeed no scale to measure the relative value or dignity of parts of our complex being. If it be remembered that it is directly through Sense that Beauty is revealed to us — as, through Mind, Order ; and Holiness, through Conscience — and that it is the whole God-given and God-wrought being of man, which together evidences and wit nesses to His perfect " goodness " shown in " perfect love," men would hesitate long, before they dared to impute any intrinsic inferiority to the Body — or, even, to emphasize any inferiority of relation as characterizing it. THE SACRAMENTAL PRINCIPLE 79 The truth is too often neglected, too rarely taught, too little dwelt upon, too little acted up to, that the Consecration of the Body is a greater thing than any renunciation of the flesh can be. Men hesitate to prostitute their minds, still more their spiritual capacities, because they have learned something of their dignity and realize something of their value, as weU as power. Christ's Redemption, the Ufe of an Incarnate Lord and the Consecration of an Indwelling Spirit, should move men in as noble a disdain and as reverent an awe, to abstain from prostituting the bodies they too Ughtly desecrate. For the body of man is his eternal inheritance every whit as much as the soul — as much " his," as much an integral part of " himself." Hence the Ideal for humanity is neither self- indulgence nor self-renunciation, but self-complete ness by an entire growth in godliness through the sanctifying vision of God which purity alone ensures, until man becomes " self-complete " indeed, but not self-completed — for he becomes self-complete alone " in Christ," according to the Apostolic declaration, " The hfe that I now live in the flesh, I live ; yet not I, but Christ Uveth in me." Certainly few words are more pregnant in mean ing, or more potent in application, than the petition in the Prayer of Humble Access, " That our sinful bodies may be made clean by His Body." Before the sanctity of the body can be duly impressed by ReUgion, preliminary secular provision must be made — of good food, air and water, proper sanitation, decent dwellings — and the wholesome recreation that is supphed by variety of occupation, sufficient leisure, and so far as may be, some change of possible surroundings. In this connection must 80 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH be added the grave need to remember that, as has been admirably said, " The business of the Churches is not to lay down the law in economic matters any more than in questions of medical (or, say, astrono mical) science, but to convince their adherents that no man is a thorough Christian if he is content to accept the existence of human misery produced by economic causes as inevitable, and that aU Christians without exception are bound to promote whatever economic changes are, in their conscientious con viction, for the good of society as a whole, without regard to their own interests." GRACE AND THE MEANS OF GRACE I. The Nature of Grace. In the phenomenal realm we are accustomed to conceive of the phenomena of Matter and Motion, as ultimately due to " configuration " in an immaterial medium ; hence, therefore, it is legitimate to draw an image, under whiGh to shadow forth the nature of Grace in spiritual things — conceiving of " Grace " being, as it were, the Energy arising from the Divine disposition towards us, as well as the state of Divine favour in which we Uve and move and have our being, when Nature is harmonized and attuned to God. It is only when we proceed to conceive of grace as an energy, that we are able to speak of " grace to help in time of need." This conception of grace as an energy, appears the true corrective of — (i) The Mediaeval realistic view of grace as a quasi-substance. (2) The modern rationalistic view of grace as simply a recognized state of favour. THE SACRAMENTAL PRINCIPLE 81 Grace is then essentially that aspect of favour (\apig) under which God exhibits Himself to those on whom He has compassion and to whom He reveals Himself as well pleased. But the favour of God is no mere passive attitude — it is hke the glories of the face of the sun on high, it cannot be unveiled without shining, and its energy is the sunlight of the soul. Hence grace is also God's help ; as weU as the gifts (xapurpara) which proceed from His favour to our help — chiefest among these the gift of the Spirit of Christ the " Ufe-giver," " the spirit of hfe," Whose sevenfold gifts bring spiritual distinction and beauty to the grace-fuU life that develops Christian " graces." 2. The Characteristics of Grace. Grace, hence, is characterized as — (a) Gratia gratum faciens, i.e. — (i) that which makes to appear gracious, graceful. (2) that which makes grateful, acceptable. (b) Gratia gratis data, i.e. a gift freely given (hke the sunshine and the rain, cf. Gospels). 3. The Efficacies of Grace. The Light is a Parable of " Grace." (a) " The light is sweet and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun." (b) The Ught makes the plant to grow. (c) Bacteria cannot hve in the Ught, they die — burnt out, purged away. (d) Grace is as necessary to good works, as the Ught to the meUowing of the fruits of the earth. (e) Grace is as necessary to perseverance as Ught for the works of man. 82 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH 4. The Means of Grace (xaptapa). (1) The means of grace are the means whereby we receive God's gifts (xapiapara). (2) They are also the assurances, not only of His gifts, but also of His favour (xapic). (a) The means of grace may be altogether in visible (inward acts of devotion), or, with outward pledges and signs (sacraments). (b) A " means " is — either (1) that which conduces to an end, an Instrument, e.g. The colours on the palette of a painter are the material " means " to his art — his brushes and paint are " instruments." The means of grace, in general, are instruments, not only assuring us of the favour of God, but also — by their use — conducing to the maintenance of that favour. or (2) that which conveys a thing as its vehicle or channel, e.g. The books in the Ubrary of a student are the intellec tual " means " to learning, because they convey to him the thoughts of others — his books are vehicles of thought. The means of grace that are sacramental, are also vehicles of grace, conveying to us divine gifts, according to the divine purpose and institution. (c) Yet the means of grace are moral means, i.e. they require due use, and a right spirit in using them. The colours of the painter, the books of the student, cannot benefit unless used rightly, and the thing aimed at cannot be attained without using them. THE SACRAMENTAL PRINCIPLE 83 The education of the artist, the disciphne of the thinker, are but the preparation for the further, the fullest and best use of the means at their command. So the leading and training of the individual soul, the lessons of spiritual experience; so faith and repentance, are preparations for the means of grace and their due employment and enjoyment, and can be no substitute for them. 5. The Virtue of Grace. Grace is marked in a singular degree by " vitality." Although grace may be resisted either by indifference, despite, or habitual sin, and such resistance is in the end deadly, yet it nevertheless remains true that the graces of a Saint are the fruition of the " grace " bestowed upon a Sinner and are perfected out of it, for " grace " begets " graces." ESSAY VII THE SACRAMENT OF THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST There is a most striking contrast between the tone of popular thought to-day concerning the Sacrament and that of the sub-apostolic age, both in respect to the fulness of recognition by the latter of Eucharis- tic Sacrifice and in its direct appreciation of the Gift as the Body and Blood of Christ. This makes all the more significant the fact that the Body and Blood of Christ were never regarded as material for the Sacrifice : there is no recognition of any Oblation of the Gift of the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist. Any attempt to derive this colouring from the influence of the heathen mysteries, completely breaks down before the significance of the words of Justin Martyr respecting them. The true source of both thoughts is to be found in the teaching of the Apostles and the institution of Christ. The Church's indebtedness to the primal tradi tion is fully seen in the character of the New SACRAMENT OF THE BODY & BLOOD 85 Testament records, teachings and allusions, respect ing the subject. The whole Rite, by historic association, language, acts and setting, is enveloped in a sacrificial atmosphere ; as is proper and inevitable to a Sacrificial Feast upon a Divinely accepted Offering ; the echoes of Propitiatory Sacrifice linger around its Eucharistic Memorial. From the first, Type and Prophecy were alike cited as foreshadowing the Rite of the New Covenant — Melchizedek's offering of bread and wine to the Father of the faithful was invested with mystic meaning. The prophecy of Malachi (i. n) was universally interpreted of the Eucharist. Its mention of the Mincha, presented the Hebrew equivalent to the thought of the great Anamnesis, used as it was of the shewbread as a Eucharistic thankoffering, a sacrifice of gratitude, tribute and homage. This Prophecy is referred to the Eucharist from the earhest times. That its apphcation must be spiritualized to suit the richer nature of the new Offering — filled with a grace the older never possessed — is evident by the consideration that a parallelism between Bread of the Eucharist and Shewbread, Incense, and Incense, would imply a material offering merely ; whereas, if the Shewbread was a figure of the Sacramental Thing, and incense, of Prayer, the spiritual wealth and reality of the Offering is strikingly emphasized, 86 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH not by an inadequate comparison, but by the implied contrast. There is indeed a real difference between Christian Sacrament and any Jewish Ordinance : both may be, alike, " seals " and " evidences " of a Covenant, but here resemblance ends ; and strange consequences often follow any unconscious reversion of standpoint — thus, Calvinism is a masked return to Judaic thought. Neglect of this difference has been the occasion of many difficulties in the way of a right estimate of the Dignity of the Sacraments. For the institution of Sacraments is only a stumbling-block, if they are merely symbolical " of the letter " ; the case is far otherwise if they are really Means of Grace, " of the Spirit." Hence it is that the Church has no difficulty in giving them the greatest prominence in the spiritual life of faith ; whereas alien modes of thought touch them but little and regard them as " ordinances," the prominence of which in Christianity it is felt difficult to justify save by the express command of Christ. The Sacramental Principle of the Church is therefore sometimes accused of " formality " and " legalism," because the Sacraments are being conceived of as " ordinances " observed by men under Divine command ; not as instruments of grace and privilege operating by the word of Divine Institution and Promise ; divested of life, they become depreciated as " dead works." SACRAMENT OF THE BODY & BLOOD 87 The difference between Jewish Ordinance and Christian Sacrament is this : the one witnessed to grace and truth beyond and outside itself 5 the other is the pledge and means through which grace and truth are brought home to us. Even though " the old fathers " might be partakers of " Christ," they could not be partakers of the Body and Blood of Christ. The Sacraments are those " good things " which " were to come " ; but as the sign and token is better than the shadow or anticipation, so will the secrets of the Unseen World be better than the " mysteries " which now partially reveal them. Thus, the ExceUency of the Christian Memorial remains " unttt He come." Its Solemnity is no less enhanced in observance which is no chance flash of remembrance, but a Perpetual Memory, estabUshed of set purpose, in sight of all. The Ancient Liturgies are very careful to stimulate, arouse and call forth, this sense of mindfulness on the part of all who celebrate the sacred rite, that they may have the recollectedness befitting those who stand in the Presence of the Lord. A careful regard to the employment of the term in the Old Testament, would seem to show that the Old Testament use of Anamnesis is connected with sacrifices, not so much to emphasize the offering of the sacrifices as a memorial to God, as to em phasize the solemnity and sacred awefulness of the 88 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH memorial made " before God," by its association with the sacrifices of Divine appointment and worship ; the solemnity of the Memorial, and not its direction, is that on which emphatic stress is laid. The solemnity is enhanced, though contrition is changed to praise and prayer to thanksgiving, in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar — the Altar of the Cross. This view of the reasons leading to the association of avapvwig and sacrifice, is confirmed by the use of the expression irouiv rlva, which in the lxx is frequently used to denote " to offer " or "to sacrifice," and more generally, " to celebrate or perform a given solemn action," and which there fore, consequently includes sacrifice but does not postulate it. The elements of the Eucharistic Offering, present sacrifice in its simplest aspect and most significant relation. The unconsecrated elements constitute a thank- offering. The only " Oblation " (Mincha) strictly speaking in Holy Communion, is the offering up of the fruits of the earth and man's labour, that God may make them to us the Body and Blood of Christ. The participation of them after consecration is a Feast upon the Sin-offering for the congregation. For " we have an Altar " ; the Jews might not partake of such a Sin-offering, not even the Priests ; SACRAMENT OF THE BODY & BLOOD 89 all Christians, as alike Priests, partake freely of Holy Communion ; and since their Altar is the Cross, their privilege is greater than even the Priests of the Law enjoyed. If the Holy Table is no more, but no less, an Altar, than those of the Jewish Dispensation, it is a far holier " Table of the Lord." The whole Sacramental Mystery is a Sacrifice of Praise and Thanksgiving — 1. For natural sustenance and joys, expressed in creatures of bread and wine ; 2. In remembrance of an incarnate Lord Who is symbohzed as Bread of Life and True Vine. 3. For spiritual sustenance and refreshment conveyed by consecrated manducation ; 4. Through a distributive action which exhibits the Body broken and the Blood shed for us ; consummated in 5. The self-oblation of the Church in the person of its communicating members, in union with the Lamb upon the Throne. The nature and function of Consecration is often misunderstood. It is not wrought by priestly recital of the words of Institution, as the Romanists now teach ; but is wrought by the Holy Ghost in response to the actual Invocation of His overshadowing, or by the tacit intreaty of His Power, as a Divine Response to and confirmation of the Words spoken, the Acts 90 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH done, the Rite observed, according to the Institution of the Word made Flesh. We cannot fix the " moment " of Consecration, we are assured of its effect. The " Prayer of Consecration " is a prayer for consecration, that God wiU act according to His promise for the fulfilment of His purpose ; it is not a Canon of consecration by the recital of certain words of which the Priest makes a Sacrament. Before consecration, the bread and wine are types of the Bread of Life and of the true Vine, that is of Christ ; after consecration, the bread and wine are types and Sacraments of the Body and Blood — the living Humanity — of the Lord. Consecration is, in order to Communion and not to sacrifice ; although it involves the oblation of gifts, and connotes Sacrifice alike as its foundation and its consummation. Similarly, it is the whole " action," not the con secrated elements alone, which forms the Memorial. Doing as Christ did, speaking as Christ spoke, eating and drinking as Christ administered, con stitutes the Memorial ; not merely the bread broken and the wine poured out, however greatly sanctified. Neither Christ, nor yet His Body and Blood, are in any " proper," strict or true sense " offered " by us in the Sacrament, consequently the Rite can only be termed " propitiatory " in a very secondary sense, as dependant on the meritorious sacrifice of SACRAMENT OF THE BODY & BLOOD 91 the Cross ; nevertheless the Eucharist is an effectual Memorial, for the merits of our Lord's sacrificial activity, inherent in His incarnate Person and indissociable therefrom, are therein presented before men and proffered to God. The Eucharist is an effectual memorial, because in It we " show forth " the Lord's death, the one Act of Sacrifice once offered upon the one Altar of the Cross, in the way our Lord Himself appointed. In heaven, the Lord's death is " shown forth " by the Presence of His human Nature at the Right Hand of God ; not in act of Sacrifice, but in potency of Sacrifice ; the same prevatting Presence reveals its intercessory appeal " before God," in our com memorative celebration of Him on earth ; showing forth all the power of His atoning Death, and con- verying aU its benefits to the faithful soul, giving access to the Throne of Grace by " a newly-slain yet living way," and a sanction to our petitions for ourselves and others " through Jesus Christ our Lord." In heaven, the marks of our Lord's Passion are the seal of an accomplished propitiatory work, and not tokens of continuation in that " Victim-state " which was essential to its completion. The presence of Christ in His incarnate Person, is necessary in the Eucharist to the valuefaction of our acts as regards the Memorial of Himself, supernaturally present yet reaUy so. The Presence of Christ in His Humanity is no 92 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH less necessary in the Eucharist to the bestowal of His grace as regards the Communion in His Humanity received under the aspects of that Body and that Blood which are therein mysticaUy shared and really partaken of. The words " broken for you " and " shed for you " are indeed full of significance ; the Body " broken for you " is a Body " given " that it may be shared in, and the expression refers to the Self- Oblation of the victim then beginning and already accomplished in Witt, by that Victim Who in purpose, offered Himself through the Eternal Spirit from the beginning of the world. To refer the words to a dead Christ is to evacuate their significance ; there is here not alone an antici pation of His Passion, but its active beginning. Similarly, the words " poured out," used in respect to the Blood, point not merely to the blood as " shed " in death as the symbol of a sacred Ufe surrendered in Sacrifice to make atonement for us, but to the blood as symbol of the undying hfe of that " Uving One " Whose blood was " poured out " that we might drink of the Cup of Salvation and find our eternal hfe in His. To the disciple, the Cup is the pledge that the same Life which was being " given for you " should also be life-giving in you. The words are the pledge and the assurance of participation in a Body and Blood broken indeed in death and shed — for the act of Love and Sacrifice SACRAMENT OF THE BODY & BLOOD 93 is finished and the gift given ; but the gift was, not unto death but unto wider Ufe. The Memorial is not, primarily, of an Event however momentous ; it is the Memorial of an unseen Lord, Who died and is alive for evermore. Hence the Memorial not only attains its culmina tion in the thought of the Risen Lord, the whole purpose of the Rite is to lead up to, to render possible, and to bring about FeUowship between that Life and ours. Precious as is the feUowship with Christ, as attained in other exercises of spiritual experience, its realization is far transcended in the observance of this. The fruit of Prayer is spiritual fellowship and intercourse with Christ Himself and God in Christ, communion of spirit with spirit, of Person with Person ; but the fruit of Holy Communion is a spiritual union with Christ's Humanity — that is to say, not alone a fellowship of Christ's glorified Humanity with our humbled Humanity, but such an impartation, communication and participation in Christ's Humanity as leads to the indwelhng through that Human nature of Christ Himself in all the fulness of His Person. For in this Rite, the words and act of the Word consecrate, through oblation and confirmation of the Spirit, what were before mere common and empty (noivdg) bread and wine ; and henceforth the consecrated elements constitute a Sacrament, and 94 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH the Bread and Wine become the Symbols of those Sacramental Things which they convey, symbols of the Body and Blood of Christ. After Consecration, there is added heavenly grace to earthly elements, though the manner of this their conjunction we know not, save only that there ensues the concomitant presence of a dual Nature, of which the elements present the sensible token and remain the rehable pledge. The elements are not changed in their nature, but in their association ; and the outward parts of bread and wine are then called by the names of That which they signify, exhibit, and convey to us. The outward and visible part, therefore, affords assurance of the reaUty of the presence of the inward and spiritual grace, but without in any way determining further the mode of presence of that reaUty. As soul with body, so the spiritual presence of Christ is associated with the material element — being so far locaUzed that where the latter is, the former is present to our apprehension — though not as in a place. That which is received after consecration is in physical nature and mode of existence, as cognizable to sense and understanding, real bread and real wine — but in spiritual reality and relation to personal faith, It is no less really the Body and Blood of Christ. Either aspect is true, but the whole truth SACRAMENT OF THE BODY & BLOOD 95 is only expressed by the combined apprehension of both aspects. Yet there is a sacramental association not a sacramental union ; and the outward visible part and inward spiritual grace can only be said to be " sacramentally identified," in so far as the one assures the other. The elements after consecration exist, then, in a new and mysterious relation to the Humanity, the human being and hfe of Christ ; they are not merely virtually, that is in effect, the Body and Blood of Christ, but are become, as Sacraments, the effectual channels of the inherent energy and virtue of the Body and Blood of Christ — whereby we may, as it were, touch Him and thereby learn that from Him proceeds and in Him abides, healing, healthful, and redemptive virtue ; and this " con secration " is realized as being an operation of grace, conscious to us by Faith, conscious in Him by Power. The force of the phrase and fact of the " Real Presence," may perhaps be best iUustrated, not as to manner, but as to reaUty, by a thought of the special presence of Christ in His Divine Person, " where two or three are gathered together in His Name," for that can only be conceived of as a presence of extraordinary power and grace — yet it is real. So then, much more, with the Humanity in the Blessed Sacrament. 96 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH The " Real Presence " in fact is an ambiguous phrase. By the Romanist it is identified with the state ment of the doctrine of transubstantiation ; by both Romanist and Lutheran with a local presence. On the other hand, the " Real Presence " means with us, the assertion and safeguarding of the Truth of the real giving, conveyance, and presentation of the Sacramental Gift in aU its vital efficacy, inde pendent of our faith, contemplation, or even use — that is, that the Sacrament is a real " means " or vehicle of grace ; not only a pledge, seal, or occasion of grace. Hence we cannot deny the Presence to the unfaithful, though we deny it in the unfaithful. We cannot even deny the reception by the un faithful of the " Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ," yet we do deny them to " eat " — par ticipate in Christ, or partake of Him, Himself. We deny to the wicked that heavenly incorpora tion of the being and Ufe of Christ which is the seed of eternal hfe. They receive the Gift, they do not take it. They eat the Sign to condemnation but cannot assimilate the Heavenly Food. There can be no doubt that in Roman teaching " substance " has often been understood as if material and carnal substance rather than the ideal substance of school men. The Aristotehan theory as to accidents and SACRAMENT OF THE BODY & BLOOD 97 substance is not " de fide " in the Roman CathoUc Communion, save in regard to the unique case of the Eucharist. It has never been more than an indeterminable speculation, may be untrue, and could only afford an unfruitful distinction even if true. For it is not so much a question of the presence of a substance as of a vital principle that we are concerned to estabUsh — it is the presence of Life rather than of Being which is at issue. The Real Presence, therefore, need not mean so much a substantial presence as an energizing or vital presence — a presence, however, not of obsig- natory graces, but of the Grace (i.e. the Energy) of a Uving and glorified Humanity. While, however, the latter distinction is empha sized, it must not be forgotten, that this Life nevertheless undoubtedly conveys, and is imbued with in Itself, all those benefits which its outpouring procured ; which — as exhibited, shown forth and . presented in the twofold elemental aspects of the Eucharistic Action — its " pouring forth " rendered available and which its " giving " distributes, i.e. the participation in all the benefits of the Passion. The Presence in the Blessed Sacrament is, we maintain, not " corporal " in the sense of being under physical conditions of time and space ; nor is it a Presence of " the natural Body and Blood of Christ," that is, not of the sensible albeit spiritual " Organism " of our Blessed Lord's Humanity, now H 98 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH seen alone by the eye of Faith ; but it is the Presence of the Holy Body and the Holy Blood, so far as they can profit us, namely as " Spirit " and " Life.'' That is to say, Christ is not " present " in the Sacrament in the same manner as He is present in Heaven, nor in the same manner in which He was once on earth, yet He is really present, in the fulness of His Human Nature as well as His Divine. The Humanity of Christ is not present, merely by effectual representation, that is Virtually, in its sense of " in effect " or " to all practical intents, needs and benefits " ; nor is It only present indirectly by virtue of His Personahty as the incarnate Son. The Mystery is more nearly expressed by saying, that Christ is present in His Humanity, by direct action, by real operation and by immediate influence, i.e. " present by spiritual power, though not by contiguity of place." Yet even this form of stating the mystery of The Presence seems insufficient ; we can shadow forth the truth most adequately by saying, that the Presence of Christ in His Humanity is an immediate presence as " Life-giving Spirit." The Presence of the Humanity of our Blessed Lord in the Blessed Sacrament of His Body and His Blood is — the Presence of His Human yet Divine Life, in the consummate and complete expression, its glorified state assures. It is " Spirit " and " Life," which are really " given, taken and received," " after a heavenly SACRAMENT OF THE BODY & BLOOD 99 and spiritual manner " ; and these are that " Body " and that "Blood" of which we "eat" and " drink." That Humanity which was enriched by the Incarnation, was not despoiled but glorified in the Ascension, for, " Lo I am with you always even unto the end of the world." Christ's human nature and life are locally absent indeed, but really present — really present because spiritually present, until He come again once more in space and time. Adoration is due, in the Eucharistic Feast, to its giver. Due " adoration " of the Body and Blood is that which can alone be paid by the reverent use of the Sacramental Elements, by their venerating reception — an act of adoration to Him, in the act of receiving them ; an act of adoration to the Giver for the Gifts He gives, not an adoration of the gifts apart from the giving. Mozley says weU, " the Body and Blood in the Sacrament are not the object of Worship but only the occasion of it." Because the Presence of Christ is assured by Revelation to the observance of the Sacrament of His Body and Blood, for the purpose for which It was ordained, it must not be assumed that, there fore, the Rite affords either an Object of Worship, or a Means of Grace, apart from those uses for which Revelation has made it known to be ordained. ioo FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH Most serious mischiefs ensue from the lack of refusal to regard as proved results, positions arrived at by logical processes of reasoning, in a sphere of which our knowledge is too limited and imperfect to supply the assurance of their validity. As in regard to the doctrine of the sacramental activities of the Church, so the use of such terms as " Priest," " Altar," " Oblation," and " Sacrifice," is preserved from serious misconception in the actual life of the CathoUc Church, by that freedom, fearlessness, and largeness — almost looseness — of use which has ever marked their practical employment within it. They become gravely misleading, when and only when accommodated to purposes of definition, in such coUigations as " sacrificing priesthood," just as does the accumulation into one, with the same end, of expressions of different aspects of sacra mental truth, like " in, with, and under the forms of bread and wine." To sum up the practical aspect of the whole question — Christ's teaching that His Body and Blood are the food of eternal life, caused many to cease from foUowing Him. His Institution of the Sacrament of the Body and Blood is still a stumbling-block to many. They are staggered at His doctrine ; they fail to observe His Command. No doubt the Belief is mysterious, beyond reason, SACRAMENT OF THE BODY & BLOOD 101 but it is not contrary to it ; far otherwise, for even the sustenance of the body on earthly creatures is a fact beyond our understanding, we cannot con ceive how we can derive our sustenance from their elements and thus build up our own. The great fact needful to grasp is — it is not Faith that sustains the Soul, it is Christ : " union with Christ," " Christ within," that is no figure of speech, it is the Secret (the open secret) of Chris tianity. It is not Faith that brings Christ there ; Faith receives Him, according to His Promise, in His own appointed way. How bread can be " to us " the Body of Christ ; how wine can be " to us " the Blood of Christ, this we cannot explain, but the faithful soul believes it, nay, knows it through spiritual experience. In this matter then, our minds cannot argue about the way in which Christ is present — we can only be sure of what He has told us, as far as He has told us and obey. If we use the Sacrament in the manner He ap pointed and for the purpose He appointed, then we know that we are in the right path, and shall adore the love that bestows so Divine a Gift, and be amazed at the power that can turn the common things of earth to such a sublime employment as to make them the means, the vehicles, the channels, by which men may partake of His sinless and incorruptible humanity. 102 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH When the Lord said, " This is my Body," " This is my Blood," the words are no mere figure of speech, for He had taught us long before that His " Body is true meat," and His " Blood true drink " ; and in the Institution of the Blessed Sacrament, He was appointing the Revealed, the great way in which we are assured that faith receives these, for its strength and comfort. What we need to be careful of is — to take heed lest we deny the Reality of either part of the Sacra ment ; it is true " bread," true " wine " that we see, It is " the Body of Christ," and " The Blood of Christ " that is the inward part, the unseen Gift, that is Given, that " Faith takes and the Heart receives." How the outward parts, the " creatures of bread and wine " are associated with the inward part, " The Body and Blood of Christ," it is both unprofit able to inquire too minutely, and presumptuous to assert too confidently. This is God's concern, not ours ; He has not revealed the secret working of His Grace, and we may not dare to intrude our explanations where our ignorance is so great and our Reverence should be so deep. The limits of space and time bind us ; they cannot confine the working of God. The Connection between the bread and the wine, and the Body and Blood of Christ, His own words assure us is of the closest — far more close than we can imagine, but SACRAMENT OF THE BODY & BLOOD 103 we must shrink from and beware of anything like limiting the Real Presence of the Human Nature and Life of our Lord to within the no less really present bread and wine. A " Sacrament " consists of two parts, of out ward element and inward grace, that we know, and we know also, that in the due celebration of this Sacramental Rite, Christ, in a Sacramental Manner, bestows on us His Presence, the moment When we cannot tell, save that it is as we obey His word ; and the manner How we cannot conceive, save that we taste the sweetness of His Presence. Above all, we need to be careful lest Unbelief leads us either to explain away the holy mystery of Grace, or leads us to seek to make it more easy to grasp by our poor and earthly understandings. The Presence of Christ as in a place, as in our flesh, is in Heaven, and we need to lift up our Hearts to the Lord there, if we would rightly receive Him here. Wise indeed were the words of the great Athanasius, when he said, " Christ made mention of the Ascension into Heaven of the Son of Man, that He might draw them away from any bodily conception, and that they might understand further that the flesh He had spoken of meant heavenly food from above and spiritual nourishment, which is now being given from him to us. ' For,' He said, ' what I have been speaking of to you is spirit and Ufe.' Which is aU one as if He had said, ' the palpable thing given for the world's salvation 104 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH is the flesh which I now wear ; but this flesh and its blood shall be given from me spiritually as food.' " And no less needed is the admonition of the Nicene Fathers, in respect to the Eucharistic Sacri fice, when they bid us not let ourselves " lower our thoughts by fixing them upon the bread and cup before us," but rather lifting up our minds, then behold there, by Faith, upon the Holy Table, " the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world." THE WORDS OF INSTITUTION It has been asserted " that the longer forms must be taken as the basis of interpretation," but this may wett be regarded as too unquaUfied an assertion, on consideration of the foUowing points : — I. There is a striking similarity between the records of St. Matthew and St. Mark on the one hand, and between those of St. Luke and St. Paul on the other— and an equaUy striking difference between the two classes. 2. St. Paul certainly claims to have received his account of the Institution by direct Revelation from the Lord Himself ; but the variations observable in the four records we possess, prove conclusively that the " consecration " was not regarded as effected in virtue of the Words of Institution alone — this has grown up as the theory of the West only, and the East regards an Invocation of the Holy Ghost as necessary to consecration — which Invoca tion, in some Liturgies at least, follows after the Words of Institution. Moreover, it must not be forgotten — SACRAMENT OF THE BODY & BLOOD 105 (a) That St. Paul had already dehvered to the Corinthians the account received of the Lord. (b) That he had a special object in view (Cor. xi. 20), namely, to teach the Corinthians that the Eucharist was not merely a social Feast, or even consecrated Social Feast (a truth they had evidently realized and even abused, and a famiUar aspect to them, on which is founded Argument of Cor. x. 15-21) ; but that it is a true Sacrificial Feast also, a Feast upon our Passover sacrificed for us, and there fore of great solemnity. Not only do the Words of Institution as given by him emphasize this sense, but he lays significant stress upon "proclaiming the Lord's death until He come/' and adds, " Do this in remembrance of Me " twice, after mention of both elements (a phrase only occurring elsewhere in St. Luke's account and there in connection with the bread alone). Furthermore, the thought of the " Feast upon our Passover " (1 Cor. v. 7) was a congenial one to St. Paul, whose mind, or at least, whose phraseology, had a legal cast ; and to whom the thought of the " Covenant " meant so much and furnished so large a base of argument. St. Paul, naturaUy, laid stress upon the Eucharist as a Covenant Rite and Seal (and it was the percep tion of this, which was the truth in Calvin's erroneous teaching, as his error lay in the exclusion of other points of view and in making St. Paul take the place of the Gospel and become its chief exponent, and the sole commentary on its facts). Consequently, it seems most probable that St. Paul's record is a free but legitimate second render ing of the narrative of institution with special appUcation to a particular case, and that his teaching 106 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH is not properly a basis for interpretation, but an expansion of the original formula in certain directions with a practical and immediate aim. Hence, that we have in I Cor. xi. 20, the exact record of the words of the revelation vouchsafed, cannot be pressed. 3. In respect to St. Luke's account, the foUowing points must be noted : — (a) His record is strikingly similar to St. Paul's. This is significant, if we remember that St. Luke was very intimate with St. Paul, and is supposed, on the authority of very early tradition, to have written his Gospel under the eye of St. Paul. There are two divergences, however — (1) In respect to the Body he adds " given " (but cf. elUpse apparent in St. Paul's record and famiUarity of thought with St. Paul, as in argument of 1 Cor. x. 15-17; moreover, it was possibly introduced in parallehsm with (a) v. supra). (2) He places " in remembrance of Me," only after mention of the Body — not as St. Paul repeating, after the Cup (cf. supra). (3) The chief difference is " that which is poured out for you," which, though consistent with St. Paul's Une of thought, yet seems a Unk to St. Matthew's and St. Mark's " which is shed for many." It can be concluded, therefore, only that St. Paul was not St. Luke's sole authority, should St. Paul's rendering in 1 Cor. xi. 20, be verbatty exact, which is, as seen above, very doubtful, and even then St. Luke's version seems moulded by St. Paul's influence ; whilst it seems quite possible from the preceding considerations, that St. Paul was his authority in the matter altogether. 4. In reference to St. Matthew's and St. Mark's version — SACRAMENT OF THE BODY & BLOOD 107 The only difference hes in St. Matthew's addition " unto remission of sins." This might be an amplifica tion of the original words of institution, as impUcit therein— or, vice versa, St. Mark's may be a con traction of what was actuatty said, for the same reason. Under any circumstances, there is a striking agreement in a simply Historic setting, between two writers, one of whom was present at the time of the Institution, and the other indebted to St. Peter (by unanimous testimony of earhest antiquity) for the material and form of his Gospel. Hence, while we cannot be certain of St. Luke's independence of St. Paul's influence (and moreover St. Luke was not an original authority by presence and eye-witness) ; whilst, moreover, we cannot trust St. Paul's account in 1 Cor. xi. 20, as verbally exact, or intended to be so (and further context and other writings and character, weigh considerably in the other scale) ; we can, on the other hand, per ceive St. Luke's formula — impUcit in St. Matthew's and St. Mark's "Blood shed for many" (esp. St. Matthew's " shed for many unto the remission of sins ") — might readily and rightly be paraphrased into St. Paul's, " This Cup is the new Covenant in my Blood," by any one deeply affected by Jewish associations, Scripture, and Covenant. 5. In conclusion, St. Peter had reason to re member the events of that night, as none other ; and St. Mark's Gospel is everywhere marked by pecuharly direct narration and extremely minute and vivid detail. Hence it would appear that his record, in this matter particularly, affords the most exact record of the actual Words of Institution — "This is my Body," "This is my Blood of the covenant which is shed for many." 108 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH This form, then, affords the best basis for inter pretation. Its marked resemblance to the brevity of Liturgic forms of administration and the simple doctrinal statements of the earUest writers, as weU as the consent of the Christian Church since to its state ments, as uniformly assented to textually by all, whatever interpretation they should bear, is the strongest possible support to this independent conclusion. THE INTERPRETATION OF THE WORDS OF INSTITUTION ft. Bread, i.e. this outward sign — this symbolic element. Thing, i.e. this inward part — this " res sacramenti." " Mystery," this Sacrament — this " efficax signum." Symbolically, i.e. in representation ; as an incitement to human faith. — Zwinglian. Virtually, i.e. in effect ; as a pledge of Divine intention and favour. — Calvinist. i 3. Vitally, i.e. in energy ; as a means of grace. — Anglican. Corporally, i.e. in substance ; as a sacrifice of propitiation. — Romanist. / 1. Figuratively (regarding only " sacramen- tum," inward part a difficulty). An interpretation which tends to the denial of any inward part, cf. Zwinglian. " This is bread and nothing more." Literally (regarding " res sacramenti " only, outward part a difficulty). An interpretation which tends to denial of outward part, cf. Romanist. " This appears bread, but is not." Sacramentally (regarding both the above associated together, mode of concomitance a difficulty). Cf. Anglican. " This is (Physically) bread still, but it is (Spiritually) something more — how we know not." my body." MY BLOOD. SACRAMENT OF THE BODY & BLOOD 109 This last " mystic " sense is the oppositive of figurative ; this last " spiritual " sense is the opposite of carnal, but not of Real. (a) It expresses what is, but it cannot explain its existence — it at once witnesses to a knowledge revealed, and worships a hidden " Wisdom," in other words, it acknowledges in the Sacrament, a Divine Muorrjpiov. (b) Its interpretation is not hke the others an artificial or rationaUstic simpUfication, by disregard of either side of the truth ; but rather, it is a deeper, wider, and more reverent acceptance and expression of a " Mystery," recognizing, though not ex hausting; embracing wholly, though not wholly harmonizing, what would else be opposed, ignored, evaded, neglected, or denied. When our Lord said " This is My Body," it is not " This bread is Uke or reminds of My body," but, " This," whatever else it is, " is," above aU else it is, " My Body," and similarly, with the Cup. THE KINDS OF SACRIFICE One thing redeems, iUumines, and glorifies the dark record of Ufe, with a constant presence and an abiding power — the instinct of sacrifice. This instinct, this temper of Sacrifice, shows itself ceaselessly towards man, as an irresistible force in action prompting the strong self-sacrifice of men for ideals, for principles, for honour — the silent self- devotion of women in works of pity, of patience, and of love. Towards God, it is expressed in a universal and unchangeable rite, the rite of Sacrifice — for att reUgion includes and is consummated in Sacrifice. no FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH Sacrifice is the supreme act of hfe towards God as towards man. Sacrifice attains its transcendent ideal when recognized as essentiaUy spiritual. Thus the supreme height attained by material offering is reached when the body itself is offered as the instrument of Christian effort — a thank-offering consecrated by the Body of Christ in the body of Christ. Natural Conception of Sacrifice Sacrifice would seem to have arisen first as the outcome of an instinct of weakness, a recognition of dependence. The powers of Nature and of God, encompassed and dominated the feebleness of man — and before the greatness and the might of this unseen mastery, man ceded his claims of independence and yielded his homage. Only after the sense of dependence was realized could Sacrifice come to be offered either in grateful recognition of benefits or to avert itts. Thus the natural conception of sacrifice seems to have been essentially the rendering of gifts in tributary homage. Jewish Conception of Sacrifice The Jewish Covenant confirmed this natural con ception of Sacrifice, but it did much more — it connected with sacrifice a thought of " sin " which needs atonement — it showed that the tribute of honour, submission, and thanksgiving, must be based upon a sacrifice of atonement. Thus emerges the Moral aspect of sacrifice. Christian Conception of Sacrifice In the fulness of time the one Sacrifice of Atone ment was offered, and thereby the Sacrifice of SACRAMENT OF THE BODY & BLOOD in Praise and thanksgiving received an eternal founda tion and a Divine consecration, becoming the per petual Institution of Divine Worship. Thus was perfected the Personal character of Sacrifice. Conclusionsi. Thus, all Religion includes and is consummated in Sacrifice. 2. Thus, sacrifice is exhibited as the supreme act of Ufe towards God as towards man. 3. Thus, sacrifice attains its transcendent ideal, when recognized as essentially spiritual and personal — the self-sacrifice of Love. The thought of Sacrifice is essentially that of a witting gift, without the added thoughts of " suffer ing " or " loss." It has been wett said, " Language cannot offer a more impressive example of moral degeneration in words than the popular connection of thoughts of loss and suffering with that which is a Divine service." It is easy to see, however, how this has come about — (a) Partly, through low conceptions of God, as if such things pleased Him. (b) Partly, through an unworthy attitude towards Him, as one feared but not loved. (c) Partly also, very probably, because of the suffering and humihation of physical circumstance which attended and exhibited, but did not, in them selves, constitute the Sacrifice of the Cross. Impetratory Offerings The sacrifices " connected with prayer, as a gift with a request, in order to obtain blessings," belong properly to a different category to those noted above. 112 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH They expressed man's sense that prayer and sacrifice must go together, if prayer is to hope for an answer. This just instinct found its fulfilment when Christian prayer began to be made through the Name and Merits of Christ, as the condition of its efficacy. ESSAY VIII THE VALUE OF THE BIBLE Whatever be the sympathies felt in respect to many aspects of the Protestant movement of the Sixteenth Century, there is at least unmixed ground for thankfulness in this, that it brought about the restoration of the Bible — an unsealed book to all within the sphere of its influence. For the Reformation — the restoration of the privileges of an unobscured Cathohcity, was accom panied by and based upon a new searching of the Scriptures, as a recovered oracle of light and truth and worship, speaking straight and clear to each soul. The Protestant element in the historic life and present Character of the EngUsh Church, shows most favourably in the devotion with which it cherishes an open Bible ; while her Catholicity is most nobly graced by the evident sanction of that precious charge which she guards, interprets, and obeys. In these Scriptures of which the Church is the due " Keeper " and faithful " Witness," the spiritual Guardian and the practical Interpreter, all may 114 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH learn the Charter of her Faith, behold the witness of her FideUty, and acknowledge the test of her Faithfulness. The Church and the Bible are so closely asso ciated that the " Notes " of the Church and of the Volume of Revelation are the same. i. Unity. The wonderful character of the Unity of the Bible is often overlooked — accepted as if only the unity of a volume. Yet the Literature even of a thousand years bonded together by any chain of kindred ties is always a striking object, as the imposing pageant of that of England witnesses. The Bible presents an unrivalled and unique example of the most profound Unity through a very long Uterary period. Through aU kinds of Form (Historical, Poetical, Dramatic, Oratorical, and Philosophical), the product of widely severed ages and widely different minds, may be traced the unbroken development of a series of primary elements — present in all, presented by all, and moreover carried forward through all as a whole — for it has been well said, " the golden thread of Redemption strings together the splendid jewels of Revelation." 2. Holiness. This is a " Note," a characteristic of the Bible, in a pre-eminent degree, not only when it is THE VALUE OF THE BIBLE 115 compared with contemporary Morality and Religion, but with their standard and practice at any time. To realize the sublime Holiness of God's Word to man, it is only necessary to consider what Scripture tells — of the past and present nature of Man, and of its possibiUties ; of sin and its inevi table consequences ; of ResponsibiUty and of the demand of the law of Righteousness on present conduct — in private, in the famUy, in the State, in the world ; of Judgment to come and of man's Destiny ; and of how all these depend upon personal relationship to God. 3. Catholicity. Besides being full of tenderness and love towards man, the Bible is also marked by a certain generous breadth of sympathy and of consideration in its view of man ; unhesitatingly recognizing man as imperfect and needing forbearance — acknowledging most openly the accommodation of God's dealings with men, and their reception into Training through imperfect beginnings and in irregular growth. 4. Apostolicity. The Bible is " ApostoUc " in that its essential character is, that it is " sent," it is not only a Record of God's Revelation, it embodies a Gift from God — a Message borne on the breath of inspired men, conveying in its turn inspiration to Faith and Love, to Hope and Service, to Knowledge and to Worship. 116 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH The Church and the Bible present the same " Notes," because, while largely interdependent on one another, they are both directly dependent upon the God Who gave them — they are His handiwork, and bear the stamp of their Maker. The Unity of the Book is the effect of a unique Revelation ; the Holiness is the result of the manifestation of a Holy Being; the Catholicity is the fruit of the Revelation of Humanity in its UniversaUty, as it has been, as it is, and as it becomes in the perfect life of Jesus ; the Aposto- Ucity is revealed especially in its Mission of Witness to the Incarnate Word — through testimony of apphcable Allusion, incidental Type, specific Pro phecy, systematic Preparation and historic Record, that herald and announce the Proclamation of the mysteries of the life of God and the life of Man, in the Mystery of Incarnation and Redemption. The Bible exhibits the same " Notes " as the Church, since it proceeds concurrently from the same Divine Source and records the work of the same Spirit in the evolution of the Kingdom of God. Hence, too, its Inspiration is recognized pre eminently by spiritual appeal, and its evidences are moral, since they are convincing to faith but do not constrain to belief. The Bible resists the constraints of theory as much as human nature and resents violent handling like a living thing. THE VALUE OF THE BIBLE 117 Its inspiration evades mechanical investigation, and inappropriate treatment only results in the disintegration of the organism through which it manifests itself, although the tenacity of its vitality is such, that all evidence of its presence in the remains cannot be destroyed even by the utmost exercise of arbitrary force, but only be obscured and rendered incoherent. In this connection it may briefly be stated — 1. Consistently with the facts, it is impossible to ascribe the consciousness of a Divine Purpose running through the narrative History of the Bible to inser tion as an afterthought — for man is neither suffi ciently clever to accomphsh it nor sufficiently guileful to attempt it ; nor can its presence be explained as due to the conscious or unconscious moulding of the whole narrative into conformity with any desired or assumed scheme of its course and significance — the representation interpenetrates the material as well as manner of the entire narrative too uniformly and coherently to allow of such an interpretation of its origin. 2. Similarly, it is impossible to re-arrange the evidence of the progress of Divine Revelation as to God, Man, and the World, and to adjust the con sistent underlying spirituality of conception through out concerning their nature and relations, according to any scheme of " natural " development, such as might be conceived to cover the case of Ethnic ReUgions. The instance is certainly a solitary one, 118 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH and demands the singular explanation which the Record itself supphes. 3. SimUarly, speaking generally, it is impossible to reconcile — (a) The fitness of Miracles when recorded, to the occasions when they were wrought, or more broadly, to the critical character of the Period at which they occurred ; (b) their appropriateness as evidences of the Mission of those that wrought them and their consistence with the peculiar position they held ; (c) or, their service as vehicles of needed moral or spiritual teaching towards those on whom or amongst whom they were wrought, with any merely rationalistic position. 4. The same is true with the Foresight of Pro phecy, both in the Old Testament and the New, as exhibited when viewed in conjunction with the actual working-out of History, especiaUy as mani fested in the fulfilment of Messianic Prophecy and of the predictions concerning the effect of His coming ; due weight being also given to the striking applicability of particular isolated and incidental Passages to a complete and exact fulfilment in the Person, the Work, and the Revelation of the Christ ; supported, as these are, by the singular appropriate ness of " Type " enshrined under symbohc Institu tions or suggested by historic person or event, to THE VALUE OF THE BIBLE 119 that complete realization received in the same connection. 5. Two other features must be further noted as presenting a marked difficulty in the way of explana tion on lines other than that of an acceptance of the distinct claims made in the Sacred Writings, either directly or by imphcation, on behalf of their distinctive and rehable character, viz. — (1) The Psychology of what was not only claimed but recognized as being the normal condi tions and experience of Prophetic exercise, by their singularity ; (2) and the Uterary characteristics (as distinct from the Linguistic peculiarities) of the Biblical Histories, by their verisimilitude. Speculative rationaUsm in every age, aUke in its criticism and reconstruction, has shown itself deficient both in the scientific estimation of evidence and in the knowledge of human nature, and hence incap able of that " historic sense," which alone can appreciate truth in fact, and the proportion of cause and effect in human history. The critical treatment of the Bible is often vitiated by an endeavour to trace the historic development from its source to its culmination. In the extremely complex subjects with which it deals, historic research can only estabhsh a true continuity by working from Maturity to Origin, otherwise the accuracy of any attempt at a state ment of the facts of the case is Uable to be imperitted 120 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH by assumptions and prepossessions introduced through the imaginative hypotheses or logical theories which determine the mode of approach. Anthropology, indeed, consists largely of a speculative reconstruction of what the course of man's development, both physical and social, in civihzation and religion, conceivably may have been, rather than in the detailed statement of what it was, as determined or inferred from strictly scientific investigation. Even when a rigorous procedure is employed in the laudable desire to attain more sure results, there is danger lest it should be forgotten — that to record the emergence into prominence of any given feature, or its first occurrence, is often merely to define more clearly than before the limitations of modern know ledge and the imperfect range of that research upon which it is constrained to rely. Such a foundation, however, evidently affords the most precarious basis from which to argue, and, stitt more evidently, on which to generalize. Moreover, by a curious mental reaction and revulsion from mechanical and uniform processes, there is often even most risk of the erection of wildly reckless theories upon the basis of the most severely restrained methods of investigation and the most precise tabulation of results. It must also be borne in mind, especially in regard to phraseology and hnguistic derivation, that the early stages of civiUzation known to us (whether THE VALUE OF THE BIBLE 121 Oriental or Occidental), were themselves heir to a long antecedent Period, of which they retained the relics and survivals ; so that the use, for example, of words, in many instances, throws no Ught upon any identity of thought in the minds of those who used them with the original ideas attaching to their first uses or embodied in their original derivations. On the other hand, immemorial phraseology is in nothing so hkely to be conserved as in forms serving to express reaUzed feUowship and inter communion betwixt God and man, either in an assurance of revelation received under Divine guidance, or of worship offered under Divine acceptance. Turning to the Book itself — on the face of it, the Old Testament narrative is of extreme interest, for it sets forth an exceptional history, the history — in manifold presentation of a pecuhar people, " pecuhar " ahke by origin and situation, brought out of slavery to become a nation, brought into a strange land — a people that did not grow into a nation, but were set aside as the people of God, severed from all other nations, yet lying in a land destined to fall under the clash of great Empires ; and the situation is represented as working out in a manner at once consistent with its asserted purpose, both in its distinctive influence on the formation of national character and the course of national experience, and in an indestructible sense of privilege 122 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH and mission, paraUeled alone in the Christian Church. It is impossible to understand how such a coherent and uniform representation could arise out of any compUcated aggregation of scattered material, under diverse editing and compilation, at whoUy separate times and influenced by widely different tendencies. But, indeed, the several Bibhcal Histories possess an integral consistency that can only be ascribed as due to unity in the selection of sources and to fideUty of composition — in other words, to origin in singleness of authorship or editorship as the case may be, under a sense of the responsibiUty it involves however much annotation, addition, and expansion, in any case, may have been afterwards endured. It may, indeed, be broadly stated that no Philological analysis of the Old Testament history hitherto attempted can be trusted to have demon strated, much less isolated, the elements of its Structure, or — least of all — determined their respec tive age ; nor can any theory of gradual growth be accepted as having either exhibited the actual development from secular origins of its distinctive features and institutions, or as having traced the fundamental ideas dominating it to a natural source ; nor is it probable that the future will be more successful in explaining that which can ulti mately be ascribed alone to Him " Whose footsteps are not known." THE VALUE OF THE BIBLE 123 The beginning of the Bible story is in close connection with the history to follow. The purpose of Gen. i-xi, as it stands, appears to be that of a Prologue to the History of Israel conceived of as a " chosen people " ; in Christ, it is revealed as the Prologue to the History of Redemp tion. The recital exhibits the Fall of man from the state in which he was created as The Reason giving significance to all that follows. The preliminary statement of the facts of the case, is embodied in a form apparently due to primitive conditions. The ancient Legends of the Semitic race seem to have suppUed the pictorial material for expression. This material is apparently derived from ancient tradition, where such tradition was possible. Such traditions may obviously possess an historic value, as the more or less remembered record of actual events. Together with the traditional memory of striking events — as in the case of the Flood — there is present an element which serves to interpret even although it could not be inferred from the existing order of things. AUegory is much more likely to colour these latter symbohc portrayals and especially the spiritual history of man's fall (Gen. i-iii), although its influence may affect details also in the Traditions. This consideration must not be forgotten in 124 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH deahng with the material taken up to constitute the framework of the beginning of Genesis. It is not necessarily to be supposed that in them there is possessed the exact hteral record of detailed and actual event — whatever view in that respect was held by those who first framed those early narratives. Their true importance rests upon their adequacy for the purpose with which they are employed in Scripture, their broad conformity with the Truth which those Scriptures use them to set forth, emphasize, and convey, and the substantiaUy correct impression and proportion left upon the hearer. The sources of the form may both inevitably and fitly be moulded by its connection with early man, with the limitations thereby imposed. The form itself gains corresponding advan tage ; from a literary point of view, it is " in tone " with that with which it deals, and from a human point of view, it possesses unique adaptation for the representation to universal understanding, in perennial freshness, vividness, and force, of certain statements of reUgious fact — indispensable to the comprehension of those incidents and that narrative of historic fact, to which it forms the prelude and introduction. The Bibhcal narratives are distinguished by a simplicity, a directness, and a dignity, which offer a striking contrast to the extravagant, ridiculous, and grotesque — even sometimes offensive — elements, THE VALUE OF THE BIBLE 125 that are manifest in such ancient attempts at Cosmogony as exist. Throughout this preUminary recital, a general compatibiUty with the knowledge ascertainable from other sources and valuable from other points of view is clearly discernible. Although the con formity is everywhere sufficiently close, yet it is not everywhere equatty striking, but particularly in the description of the several stages of the Creation rises to a remarkable and substantial agreement with the results of modern research, which is all the more notable when recognized as a " by-product." Undesignedly scientific, the imagination does not run grotesquely riot, but keeps a broad correspond ence with the facts of the case as they are of import ance in other relations, and the record is as striking in what it refrains from saying as in what it says. The epic recital of the primary relation of all created things to the Creator, naturally works back ward from the contemplation of creation as it is, in its completeness, and viewed from the standpoint of its consummation — man. Beginning with the two great contrasted cosmic aspects of night and day, always so impressive and suggestive to man, the elemental features of man's habitation are successively enumerated in increasing nearness to man, in sky and sea and dry land clothed with verdure ; an enumeration followed by that of the denizens of each, in Uke order, in their especial aspects of interest or service to man, each 126 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH element emerging into light as morning follows evening, and its dawn adding another stage to the display of the goodness of the whole which God has made. Thus, the setting of " days " of creation, marks its progress rather than defines its periods, and only suggests sequence in a general way and with evident qualifications ; while the " week " of days, culminating in the " Sabbath," vividly gives the sense of the entire satisfaction of the divine purpose in the divine work accomphshed. All creation is subordinate to the interests of man's destiny ; therefore, as in the beginning of the account it is mainly in its bearing upon man's place in it that the rest of nature is regarded, so the sub sequent portion passes without a break to that with which it is solely concerned — the characteristic con ditions of man's lot in the newly created but yet un peopled world, for after a brief mention of how the earth awaited cultivation prior to man's advent, it deals emphatically with his creation as a living soul, his abode and occupation, his interest in the animate creation and his isolation from it, and his need of feUowship, human and divine — by the very famili arity of its anthropomorphic language stressing the fact that man has a certain kinship with God and is capable of intimate feUowship with Him, and in this way leading up to and illuminating the story of his blessedness and fall that follows. From whatever sources derived, there is indissoluble unity with THE VALUE OF THE BIBLE 127 nothing redundant or dispensable in Gen. i-iii, as it stands, a unity as instructive as its substance is remarkable. As the Creation epic sets creation as it is, and as it is to man, in right relation to Him Who created, made, approved, and blessed the whole, so — with similar suggestiveness and equal significance — the story of the Fall does not even touch the origin of evil, but reveals the underlying import of facts with which pondering man cannot at any time help being impressed, viz. the fact of temptation, the easy choice of wrong, and the consciousness of shame, along with " the miseries of this sinful world " as seen in the hard toil of man, the suffering of tender woman, human decay, and death — teaching what these mean and whence they spring. It may be added that the story of the Tower of Babel at the close of the introduction occupies an entirely subordinate position to that enumeration of the known nations of the world according to racial affinity and geographical distribution which it foUows and to which it is appended, tracing as it does, in naive form, but with profound suggestive ness, the fundamental conditions explaining the existence of those diverse nations in their widely severed dwetting-places and the difference of their tongues— and thereby indicating the fundamental principles underlying att possible forms of com munity in social life ; while reference to the migra tions of the peoples fitly serves in turn to introduce 128 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH that Abram who journeying forth at the command of God was to become the Father of the faithful amongst all nations. With the Call of Abraham, History in the form of traditional narrative emerges into light — and in the life of Joseph, the narrative has come to bear throughout, the strongest marks of indebtedness to contemporaneous sources— while with Moses, the beginning of National history as well as existence is established. In their course, traditional Legend, Eponymous narrative and Constitutional origins, Heroic story and Historic Records, follow one another in the natural order and unbroken sequence appropriate to the actual stages of the History they set forth. The absence of direct confirmation for the Early History and development of Israel from external sources, is to be expected from the nature of the case. The Patriarchs as sojourners were Uttle likely to appear noteworthy to those among whom they sojourned or to take a prominent part in their affairs, nor could they exercise a sufficiently pro longed influence to assure enduring remembrance among them. Similarly none outside the circle of Israel were likely to refer to Moses or the legislation of Moses, or to seek to perpetuate the greatness of either or derive from them, in days when all the nations round the chosen people had either feared before THE VALUE OF THE BIBLE 129 Moses and his successors, suffered subjection, or received defeat at their hands. The History of Israel is broadly substantiated by the monuments of Egypt and Assyria as soon as those empires came into sufficiently close contact with the chosen people as a settled community, coherent enough to render peaceful relations desirable, or weak enough for them to glorify their own prowess by victory over it. Indeed the Nation and its Progenitors were alike at all times insignificant as factors in the World's concerns and destitute of influence upon its develop ment, save in those vast spiritual interests and relations for which their very insignificance in other respects gave them freedom, while at the same time marking the signal Distinction of the pre-eminence enjoyed. The Bible exhibits no chronological scheme, nor — confining attention to its beginnings — can such be extracted from the genealogical data of Caps. i-xi, the arrangement of which is obviously artificial, as its ordering in sets of ten sufficiently demonstrates. The early " Chronology " is evidently " unhis- torical," but not therefore valueless. It has been well said (see Turner, art. " Chronology," H.D.B.), " to accept the numbers of the early portion (i.e. of Genesis) as genuine records, is to assume from the Creation of man, a degree of civilization high enough to provide a settled Calendar and a regular registration of births and deaths, as well as the K 130 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH preservation of such records, from the Creation of man to the time of the composition of Genesis." This consideration in itself appears conclusive of the light in which the ascribed ages must be regarded. The value of the numbers as they stand in the Bible is that they have always served to secure to reflective review a sense of perspective in the stages of human Development and a sense of the gradual character of its movement, that would otherwise have been entirely absent. Like much of the Narrative in which they are imbedded, they are " symbohc," part of that Pictorial Apparatus through which the significance of the human Tragedy is so impressively unfolded and brought home to every understanding in every age. Such an indirect appreciation of Numbers appears to have remained congenial to the Jewish mind until the latest period of their National existence, espe- cially in connection with questions of Genealogy. But, indeed, ancient times were universally wont to mark the sense of their own antiquity by similar means. Hence from another point of view, the presence of such numbers in the introductory portion of the Bible, is of value, as pointing to the antiquity of the recital in which they occur — and falls in with other marks of great antiquity conspicuous therein — such as the constant harking back with expansion, THE VALUE OF THE BIBLE 131 the frank subordination of chronological sequence to that of personal interest, and the unhesitating repetition employed where emphasis is required, characteristic of an unliterary but not unskilled writer ; the comparative yet growing flexibility and ease of narrative as the composition proceeds, along with a still somewhat laboured enunciation and arrangement of legal matters when they occur, and the abrupt insertion of genealogy, census, or ordi nance, whenever markedly relevant to the subject, as well as the interest exhibited in such serviceable memories technicce as are provided by them or by the origin of proper names of place or person, and lastly, the commingling of occasional judgments with the historic circumstances from which they arose, as distinct from the exceptional giving of the great body of permanent legislation which makes the account of the stay at Sinai, the constitutional history of Israel as a nation — a mass of material very possibly codified, supplemented, or modified afterwards, but not graduaUy accumulated as with every other people. It is true that all such evidences of ancient workmanship can alone be weighed by a subjective judgment, but such a judgment is, in this case, made with comparative ease and certainty, for there is in early work an inimitable simpUcity, a careful deUcacy and a vivid directness combined with striking lack of mastery over the material, that cannot be imitated afterwards. 132 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH Archaistic copies of archaic features can never dissever themselves from their prolonged inheritance and enriched experience — their reproductions are in no sense " reversions," and cannot conceal the skill, which pohshes while it imitates, and is un able to win back the naive unconsciousness and spontaneous sincerity of absorbed but untrained effort. Indeed, if the literary witness to the great antiquity of the documents is to be rightly and futty esteemed, it must also be borne in mind that ease of verbal diction necessarily precedes ease of documentary composition (even when writing is no longer confined to monumental inscription, but become " free " for current use), and that simpUcity of order and smoothness of Uterary transition is the last result of practised scholarship. In deaUng with the Sacred Writings, it is always necessary to remember that that which tacitly assumes to be veracious record, and bears the appearance of veracity, presents within itself the credentials of its own credibihty, and should always be treated as a true Source of information of the highest importance and value, until its rehabiUty is overthrown by the contradiction of known facts ; for a lack of coincidence or even of correspondence with such facts, is no hindrance to the acceptance of a recital that does not require the confirmation of their support to substantiate its own rehabiUty, although when such confirmation occurs, in THE VALUE OF THE BIBLE 133 combination with the independent statement, there is estabUshed the most assured evidence possible for the possession of substantial truth. The Scriptures are certainly not less worthy of credence than any other available documentary evidence, while their testimony is — with equal certainty — more iUuminating and broadly instruc tive in respect to that with which they deal, than any purely material archaeological evidence conceiv able can be. The Lacuna? of History, as we are able to recon struct it from its material and monumental remains, may be more justly conceived to afford the measure of our ignorance of the Past than serve to impugn the credibihty of those reUcs which that past has left in the shape of documentary evidence, even when these remain otherwise unsupported. But although not required to substantiate the authenticity of documentary material credible in itself, yet archaeological research is able to afford great indirect support to its assumed veracity, when it discloses previously unknown and unsuspected harmonies of correspondence between the facts atteged and a circumstantial setting provided by its own independent investigation. Any such indirect piece of evidence furnishes more than an illustrative example of what might have been, it falls in with the received account, as part of an undivided current — that of the contem poraneous course of hfe as it was. 134 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH The Old Testament History is invaluable as a faithful Record of God's gradual preparation for that Revelation of Himself in Christ, of which the New Testament gives the facts, exhibits the results, and unfolds the meaning. Viewed in its most appeahng aspect, the Bible is a book of entrancing interest, for the study of real hfe is always fascinating, and the Bible achieves the highest aim of aU artistic effort, by holding up the Mirror to Ufe in its most significant and eternal aspects. The Bible transcends all literature in its por trayal of Human Life and its Lessons, it is the Volume of Human Experience in its reUgious bearings — ¦ while, as a Divine Autobiography, its manner is as significant as its matter is subhme, for the Bible displays the Nature of God and reveals His Will through His Works and Ways — yet never encourages curiosity as to the Divine Methods of working or as to the processes of Divine Thought, since it is the Results which God would have men ponder, for the effect upon their own Uves and character. The Bible is an inspired embodiment of the know ledge of God and man, and of all that concerns the Godly Ufe — in which the mystery of Ufe's course receives its fullest interpretation and the deepest springs of spiritual character are made manifest. There is no body of writings hke it, so illuminating, so inspiring, so Divine and so human. The Books afford a whole Literature, wholly THE VALUE OF THE BIBLE 135 unique, for nothing else approaches their amazing combination of subtilty and simplicity, of pro fundity and vividness, of dignity and frankness, or possesses so vast an imaginative range while keeping everywhere so close to actual human interests. The Bible cannot be treated hke any other book or collection of books, for it is unhke all others ; the Bible stands alone, in the truthfulness to hfe of its matter, in wholesomeness of treatment, and in sustained elevation of spirit — a book singularly pure, natural, liberal and gracious ahke in por traiture and address. It is marveUous — because God's Word, full of inspiration from on high. As God breathed into " dead " matter the breath of Ufe and man became a Uving soul, so inspiration brings a quickening, a new vitahty, so that no book is so much alive as the Bible, nor any book so " life-giving." In striking difference from the characteristics of Profane Literature, there is no need in the Bible of a sifting process by which to gather the grains from the chaff. The less worthy parts faU away of themselves so that its Use is marred by no storing up of bad suggestions, false arguments, or confusing assertions, dross that alloys so much of even the best secular work. In it, no alloy is gathered with the gold, though some shines more resplendent in its beauty and glory than the rest. And its Inspiration is a special endowment, for " thus saith the Lord " came often contrary to 136 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH inclination, above natural aptitude, beyond control, without will, or even full understanding. Among the heathen of Antiquity, Oracles such as that of the priestess of the Sun at Delphi, were held in much estimation — dark sayings it might be, but at least filled with insight of the Present and with foresight of the Future, by one possessed of a divine impulse and control, to guide, to warn, and to enUghten. Such a view of Inspiration, so far remains more nearly the truth — and, therefore, more worthy of it, than any alternative attempt to exalt excettent Talent, exceptional Sagacity, or creative Genius, to that dignity. " Inspiration," in its reUgious sense, surpasses by kind and not only in degree all such gifts of God. It reveals with instant authority and impresses with immediate conviction, what we could not otherwise know, but only hope, trust, or imagine. Without it, men would be thrown back upon their own vague thoughts of God, left to their own dim ideas of His purposes, certain only of their own needs, yet uncertain how far those needs can be trusted as pointing to One great and good, and loving enough to satisfy them. With the Bible, all is different ; it makes known the truth about God and the Soul, what hfe is for and whither it tends and the significance of its mortal environment — and not merely tells about these things, but points to the Truth HimseU, to THE VALUE OF THE BIBLE 137 Jesus Christ our Lord, in Whom we have a Saviour, through Whom we draw nigh a Father, and by Whom is sent to us a Divine Friend and Comforter ; in Whose Incarnate Life is perfectly expressed the Divine Nature and the Divine Witt, while through that Incarnate Life has been fully afforded, once for all, the needed Revelation at once of the Divine Dispositions and of the Divine Purpose towards us. Not only so, the Bible also affords a complete equipment for every good work and nothing to unlearn, while it makes perfect provision for every advance in Christian practice and Christian know ledge, and provides an inexhaustible storehouse of truth, power, and devotion, always available to the docile and attentive soul. As with the Sacraments, so due honour is alone paid to the Bible through devout use, and no valuation of its worth is possible, until such use, or apart from it. To sum up — the Bible is not merely a venerable literature, ancient history, or the story of rehgion in olden days, it is the Ught of God on Ufe to-day, and the interpreter of our own religious experience. If Scripture enunciates what we must believe, it is that it may train us how we must live. To the Christian as to Christ, doubtless those portions of the Old Testament will be most dear, in which " the Law, the Prophets, and the other Writings " find their supreme embodiment and most spiritual expression, viz. Deuteronomy, Isaiah, and 138 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH the Psalms, and which at the same time display the most evident testimony to the Lord, as weU as receive the most direct attestation from Him. The Writings of both the Old and New Testament receive their immeasurable value through their testi mony to Christ and to that Will of God which in Him was evidently accomplished and set forth. Much obscurity rests upon the history of their form and the peculiarities of their text ; and their contents leave much unknown that we are curious and perplexed to know concerning this world and the next — but if the Bible is sometimes obscure in its matter, yet even when obscure in its " parts," these are rarely obscure as " wholes," nor is the whole obscure, as a whole — for the Holy Scriptures are never difficult or dark in that which it concerns men most to know, they always fulfil their end " through faith in Jesus Christ," and if they are studied that He may be known, and if it is sought through their aid to grow more like Him, then the Bible is used aright and eternal life is found, not in them, but in Him. For the Bible is One not merely by the con sistency of its several books within themselves and with one another, or through the correspondence of Prophecy and Messianic looking-f orward with actual fulfilment long afterwards — though all this is suffi ciently striking, but it is one, by the indefinable stamp of simple truth, in its living presentation, directness, and unreserved candour ; one, in the THE VALUE OF THE BIBLE 139 consistent as well as constant recognition and exposi tion of a revealed Divine Purpose ; one, in develop ment of the same fundamental ideas of spiritual reUgion and life throughout ; one, in the portrayal of an att-holy, all-wise, and all-loving God ; one, in the gradual ascent to an Incarnate Lord. The Unity of Revelation proceeds from the Unity of its Source ; and its diversity of Presentation, from the manifold manners in which are disclosed the infinite Perfections of that Source. Hence the Bible itself is its own supreme, best, and indispensable Commentary. The practical obscuration of the Bible always leads to stunted growth in spiritual knowledge, experience, and holiness ; to the encroachment of errors and corruptions in faith ; to the decay of the Church and the failure of her Work. As the Holy Eucharist is not least precious to the believing soul, for the personal conviction and spiritual apprehension that it brings, so the Holy Bible constitutes the great Treasure of the Church, since it is the Charter of her Faith and the Warrant of her Hope. An increase, therefore, in the sense of the impor tance of the Church forgetful of her reliance upon the Written Word as the Title of her Existence and the IUumination of her Life, or disregardful of her Witness to and Guardianship of the Bible, is bound to bring about its own swift Nemesis ; for spiritual well-being in the Community, as in the Individual, 140 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH is most surely tested by the Profit and Rehsh that is had of God's most Holy Word. PROPHECY In the Old Testament, as in the New, it is impos sible to discharge or withdraw, either the Miraculous in Act, or that pecuhar form of Miracle-in-Word which is termed Predictive Prophecy, without loss of prevailing character in the web to which they contribute so distinctive and closely interwoven a portion of the pattern, or without endangering the unity of the whole fabric, if not of bringing about its entire dissolution. The Bible, as a whole, is fuU of the Miraculous (as it is everywhere of the exceptional, though not the exceptionable) in one or the other form ; the most minutely-specific and definitely-timed unveil- ings of the Future, near or remote, certainly abound concerning the Chosen People, particular individuals, or the Nations which then constituted the notable world, or which should rise into importance as fundamental factors in shaping the spiritual history of the future. It is impossible to reduce the Foreknowledge of Prophecy to the foresight of Statesmanship, however sagacious or broad in outlook, or to the Insight of Ethical Intuition, however penetrating or profound. It is true, that in their whole activity, the Prophets throw the light of what God eternally is, upon that which temporally happens — and it may even be assumed that it was because God is " the same, yesterday, to-day, and for ever," that they were enabled to lay down both the general principles of His Moral Government and the spiritual aspects of THE VALUE OF THE BIBLE 141 man's Duty— but, though God uses the History of Earth, to unfold the Witt of Heaven, as shown by His dealings with men — and employs the course of things temporal to reveal something of that Life Eternal, which He Himself is — yet the interpretative function of the prophets in respect to this aspect of things did not cover the whole of their Divine mission, nor could any endowment it implied render them able to do more than conjecture even the general future and destiny of that whole realm of change ruled by unchanging God. The most distinctive attribute of " Prophecy " is the precise and perfect foreknowledge which is exhibited in it — and the permanent Religious value of Prophecy Ues in its testimony to the existence and unfailing fulfilment of Divine Purpose — as con firmed by the witness aforetime of the Foreknowledge of God, long prior to the fulfilment by which that Purpose should be accomphshed and displayed. The element of Prediction in the prophets culminates in their testimony to Christ. Even when finding an available starting-point in contemporaneous events, and thus having a subordinate immediate intelUgibiUty— or similarly, when in touch with speedily subsequent circum stances, it is capable through a partial apphcabittty to afford a temporary " sign " for the times — yet such a relation or service remains entirely inadequate to account for or justify a scale of language and a size of conception which only the far-off destined fulfilment proved of character to satisfy. Moreover, Predictive Prophecy as a whole, both in the Old Testament and in the New, exhibits all the signs of a perfectly orderly and highly sig nificant Development — such a course as marks the 142 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH employment of a deliberately adopted, definitely employed, and rationally controlled, Instrument. Biblical Prophecy not only affords a kind of " Philosophy of History," unfolding the significance of critical points in the course of the History of the chosen people and the nations of the world around, it emphasizes the significance of critical points in the progress of God's Redemptive Purpose towards mankind, by anticipating their occurrence or con sequences. The prevalence of Predictive Prophecy especiaUy characterizes the Monarchical period of the history of the Chosen People. Through the period of their National existence, Prophecy developed the significance of its course, and kept alive by this indirect means the Theocratic Idea — The Lord was still King. It effectually impressed the lessons of the Cap tivity upon those who were stttl the chosen people of God ; while it afforded the support to Faith required in that time of prolonged National Abey ance, and sustained the hope of renewed Opportunity to the Elect Nation on its Return. Before its long cessation up to the time of the Forerunner, Prophecy made provision for those who " righteous and devout," should look for the con solation of Israel, watching and waiting for the coming of the Christ, even amid persecution, tribu lation, and changing face of nations. Hence the Prophetic correspondence with the experiences of the Lot and Vicissitude of the dis persed Remnant became peculiarly detailed in its anticipation, for the encouragement, guidance, and confirmation of Faith in those who " reading " should " understand," the signs of the times when THE VALUE OF THE BIBLE 143 these things were come to pass, till the time of the destruction of their Nation and the close of the Mosaic Dispensation, with the fall of Jerusalem. Finally, it must never be forgotten, that the prophetic Writings throughout are designed to serve for the edification of that new City of God, which should arise from the ashes of the old and establish that world-wide Kingdom of God to which belongs also the analogous course of predictive Prophecy in the New Testament, even unto the End of the World — when the sure word of Prophecy shall cease because its work is done and its fulfilment is accomphshed. ESSAY IX RELIGION AND SCIENCE A training even in the rudiments of Science is of extreme value, for its inculcation of order, clarity and impartiaUty in thought ; as weU as for deeply impressing the conviction that in all the greatest subjects of thought, the value of the processes employed in investigation must be checked and the value of the results arrived at determined — i. By consideration of the Postulates assumed prior to inquiry. 2. By critical substantiation of the vaUdity of the Premises employed in argument. 3. By a studied appropriateness in the methods of investigation used to the nature of the material possessed. 4. By regard to the complete range of evidence possible and the estimate of any cumulative force it may exhibit. 5. By refusal to regard as proved results, positions arrived at by logical processes in spheres in which our knowledge is too hmited to supply the assurance of their vahdity. RELIGION AND SCIENCE 145 6. By scrupulous allowance for the " personal equation." 7. By recognition of the provisional character of " working hypotheses." 8. By verification of references where such are involved. 9. By willingness to consider fresh evidence, and correct the statement of results, and their bearing, accordingly. 10. By respect for authority without paralysis to research. It cannot be stated too strongly that, quite apart from its results, Science by the advocacy of "Method" is an inestimable benefactor — not least to Theology — yet this fact should not obscure the hmitations involved in the nature of " Science." Science is ordered knowledge. The facts of Science are the contents of consciousness, whether derived from Nature without or Nature within, so far as they can be apprehended by the intellect as fixed, ordered, settled. Thus, scientific Knowledge is not co-extensive with Personal Consciousness, and is but One form of Knowledge possible to it. Science, then, being the ordered inteUectual apprehension of the Universe, it demands in its Objects (Matter and Mind) a corresponding Reason ableness — a paraUel fitness for rational investigation ; that is to say, Nature must present a rational order, if Nature is to be rationaUy understood. L 146 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH The Postulate of Uniformity is the pre-supposition without which InteUect cannot employ itself upon the Universe. This assumption of the " rational order " of the Universe, this necessary Postulate, without which there can be no " Science " at all, is not based upon the experience of the past — recorded or otherwise, for this could only afford a presumption, not justify a BeUef, nor is it innate prior to experience ; it is based upon the underlying Unity of Man and Nature, in virtue of which man recognizes in growing degree, the correspondence between himself and the external world, a correspondence which renders his ordered thought of it, the interpreter of its order. The Aim of Science is the demonstration of uni versal " Law " in nature, and thus the vindication of its cardinal assumption, namely, that the universe presents to the human mind, the spectacle not of chance-medley, but of an order conformable to the thinking faculty — a Unity. Towards this end, the estabhshment of the " laws of Nature " or " natural laws " is contributory ; for a natural " law " is the statement of an ordered succession in phenomena, ascertainable by observa tion and experiment, which commends itself to the human mind in such a manner that it is invested with the attributes of UniversaUty, Uniformity, and InvariabiUty. The Objects of Science are threefold, viz. — i. Matter, or rather those properties of it RELIGION AND SCIENCE 147 evidenced by phenomena presented to sense. 2. Mind, or rather those properties of it evidenced by phenomena presented to the inward sense, that is to say, the contents of self- consciousness. (On the existence of these depends the possibihty of " Observation.") 3. Energy, or the " capacity for work," that is for becoming. (On the existence of this depends the possibiUty of " Experiment.") Science tends to a beUef in two great Principles, viz. — 1. The Constancy of the Cosmos. (This principle taken alone, is favour able to Materialism as apphed to Matter, and to Determinism as appUed to Mind.) 2. The Conservation of Energy. (This principle taken alone, is favour able to Pantheism.) Science tends to a behef in these two great Principles, because these would reduce to a stable Unity— to the simplest Systemic Order, those elements, which strictly speaking, it is alone able to recognize as constituting the Cosmos. Of the nature of Matter, Mind, and Energy, in themselves, Science is profoundly and necessarily ignorant. Science can know nothing of " Substance," or of 148 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH " Force " in the sense of a Principle that works, i.e. of Power as a cause. Moreover Science is entirely ignorant as to the nature of Space and Time, the inahenable Conditions of its exercise. Matter, Mind, Energy, Space and Time, are assumed to Be — because " knowledge " is un thinkable without them ; themselves incapable of definition, they furnish aU that is definable, and terms in which to define it. In a word, there is a Metaphysical background to Science, which does not cease to be a necessity, even if its existence be ignored or its necessity denied. For Science is not exhaustive of all possible knowledge. There is a Knowledge Why, as well as a Know ledge What ; a Knowledge of Purpose as weU as a Knowledge of Uniformity ; a Knowledge of what is, as weU as a Knowledge of what appears and obtains. The Limitations of Science are well exhibited by its treatment of " Force." Science can properly deal with " force " only as an observed phenomenon, i.e. as a measurable action upon a body affecting its position ; and its relation to other bodies, thereby, as a configurate system. In other words, Science states certain Effects, such as, that a given force is always proportionate to the acceleration imparted by its action to a given mass ; which acceleration will increase or diminish RELIGION AND SCIENCE 149 in inverse proportion to the quantity of matter acted upon — without entering into the question as to any Cause or Influence conceived of as producing that effect of displacement. It states in fact what obtains, not why it obtains ; and the statement of what obtains, constitutes a natural " law." For Force is not a physical entity, and can only be measured in terms of motion produced upon a quantity of matter, as exhibited by a change of configuration in any given system — so that the formulation of a Natural Law is wholly severed from any connection with force in itself; that is, from Force that Is as distinct from Force that Does. Yet it is constantly the case, that such a Law is itself endowed with the foreign attribute of Potency, as if it were causal in itself. This error is due to the illegitimate confusion between Science and its metaphysical basis, and a hke retribution is consequent on every violation of the limitations of Science. Observation and Experiment, and the Postulates, or so-catted " principles " of Science in the realm of Mind and Matter, cannot touch the realm of Personahty (Theology), or the realm of Being (Meta physics). Even if exhaustive, Science can only know pheno mena ; there are correlated realms to which it has no access. The so-called Scientific Method, is only the Rational Method, common to the attainment of all 150 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH knowledge, appUed with a restricted aim in a limited sphere. Science records and systematizes ; it explains nothing, determines nothing, in any ultimate sense. Revelation alone can do this ; and Theology is the appUcation of the Scientific Method to the systematization of its disclosures. Scientific Explanation is the resolution of co ordinate or successive phenomena into co-ordinate or successive antecedents, the ultimate nature, basis, and cause of which remains unknown ; and Scientific Finality can only afford Unification into a pheno menal System, the principle of unity of which is still undetermined. Natural Science can only deal with the surface of the Universe ; it cannot know true Substance, basal Unity, absolute Being. It is in its Analysis, that Science is strong ; on its constructive side, the " personal equation " and the imaginative hypothesis cause a passage out of the true Scientific realm, into that of the Practical and Philosophical, or judicial and speculative realms. The Facts of Science are the " facts " of sense ; the Certainties of Science are the facts of sense, so far as they are rationally perceived, relatively under stood, and quantitatively estimated. In a word, the sphere of Science is the sphere of phenomenal relations and conditions ; just as the sphere of Philosophy is the sphere of real being and RELIGION AND SCIENCE 151 the absolute ; and the sphere of Theology is personal being — God and the Soul. Natural Science is, therefore, essentially quantita tive ; Theology essentially quahtative in its estima tions. The Charm of Science Ues in its hypotheses, not in its facts ; while the daringness of its Speculations, the remorselessness of its Procedure, the profundity of its Ignorances and the excitement of its uncertain ties, supply an ample field for gratification of the Imagination, pride of Intellect, stimulation of Spirit, and enthusiasm of Action — coupled as these are, with the lower yet real attractions, of the rapidity of its progress (often in unexpected directions), and the obvious usefulness of many of its appUcations to increase of comfort, the convenience of ordered physical well-being, and advance in the social arrangements of civiUzation, traffic, and trade. PRAYER " God " has always been prayed to, yet diffi culties have often been raised as to the reasonable ness of prayer. They centre in our extended vision of the " reign of law." It is so easy to regard " law " as something outside mind ; something external like human legislation; so simple to regard law as a necessity imposed on matter, or as a result of the material constitution of the universe, that no room seems 152 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH left for " interpositions " of a personal providence or absolute answers to definite prayers. By thinking in either of these ways men do undoubtedly arrive at a belief in necessity, or Fate ruling over att ; having like the Greeks of old set fate behind the throne of Zeus, if not upon the throne of an ejected God. It needs to be remembered that " law " has no existence save an ideal one, that it is we who have an " idea " of Law. In nature, as Nature, nothing is traceable but succession, " all things fleet," as the ancient phtto- sopher concluded from his observation of the face of all things. It is only when we view nature with reflection, and scrutinize it with thought, that we are brought to see the realm of Law extending everywhere. It is because, exercising man's divine prerogative of ruling, as well as naming every creature, — it is because we bring the appearances of Nature under our mind's sovereignty, that we read first of all, forces like our own will, working throughout the universe and imparting movement to its inert mass, and then see, as it were, that universe, so quickened from the dead, become plastic — a great organism capable of developing after its kind and existing in ordered ways, by virtue of the law which rules within us. We bring all things under subjection to law, because we ourselves are under the highest of all law — the law of righteousness, the law of likeness to God, " Whose service is perfect freedom." This being the case, we can view the universe as " under law," not because it is a strange self -existing machine, a substitute for our idea of God, but because RELIGION AND SCIENCE 153 it is under "law" as present in the thought of God ; that God, Who is " over all and through all and in all," immanent in Creation, and " in Whom " is " Life " and all true " Being." Thus, " law " becomes, as apprehended by us, the partial expression of a perfect Nature, an infinite Wisdom, an almighty Power ; and if it is permissible with reverence to speak of " God's Character " (when all other character is marked by its imperfec tion, and This is the sum of aU perfection), then the laws observed in Creation, form indications, so far as they go, of the Character of Him " with Whom is no variableness nor shadow of turning." Thus, it is possible to confront the Reign of Law in Creation, not only without dismay, but even with complacency; for a passage has been secured from the realm of Things, concerning which in themselves we can know nothing, to the realm of Persons concerning which we can know much, and it becomes possible to give weight to the thought — of how vividly we realize, day by day, the difficulty we have in understanding more than the main and leading lines of character, even in those most familiar and best known to us — we can remember, how difficult it is from what we know, to calculate the nature of their response to our appeals, though this conviction never hinders our making such, in practical inter course or urgent emergency ; nor, it may be added, is our confidence misplaced — for most often " the event justifies the action." How much more must this be true of God, Whose Nature is infinite ; even accepting the knowledge He has vouchsafed of Himself in Revelation ! Certainly, the Laws of Nature as we know them, may and do reveal somewhat of what God is — they 154 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH can neither exhaust His Being, nor paralyze His Will. To those who confess One God — the " all- sovereign," the probability that prayer may be answered is unmistakably great, even though the obscurity of How God can and whether He Will answer prayer, remains as great as before — hence, a conviction which has ever swayed men with the force of a certainty, and they have beheved, at least, in a God who hears prayer, if they have been uncertain whether He would answer. But, if God is indeed our Father and we are His Children — capable of becoming " partakers of the Divine nature," then, a spiritual Tie between our selves and God, predicates fellowship with Him ; and Prayer becomes " natural " to those who have a moral claim on Him, as He has a moral Rule over them. When we confess the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord, we pass from conjecture to certainty — the certainty, not of reason but of Faith ; estabUshed upon His assured promise, " whatsoever ye shaU ask the Father in My Name, He will give it you." Believing in Him is the best ground for beheving Him ; and belief gives assurance that Prayer is never in vain, while manifold experience witnesses to its answers. For the Christian, there can be no question in the matter, no difficulty in Prayer, although much obscurity about it. MIRACLES The prepossession against Miracle is largely founded upon the postulate of the " Uniformity of Nature." RELIGION AND SCIENCE 155 This is a true principle, but finite knowledge is apt to apply it too partially — by identifying the range of known uniformities in Nature, with the unknown Uniformity of Nature. The beginning of the Universe, the beginning of Life, the beginning of Man, the beginning of Christ- Ufe in the world — aU these mark the evolution of an old " order," it may be ; they undoubtedly, mark each the incoming of a new uniformity, involve a new science and necessitate a new conception of what the principle of uniformity includes. This consideration is sufficiently clear, even apart from reflection upon such problems as are afforded, for instance, by the existence and incidence of Genius, to say nothing of the asserted occurrence of Inspiration. The denial of Miracle arises less from a keen-felt want of evidence than from a deep-seated prejudice, narrow in view, powerful in influence and very human — but equally remote from the scientific spirit which seeks to guard the effects of bias on judgment, as ahen to that rational investigation which exhausts every factor in a problem and gives to each due weight. Take, for instance, the crucial Miracle of all, that of the Resurrection of our Lord ; in this case, the evidence of testimony is remarkably full and im pressive, yet it is manifestly impossible to confine the " evidence " for the Resurrection to the record of the appearances of the Risen Lord, or to gauge its value, or their UkeUhood, in isolation ; although the veracity of these accounts, and their worth as testimony to the actual occurrence of an Historic Fact, is strongly confirmed by the spiritual corre spondence their recitals exhibit, when taken as a 156 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH whole and in detail — between that which they narrate, and the conceivable nature of the case, and the apparent needs of the individuals to whom they were severally made. There can be no question how greatly they gain in evidential force, striking naturalness, and coherent completeness, when thus viewed. But the problem appears much more complex, and its evidence more subtle and dependent for its conclusive character on the cumulative support and the convergent agreement of a manifold approach. The " evidence " — in its narrowest sense — for the Resurrection, seems related to the conviction of its truth, in a way to some extent analogous to that in which the so-called " proofs " of the existence of God confirm a behef in Him. That conviction rests ultimately on the recogni tion of the personal appeal the Divine Personahty makes to a complete and normal human personaUty in us. The Person of Christ, as presented in the Gospels, has a Divine distinction which makes the Resurrec tion antecedently probable ; and the place which It holds in the spiritual development of History, renders such inevitable. Moreover, the mystical experience of the beUever, in the Communion of his Lord, reveals the truth of the permanence of that Life, in the perfection of its Humanity and in correspondence with the full needs of our own body and soul. An " agnostic " approach, as if dealing with a matter of inteUect alone, is quite impossible in this matter — for the whole problem is inevitably coloured by the presuppositions of a Ufetime and the pre dispositions of a character moulded upon them. RELIGION AND SCIENCE 157 Unbehever and beUever aUke, recognize Law and acknowledge Order in the universe; but, in the outlook of the Behever, Law is more inclusive and Order more profound. In " laws " the believer sees the Sacraments of the Thoughts of God ; in the highest " order " of aU things, the Will of God ; and thus, in the sum of all things, so existing and related, the trustworthy though partial testimony to that Divine Nature which the mind and will of God express. Hence, the confidence of the behever, that an Eternal order shall be manifested and a Supreme law known, at the coming of the Son of Man, Whose coming shall be the Consummation of the Universe which He first created and still sustains and rules, that God " may be all in all." Nature seems to afford no room for a personal providence, when viewed merely as God's Creation, it needs to be viewed as God's " Creature " also ; it is not only the Realm of Order, it is an ordered Realm also. In Miracles, God transcends the Uniformity of Nature as we know it. He does not violate the order of Nature as it is, but reveals more clearly to man's aroused attention, an underlying, a Moral Unifor mity, — His Will, penetrating, swaying, sustaining and controUing all. Miracles are essentially Spiritual Crises, dominat ing, transcending and illuminating the physical conditions amid which they emerge, and through which they are manifested ; and as such they involve " action " which is wholly " natural," make manifest Good and Evil, and reveal God and man — with the utmost vividness, lucidity, and truth. The objection to Miracle is based only on Physical, 158 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH as contrasted with Ethical, considerations ; whereas all that is truly " natural " is really moral also. The Laws of Nature, as the Laws of God, must have a moral aspect and working. The possibihty of Miracles arises with a Personal God having Will ; since, even man has dominion over nature by virtue of the Lordship of an indomitable and free will. The probabihty of Miracles springs from God having a moral Nature — a Personahty so far hke man's. When it is remembered that man, through his free will, has Choice between good and evil ; that his Exercise of choice has led to distortion of nature within and disorder in nature without ; and that there is ever a moral Relation between God and man, and not merely the power of a moral Law over man, Miracles become most probable. Indeed if God Is, aiid is Love, Miracles become credible antecedently to experience. The pecuhar Moral Fitness of the Gospel Miracles, make their simple, careful study, the best argument for their occurrence. They solve hfe, as they could never do, if they dissolved nature. But the moral element in Miracles, involves appeal to a moral sense — a spiritual Insight, which needs quickening in man, and which may be absent or deficient ; for spiritual Vision is the gift of God, and to dwell in darkness atrophies the sight. The evolution of the Miraculous in Revelation seems to confirm the view of their moral, their essen tially moral, office and character, and we naturally find those Miracles most difficult to accept, whose significance is most remote from the stage of religious RELIGION AND SCIENCE 159 development that we ourselves have been led to attain, and their evidence correspondingly ahen and obscure, imperfect and inconclusive. But, even when positive affirmation of their truth is suspended for lack of decisive evidence, such instances win the Umited assent due to the acceptance of a body of better accredited miracle with which they appear to have more or less close association ; an assent, provisional in proportion to the degree to which such a connection is apparent and by which their spiritual purpose and meaning is rendered inteUigible. Even the scanty and sporadic Miracles of the Old Testament, if " wonders," are yet instructive wonders to the childhood of a Nation and a Faith ; besides their frequent office of forwarding the temporal estabhshment of both, for the carrying out of the ultimate purposes of God in Revelation and Redemption. That no line is drawn between those exceptional coincidences whose laws we know — apart from their providential incidence, and those Miracles, the out come of Laws of which we are stiU ignorant — was appropriate to times when an equally direct Divine significance, sanction and source would be ascribed to each, and understood through either. Largely providential or disciphnary, they served their end — calUng attention to God's WiU, reveaUng God's government and the law of His Purpose more and more. The Miracles of the New Testament are " educa tive " stitt in Ufe's meaning, but are " signs " for a more mature appreciation and a more trained experience to grasp under a more advanced spiritual culture. 160 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH Gospel Miracles are not only Marvels, not even only Signs, they are rather marvellous and significant " Works " by which God in Christ is manifested — the Lord of Nature, the Lover of man, and the Redeemer from physical and moral evil. The Gospel Miracles especially deal with Sin, in type and antitype, and with its fruit of suffering and death. They are characteristically works of HeaUng — remedial also, in Life's Problems ; not by dispelUng the obscurity that hangs over their presence, but by bringing Life to light amid them and by giving the Hope of Immortahty beyond them. The Gospel Miracles are evidential, in the highest sense, of Divine and Human Personality — the works of Eternal Life, in and unto Eternal Life. The Incarnation and the Resurrection sum up att these elements and display them in their greatest fulness and power. After the Resurrection, Miracles grow especiaUy personal, of direct spiritual appeal and of immediately inward operation. The revolution in St. Paul's case affords a stupen dous witness to the truth of Miracle and its spiritual relations ; henceforth he and we alike must walk as seeing Him Who is invisible ; or else, hke those with him, see in Miracles only Marvels, incredible Prodigies and superstitious Stumbhng-blocks. Conversion by the Word ; vivification by life- giving and life-sustaining Sacraments ; the Existence, Preservation and Growth of the Church ; the whole working to spiritual ends — these are the Miracles of Grace to-day. RELIGION AND SCIENCE 161 THE DIFFICULTIES OF FAITH The so-called " difficulties of faith " are not really difficulties to faith at all, but rather obscurities which are bitterly resented by the intellect — forgetful, both of the scale of things and of its profound ignorance in respect to them, and also of its actual finite capacity to understand. Moreover, imagination unconsciously fills the blanks in our knowledge with its own creations and then shrinks from the evasive and exaggerated terrors with which it has itself peopled the void. Faith, while fully conscious of these human limitations and certainly unable to ignore the pain and distress they occasion, yet is able to leave aside the unknown to the almighty, all-wise, and aU- loving care of that God Whom it neither doubts nor distrusts. That behef in God which is necessary to render Ufe intettigible to the mind, also renders its contem plation endurable to the heart. The real and — in present conditions and with present capacities — insoluble problems which burden even the beUever are those which arise from the seeming clash of the Divine order and purpose in the " over-lap " of Nature and Grace. The chief weight of these problems is felt — I. In the apparently indiscriminate and often seemingly useless incidence of suffering — even while it is fully recognized, not only how much suffering is directly due to man's own initiative, caused, introduced and hazarded of his own motion and at his own risk ; but also that love and wisdom may have imposed a voluntary self-limitation upon the power of the Creator, in a Creation that shall be M 162 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH sufficiently intelligible to the Umited understanding of such a being as man is and adapted for the com plete range and exercise of his capacities. Moreover, it can at least be said that pain and suffering are, in a general way, of obvious service — as monitory of unrealized perils, as corrective moral disciphne, or as retributive (cf. apparently sundry diseases contributing to senile decay), and hence indirectly corrective ; while, beside their further indirect but evident value as ennobling seU-sacrifice and heroism, and in catting forth thoughtfulness, sympathy, and unselfishness — they largely conduce in a direct manner to the formation, elevation, and mellowing of character, training in fortitude and patience, teaching sobriety of outlook and gravity of judgment, as well as instilling kindliness and gratitude towards man and devotion and dependence towards God. 2. From the practical discrepancy between the inherited importunities and the imperious claims of that " Sex " which is the formative and central principle of organic Ufe and the apparent disregard by ReUgion of the insistent difficulties which attend the inception of its maturity under the actual conditions of human hfe, as well as of the magnitude of those hindrances to its legitimate sway which attend the course of social organization under advanc ing civihzation, with aU their distressing, deplorable, and disastrous consequences of wrong-doing, degrada tion, and misery, — it nevertheless being firmly held meanwhile, that ReUgion lays down and forwards those true principles which alone can temporally influence and eventuaUy ameUorate the situation. But it must not be forgotten in this connection that even biological evidence deeply emphasizes the RELIGION AND SCIENCE 163 fact that, in correspondence with man's enlarged psychical, social, and moral capacity, sex in man is uphfted far above the instinctive appetite of the brute, and receives an ethical refinement through modesty and passion. Even the primary sexual characters are sharply distinguished from those obtaining in the highest order of the zoological kingdom beneath, markedly distinct anatomical features, rendering on the one part, the discharge of function more dependent upon emotion and less mechanical; and on the other, providing an indication of virginity of the highest significance to personal chastity and in the family — and social — relationships. Equally novel physiological conditions, promote a monogamic and permanent companionship for mutual society, help and comfort, while securing such periodic isolation as shall renew passion, promote habitual temperance, and reduce the chances of possible exhaustion in both sexes — this seclusion being under circumstances which call forth a tender ness and impress a consideration, similar in character though less in intensity to those excited by the great pain and peril of childbirth, and therefore of far- reaching moral benefit. Finally, the naturally erect carriage of the human frame, not only displays the beauty of womanhood, but clothes it with modesty ; and the same influences attach to the corresponding human characteristic of reaUzed union. All these pecuharities are the more notable, since inexphcable without reference to the dominance of the psychical and moral elements in the aspect sex wears for man. 3. Through the large inheritance and profound 164 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH inertia of individual character, dispositions and behefs, although this obviously has a value in the conservation of that which is good. Faith, fuUy conscious of these problems, yet triumphs, knowing well that all that can be urged as difficulties against itseU is as nothing in comparison to the overwhelming difficulties against itself which beset unbehef as soon as it endeavours seriously to justify its existence and demonstrate its claims to acceptance by man — being such as he is, in a world such as this is. No difficulties to faith can arise from Science itself — for Science, by the dehberate abstraction which renders its pursuit possible and by the voluntary abnegation which renders its exercise efficient, must necessarily remain content to state the conditions which relate antecedent and consequent ; and process in development can never explain or affect the signifi cance of the results as we know them — whether general or detailed — whatever range evolution may ultimately be found to have had within the realm of life and whatever factors may have conditioned its course. Hence the believer need experience no difficulty in face of any doctrine of evolution that is not based upon philosophical presuppositions antagonistic to belief, nor illegitimately appropriated as their instrument. When the instinctive movement of the mind finds refreshing change of attitude in fixing its attention upon the becoming rather than upon the being of things, this standpoint of evolution will certainly remain attractive even after any supposition which has commended its adoption is seen to be evidently inadequate to justify it. RELIGION AND SCIENCE 165 For the conception of evolution affords a useful working hypothesis, so long as it is regarded as an aid to the interrogation of nature, a fruitful way of looking at things, if not the only way ; a suggestive interpretation of the significance of facts that con tinues to do its work so long as it changes in response to the reaction consequent upon a more exact appreciation of them. That such an outlook suggests and commends itself to the student of morphology rather than to the physiologist is not without drawback. For the morphologist is perhaps not unlikely to fail in appreciating the full significance of such a conception as that of " species," and to tend to regard " type " as a purely abstract conception which requires explanation, say as the structural witness to kinship by descent, rather than as that source of explanation which it is to the biologist, when viewed as the rhythm of growth determined by the physiological constitution of the organism. The serial arrangement of forms is obviously no proof of their genetic connection or descent, although it may suggest such an explanation of its possibility, and far too Uttle is known about the physiological conditions controlling, influencing, and attending heredity, growth, and structural elaboration, to dogmatize upon the meaning of sequences of event or correlations of parts in which these play an un known but not therefore negligible part. The same caution appears to be required in dealing with this matter as certainly exists in approaching the problem of the inheritance of acquired characters, in which any conception of the isolation of the germinal cell from its somatic carrier is at once checked by the consideration of their prolonged and 166 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH intimate association at least throughout the highly plastic and sensitive period antecedent to maturity ; while in presence of the elaboration of any given cell form, it is impossible to forget that such affords the instrument of living substance rather than the boundary of its activity : — the unity of the organism underlying att structure and all function, and the source of that unity being the life which evades all research yet controls all change, development, and growth. More particularly — it is evident that to construe organs as " rudimentary " or " atrophied," or to derive general likeness, at any stage of growth from common descent, or to ascribe homologies to the same source, is to put a theoretical construction upon the analogy or homology perceived ; the demonstration that the theory is correct or even adequate is much more difficult. The vast diversity of living forms and the com plexity of their relations admits of no simple explana tion by any single principle or set of principles, but can be partiaUy understood when viewed under different aspects, from different points of view — as is indeed the case with that whole universe of which they form a part. As the result of such a survey, it becomes more and more evident that, as has been finely said, " The ' ordained becoming ' of organisms, the beUef in ' final causes,' the evident realization in Nature of ' Divine prototypal ideas,' and the facts that the physiological phenomena of each living being are the result of an immanent and indivisible force " (or factor) " dominating it, will not only be justified but recognized as necessary truths." RELIGION AND SCIENCE 167 Nor is it in the least improbable that the crude phraseology of Paley's " Natural Theology " may soon be found more easily adjusted, and lesshindrance to the understanding of nature than crude specula tions which for a time obscured its permanent and substantial value. A premature endeavour to account for wide ranges of facts under a connected scheme, rather than to ascertain wide ranges of connected fact, combined with an inadequate appreciation of the metaphysical conditions involved and with a rash confidence as to what was attainable — led to the latter half of the nineteenth century being given over to the formulation and enunciation of a vast amount of hasty generalization on many subjects, which derives such value as it possesses from the application of sceptical investigation to its statements — this, yielding on the one hand, a residue of established data, and on the other, serving to display the vast- ness of our ignorance, the fragmentary nature and imperfect connection of the information possessed, and the desirability of ascertaining as completely, as fully and as far as possible, the actual facts on any of the innumerable specific points involved — and in this way guiding investigation, while, by the isolation of problems, rendering detailed attack possible under the suggestions of verifiable conjecture. There can be no doubt that the elaboration and promulgation of the evolution hypothesis, acting as it did upon the unbalanced enthusiasm of immature studies dazzled by the wonder of new worlds opening before them, resulted in the putting back of the chronometer of scientific progress, and to a still more serious difficulty in ascertaining the actual position attained, — of which the Present is only now becoming 168 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH conscious and hardly yet able to recognize the amount of check received, or to allow for its disturbing influence. Sedgwick's criticism has still its appUcation and necessity, and its searching chaUenge remains un answered and unanswerable : — " Many . . . wide conclusions are based upon assumptions which can neither be proved nor disproved, why then express them in the language and arrangement of philoso phical induction ? " But his noble conclusion remains even more significant and helpful, as well as more inspiring : — " It is in the conscious glory of organic science that it does through final causes link material and moral ; and yet does not attow us to mingle them in our first conception of laws and our classification of such laws, whether we consider one side of nature or the other." In the Schools, Science like Art constantly tends to become divorced from Nature. The aim and result of a mechanical interpretation of the universe is to express all that is and all that happens in terms of matter and motion and quantities that are functions of motion or position — the notion of matter being reduced to that of inertness subjected to motion or destitute of it, lest any reaction should introduce complication — and motions being measurable ; while the conception of the universe as a closed dynamical system is no less conventional. All that can be thus obtained is uniform statement in terms of a convenient conceptual shorthand. We can only deal with Nature by subsuming its inexhaustible variety under serviceable uniformities. The discursive intellect of man is efficient to deal with information from nature in such a way as to enable us to acquire a more or less comprehensive and coherent appreciation of its aspect, and to translate its changes of aspect into such approximately accurate terms of quantitative relation as best enable us to apply our apprehension of them to purposes of practical utility. On the other hand, the implications of Nature are alone intelligible to our personality. Our appreciation of the real unity of nature is derived from the RELIGION AND SCIENCE 169 characteristics of our own real unity or personality— anything corresponding to which must underlie Nature as appearance. As a matter of fact, the one aspect of organic nature we can understand is its teleological aspect — Nature observed as dominated by an inner law of development; while the prevail ing impression is one of stability, — since the adaptation of organisms as observed is the expression of their actual relations, and need not be interpreted at all as the outcome of their moulding to the conditions of their life, and the balance of life is much more evident than the struggle for existence, except where disturbed by man ; while adapti veness so far as manifested takes the form of constitutional resilience, physiological com pensation, or structural regeneration, conservative of the normality of organisms as existing rather than of readjustment in the way of change. The true function of natural science is the description, the accumulation, of the results of observation and experiment, and the statement of those results in ever more and more inclusive and comprehensive terms. The interpretation of these inductive generalizations does not belong to Science but to Philosophy, and Philosophy itself cannot fail to be profoundly affected in its turn by Religion. ESSAY X CHRISTIANITY AND PHILOSOPHY If Philosophy is regarded as providing anything more than an efficient exercise for the cultivation of the mental powers, or as implying more than any mere examination into the processes of mind and of reasoning, it becomes at once apparent that it concerns itself with investigations and inquiries of the most serious import possible to man. For Philosophy seeks to pierce, through the outward play and movement evident in all that appears, to those underlying causes which are beneath the ever-changing surface and afford it explanation. Nor does Philosophy only seek to sound the restless sea of change until it attains the repose of deeps that he below ; it desires, even more keenly, to fathom knowledge of the things that reaUy are, and lay the foundations of Ufe upon the rockbed itself of understanding. To this research, therefore, Philosophy devotes all the combined wealth provided by funds of internal reason, external experience, and personal CHRISTIANITY AND PHILOSOPHY 171 intuition ; drawing on all, since to rely on internal reason alone leads to rationaUsm, dependence on external experience alone, to materiaUsm, and trust in personal intuition alone to mysticism — and all alike speU failure. Indeed the risks of failure are so many and the hazard of failure is so great, that there is much to deter, in what seems the rash challenge to set forth upon an exploration that assays at once the most vast and trackless field open to human inquiry. Yet the attempted survey attracts with a perennial fascination ; only it may seem to en cumber the paths of human progress with the ruins of futile, and the vestiges of effete, systems. But indeed the name itself of Philosophy — the " Love of Wisdom," not only points to an ideal temper, it also holds before man the most tempting of rewards, and certainly if its practical aspects — as " The History of Speculative Opinion," and " The Expression of Points-of-View," be presented to the mind, there is an intensely human appeal in the record of how individual men have looked at Ufe and what they have thought it meant ; and an heroic audacity of adventure about each attempt to form a complete and connected System of the Universe, that shaU provide a perfect and entire comprehension of it under terms of the intellect, and reveal at once What is and the Whole it is. Moreover, the benefits of Philosophy in relation to Faith are great and must not be overlooked, 172 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH most evidently and especially, its assertion of the dignity of mind. The inextinguishable persistence and power of Philosophy by the mere fact of its Existence, is a constant protest against the en croaching, insistent — and sometimes — overweening claim that Physics is our only true Wisdom, and that material Phenomena are the sole objects of positive knowledge. Nor is this its only or chief service in this direction, for by dwelhng on the immaterial side of man's life, it brings forward strongly what Science may forget — the importance of four Facts and of four Factors that they involve : — viz. the fact of con sciousness and the " Ego," the fact of memory x and personal " identity," the fact of the sense of guilt and Conscience, the fact of the conviction of free wiU and " ResponsibiUty." Nor must another service of Philosophy to Faith be forgotten. By a strange yet true paradox the very ambition that seems so presumptuous in its aspirations and so reckless in its disregard of those finite limitations of human powers against which it so constantly shatters its reputation — causes Philosophy by these very results, to point out the futiUty of reason " to satisfy itself," and to emphasize with singular impressiveness, how unable the Reason alone is, to afford or to construct a stable basis for morals, reUgion, or for Ufe ; while at the same time to deeper reflection, Philosophy is seen to be but unveiling CHRISTIANITY AND PHILOSOPHY 173 the " mystery of Ufe," and teaching patient accept ance of it ; and to the Christian, revealing how close to us — how in us and about us, hes the un fathomable ocean of the " unknown God," Whom reUgion teaches us to know and love, to adore and to obey. The perils of Philosophy in relation to Faith are no less obvious. They arise from the fact that the Supremacy of the inteUect becomes the suicide of " reason " ; a " reason " which is needed for the more confirma tion in Faith. Speculation appears so vague, arbitrary and changeable ; yet so far-reaching and positive ; that its unsettlements seem to leave no stable ground for faith or practice. It is forgotten that inteUect is only part of man, and that it is neither man's highest power to reason, nor his chiefest function to think ; but to be and to love, to beheve in and to hope, to worship and to serve. It is forgotten, also, that InteUect is dimmed, and Reason (the exercise of inteUect) is distorted, by sin ; and that the InteUect is not the perfect or sufficient Organ, nor Reason the perfect or sufficient Instrument, of Knowledge. Just as too much may be expected from Philo sophy, so too much may be demanded from Philosophy, in directions from which it should not be looked for. Philosophy is not Science, nor Wisdom : it is 174 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH the quest to know, the search after wisdom ; in a word, " speculation." Philosophy is the speculative determination of Being, the speculative Unification of being. Not satisfied to ask merely what obtains, and how is it ordered ; it must perforce inquire, whence is it, and to what end ? In a word, Philosophy asks in respect to anything with which it is concerned, What does it mean ? — that is to say, what is it ? what causes it ? what Umits it ? what is its end ? Philosophy then differs from Science in the nature of the queries it suggests and strives to answer ; and the difference extends equaUy to Method ; for each employs its own distinct Instruments and Processes. A profound contrast exists between Philosophy and even those branches of Science with which it is most closely and necessarily associated. Philosophy proper, speculates on sources, signi ficance, scope and nature, of the contents of mind : using as its subtlest instruments, that intuition of consciousness which comprehends truth presented to contemplation, and that insight of recognition which apprehends truth suggested to reflection ; and its processes are those of reasoned deduction. Mental and Moral Science, on the other hand, study the analysis, determination and relation of those operations of mind with which they are con cerned ; using as instruments, the exposition of CHRISTIANITY AND PHILOSOPHY 175 introspection and the observation of experience ; and their processes are those of reasoned induction. Hence these Sciences serve mainly for the col lection of facts and their arrangement, as with Psychology ; or for utilitarian purposes, as with Moral Science, — since Moral Science is simply the Rule for Conduct derived from experience, to attain ends seemingly desirable to man, namely, the happiness or perfection of himself or others or all. Philosophy is closely connected with the above Sciences by the very nature of its primary Problem and Aim — and hence starts encumbered with similar imitations. The primary Problem of Philosophy is to ascertain the source and character of human knowledge ; and its primary Aim is therefore " sett-knowledge," that is to say, the intellectual apprehension of the Contents of consciousness and their significance — their distinction (Analysis), their attributes (Deter mination), their relations (Systematization) ; though necessarily first undertaken, are only processes and means to this end. Philosophy unaided can, however, only deal with and never transcend this latter knowledge. Hence it ends by a barren classification or an artificial unification unless illumined from above. It is so illumined, by Intuitive MoraUty — the moral sense of tightness, beauty, and goodness ; through conscience ; and by Revealed ReUgion. For not only do these afford the fundamentals of 176 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH Ethics and ReUgion, — even Speculation must rest upon the confidence that God is veracious and wiU not mislead, since the evolution of logicaUy developed and therefore logically satisfactory schemes of reasoning, or such based upon logical abstractions, principles, or distinctions — however carefuUy ad justed to harmonize with the results of observation and experiment so far as such are possible, or to derive support from them — cannot compare as a means to arrive at truth or to estabhsh it, with the course and issue of a deliberate regard to the primary convictions and actual instincts of mankind, and the exercise of that sound judgment which can be sufficiently attained by man — that together constitute the great human necessity of " Common Sense." Since Philosophy has to do, not directly with the facts of consciousness, but with their intellectual expression as apprehended in thought, its systems are always vitiated by the imperfections inherent in all human attempts at exhaustive intellectual expression — imperfections such as attend analysis, definition, and classification, in increasing degree and cumulative measure. Hence Philosophy is Uable to serious perversion. In isolation, it too readily ends in becoming " philosophy falsely so-catted " ; in barren specula tion or proUfic heresy — in barren speculation, because the grounds of Philosophy are vaguely or imperfectly apprehended ; in proUfic heresy, because CHRISTIANITY AND PHILOSOPHY 177 the significance of those grounds is arbitrarily limited or concluded. The danger of " Systems " and Theories either of Life or Philosophy is incompleteness and one- sidedness, failure to take account of the complexity of that with which they deal. The apparent exhaus- tiveness in such is a sure mark of falsity, inasmuch as it does not recognize that " mystery " which belongs to the whole. Superficiality of view and an arbitrary eclecticism, in regard to the facts of the case, are the bane of the " Schools." The influence of this shattow and dogmatic eclecticism has repeatedly ended by setting up a presumptuous and pernicious Gnosticism or Agnos ticism in antagonism to the Christian Church, because involving the Theological errors of Rational ism, Materialism, Scepticism, or Pantheism. The safeguard of Philosophy against misuse, is found in the thankful acknowledgment, " The fear of God is the beginning of Wisdom " ; and in the steadfast confidence that in It is assured what the true love of Wisdom seeks. The dignity of mind Ues not in its assertiveness, but in its patient waiting upon God, its reverential pauses, its dociUty to divine guidance and its sensitiveness to divine Ught. Man must ask questions, human nature has a right in this, but it must ever be remembered that the answers of the InteUect are after all purely tentative and can possess no conclusive finaUty ; N 178 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH and that so far as any stable and assured knowledge is concerned, Revelation is needed as a Criticism, an Illumination, an Expansion, and a Complement. Yet Philosophy has its own extreme value and the noblest work to do. Life cannot well be built on Philosophy : but Philosophy may furnish its Criticism. Rehgion is in no way based upon Philosophy : yet Philosophy may rightly be its Commentator and Forerunner. Philosophy cannot displace, overrule, or super sede Revelation ; but it can illuminate, iUustrate and interpret the significance of Revelation. Philosophy asks, Revelation answers ; and Christianity not only has, but is a Philosophy philosophicatty expressed for those who seek after Wisdom philosophically, that is in and with the spirit of a httle Child — searchingly, seriously, simply, humbly, trustfully, docilely, devoutly, and lovingly. Christianity then is of inestimable benefit to Philosophy. In the first place it emphasizes the connection between Speculation and Practice, which are too readily divorced. The Christian speculates, in order to practise. Again, the end of Philosophy is Being, and Christianity is the revelation of Being ; the most profound and effectual moulder and manifester of Character, as well as the supreme inspiration of Conduct. CHRISTIANITY AND PHILOSOPHY 179 Hence rehgion is, from this point of view, the supreme Philosophy, for it is the deepest and most powerful spring of action and of hfe, and of their understanding. For, since He Who is the Life proclaimed Himself also the Truth, we know " The Truth " exists— in the reaUty of a perfect Ufe, not in any form of words however completely expressing some aspect of it. So, in respect to knowledge also; Revelation gives new data, for the solution of the Problems of Philosophy — accepting att that can be deduced from the intellectual constitution of man and from man's observation of the Universe within and without ; yet affirming also that God has made known some thing of Himself, and thus of Nature and of Man. Thus, under the Economy of Christian Philosophy, Knowledge is obtained, in different yet corre sponding ways from each source in our power ; from self, by the insight of experience ; from the world, by the outlook of observation ; from God, by the opened vision of a progressive hoUness. We possess, therefore, three sources of Wisdom, themselves incapable of proof or disproof, Self, the World, God, and not only two — and God, and the Revelation of God, is the Key that unlocks the hidden stores of Wisdom, so that men may bring forth treasures old and new ; and Man become not only the seeker after wisdom, but its possessor ; not only the lover of wisdom, but its enjoyer — for the main end of man is not only education or 180 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH disciphne, action or enUghtenment, but " to possess God and to enjoy Him for ever " ; so alone shaUman attain to happiness or perfection. Reason alone, the independent faculties of man alone, and their exercise alone, are insufficient to attain that solution of all mystery for which the Soul of man yet craves. The Paths of Philosophy open out into that infinite of mystery which only the unoriginate reveahng Light of God can illuminate with rays that form a path of glory to His Throne, through what seems else a trackless waste of darkness in which the " bUnd " Ways of Reason reach a sudden end, — until the irradiating splendour of the Divine Glory bridges the chasm, fiUs their channels, and proves their direction true. Thus, philosophy finds its redemption and is justified: — for Philosophy only seeks and obtains, by the grace of God — in experience, in observation, but above all in Revelation and in Christ. GOD The existence of God is matter of faith not of proof. The idea of God is not innate, the instinct for God is; thus, the idea of God being presented to the mind, it is the subject of immediate conviction ; the mind makes it its own, because moulded so that it possesses a fitness for direct apprehension ; man has the capacity to know God, as he has to " sense " all necessary things. CHRISTIANITY AND PHILOSOPHY 181 There is no people known without some beUef in God: however difficult it is to give this behef befitting expression, and however an instinctive awe restrain from its facile disclosure. Our conviction that God is, does not rest upon reason, though reason suggests and supports — i. By argument (a) from the accidental to the substantial. (b) from the realization of the finite in the presence of an ideal of " the infinite." 2. By argument (a) from the existence of the uni verse, Ufe, and mind, to a first cause. in general (b) from the " rational " unity, mutual " adaptation," and universal " order " of Crea tion and the fitness of aU its or properties and parts to the Progress exhibited, even ac cording to scientific canons, in its serial development. more speci- (c) from the intelhgent operation ficaUy of animal instinct ; and especially from innumerable suggestions of specific design in the correlated mechanisms of organization. 3. By argument from the Beauty of Nature in earth, sea, sky, and the Uving creation (apparently a by-product so far as the impersonal realm is concerned, 182 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH e.g. the beauty of flowers de veloped along with their attrac tion to insects, yet appreciable to man and God alone as " beauty "), as wett as from the possibihties of Beauty open to man's Art and arising from the exercise of his skill. 4. By argument (a) of " conscience," in the sense of " guilt." (b) from the " ought " of the moral law. (c) from the ideal of spiritual beauty, in character ; and of ethical " goodness," in way of Ufe. 5. By argument from soul " needs," — for worship, service, Hope, Love, and Trust. Thus, there are arguments that develop the Witness, God has given of Himself in the things He has created ; in the constitution of Nature, and yet more, as indeed would be anticipated, in the con stitution of Man. The Attributes of God are not merely abstract " quaUties," separable from the idea of God as " God " ; they are inherent perfections of His nature, inseparable from His nature as God, that is to say as Spirit, Light, and Love — quaUties, therefore, without which we cannot set forth the thought of God : the Nature of God as Spirit, Light, and Love, is that without which we cannot believe in Him, love, trust, hope in, or worship Him. The Attributes of God must, of necessity, be CHRISTIANITY AND PHILOSOPHY 183 exhibited in moral harmony with the Nature of God ; thus, the justice of God must not be set in opposition or contrast to the Love that God is — God is a God of Equity, i.e. of justice which is moral justice, Justice tempered and informed by Mercy and by Love ; it is the Nature of Love to be tender, it is the Nature of Love also to be true. Finally, to speak of God as " infinite " is no bare or barren abstraction, God's " infinity "—hke His " omnipotence " — is inconceivably perfect in kind, immeasurable in degree. It may be added — in respect to the argument from Conscience, that the " ought " of Conscience is inexpUcable, except as the revelation of a Law of HoUness ; a moral " Law," expUcable only as the WiU of an all-holy God and the expression of His Nature. NATURE The Natural and the Supernatural are sometimes regarded as conflicting ; they are not conflicting, but contrasted ; in man, being associated. Physical nature exhibits the foUowing charac teristics : — 1. The existence of a universal " Adaptation " of such a character that use and beauty are correlated ; so that " Nature sleeps hke a picture while working hke a machine." 2. The appearance of " Laws," i.e. of observed chains of sequence — the Modes of God's working as apprehended by us. 3. The suggestion of " Forces," i.e. of secondary causes — the Energy of God's working as reaUzed by us. 184 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH The Whole presenting the aspect of a system of necessary uniformity, impersonal forces, and invari able laws. Nature as manifested in Man, is evidently — through its folhes, foibles, and faults — a disordered nature ; and the witness of Anthropology confirms the doctrine of the Fall * — yet Nature in Man is higher than Nature outside of Man, because in Man there is a supernatural element of " Personahty," free, self-conscious, responsible. PROVIDENCE God, having created aU things, governs them all with wisdom, goodness, power, and justice. His government of Nature is a government of necessity ; His government of Man is an overruUng care — whereby through att things He works out the wise purposes of His good-will with the supreme power of a perfect justice. The providence of God in the physical world of Nature — clothes the hly, feeds the beast of the field, and shelters the sparrow. The providence of God in Nature is a providence of Foresight. The providence of God in the moral world of Man — brings the soul of goodness out of things evil and bends the consequences of evil to good. 1 So fax as the universal state, of humanity as it is, is con cerned ; respecting what it first was Anthropology is necessarily silent — knowing nothing about primitive man, for any savage we are acquainted with is approximately as recent and manu factured a product as civilized man to-day. A little inference from the implements left behind, an imaginative picture of the conditions of life, a little comparison with the ways of the rudest savages— -is a poor way of attaining anthropological truth. CHRISTIANITY AND PHILOSOPHY 185 The providence of God in the hfe of man is characteristically a providence of Oversight ; and it is man's spiritual prerogative, to recognize what God is, through what God does,— and his highest privilege, to respond thereto. PERSONALITY Personality is the sphere of ReUgion ; because the realm of the Supernatural. Man does not attain distinct importance as " a man," until the super natural is revealed alike in God and him — and the idea of " personality " emerges with distinctness. The Creeds are solely concerned with Persons and the relations between Persons — a " Person " being " a self-conscious moral agent." " PersonaUty " appears to be the co-ordinating constant which determines the integrity of individual existence — as " hfe " constitutes the governing nexus of physical quaUties in the organism. RELIGION Personahty, the one great fact underlying the Cosmos. Personal relationships, the only relationships of prime importance.1 ReUgion consists in the recognition of this fact in regard to God and the Soul, in knowledge and in practice. Our relation to God is indeed intensely personal : 1 Hence, it may even be said, that animals have a moral claim upon us just in the degree to which they possess " kinship " with man — capacity of subserving human personality and so far entering into fellowship with man. 186 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH recipients of personal mercy, recipients of personal grace; there is needed from us, each one, personal devotion, personal service, personal worship — the consecration and benediction of a Ufe. THE SOUL The Soul is the hfe of man in its unity — i.e. the synthetic product of his dual constitution. To illustrate by Analogy — Hydrogen and Oxygen produce Water, and Water can be resolved into Hydrogen and Oxygen ; but it evidently 1 exists, not as Hydrogen and Oxygen in combination, but as Water. This conception of the Soul of man, not only seems to reconcile the tripartite division of man's nature, by St. Paul, into body, soul, and spirit ; with the more usual distinction into soul and body — it also agrees well with pecuhar uses of Tp^xn by our Lord Himself. Anything which tends to prevent the perfect expression of man's personahty, hence becomes a " losing of the soul " — hke those who having framed their practical Ufe upon this world, lose their souls when the world for which alone their personahty has become fitted, passes away. The immortahty of the soul as a part of man, no Christian tenet — but rather the immortahty of the man himself. The nature of the soul possesses a mixed character, for the reason aUeady stated: on the one hand, passions and appetites and instincts akin to the 1 The scientific statement of what Water is, based upon a single quantitative relation, in opposition to all qualitative evidence, — affords a striking and instructive example of the artificial character of scientific procedure. CHRISTIANITY AND PHILOSOPHY 187 brute, even intelUgence; on the other, spiritual powers of love and hope and faith and worship and hoUness, allied to spirit and the Father of spirits. The attempts to answer the problem of the soul's origin, in theories of Creationism or Traducianism, are unprofitable: what concerns us most to know, is that the characteristic personality of each is personally allotted to each by God, either directly as a gift, or indirectly by consent. The soul is the seat of Character, hence the deep depravity of original sin, and the surpassing impor tance of a Soul's salvation. ESSAY XI THE CHURCH AND ART There is a passage in Ezelriel which treats of the fugitiveness of mere impressions on the sense, " And lo thou art unto them, as a very lovely song ; of one that hath a pleasant voice and can play well on an instrument, for they hear thy words but do them not." As the passage stands in our magnificent Enghsh version, it has been aptly cited as a striking Com mentary on its subject. There is something so pleasing in the style, so satisfying about the move ment, so attractive in the imagery, that we are apt to retain these features and rest content without having grasped their message. The passage as we read it, not only gives a warning, but itself exempU- fies the warning's need. It is so easy to aUow its manner to obscure its matter ; to enjoy its form and ignore its significance — that is the danger of all Art. The term is to be taken in its widest sense, as including all that skilled workmanship can reahze in permanent forms and under material conditions THE CHURCH AND ART 189 and hmitations of those inward harmonious concep tions which are the inspiration of its activity. In other words, under Art are to be classed, not only the Fine Arts and Architecture, which are always recognized as within its domain — but also Literature in its strict sense, whether prose or poetry. All these present ideas for acceptance, under outward shape of word or colour or mass or form-^- and all these have this common peril — the danger of dweUing on the seen and losing the unseen, to the degradation of Art and the degeneration of the Soul. Art has many dangers to itself and man ; yet so have all our highest pursuits : the way of highest Life, highest Thought, highest Action, ReUgion itself, is " a narrow way," a knife-edge between precipices of hazard, error and shame, and " few there be that find it." Yet again, even in this, as in every department of existence, the Christian possesses a supernatural guidance, a heavenly guardianship, and a blessed inheritance. Nothing human is foreign to the Christian, nothing human is alien to Christianity ; no realm of Ufe is unconsecrated by Christ, nothing remains " common or unclean " in Him. What attitude, then, must the Church and the Christian assume towards Art ? It is impossible, of course, to answer the question with any completeness in a short Essay; a few suggestions, however, perhaps may help to direct the mind towards its solution. 190 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH First then, what of the Church in relation to Art? If, as has been akeady said, we beUeve that the divine guidance promised to Her, wiU slowly mani fest its influence as time goes on ; never permitting infaUible judgment but ever witnessing with in creased assurance to the Truth — History wiU be the best evidence. From the earUest days when the Faith became able, in security and wealth, to manifest Her hidden Ufe to the world, she claimed the beauty of Art as wett as the beauty of HoUness for her own. Even in the Catacombs, with poor abihty and rude endeavour, she adopted the dying legacy of Pagan skill. Purified by a new power and a new meaning, she accepted the efforts of heathen craftsmen, to depict those forms of happiness and joy and peace, which were congenial to her spirit, and turned them to her higher purposes ; the while she strove in pictured symbolism and emblem to present the pecuhar mysteries of the Faith. The Church has from those early days, ever adorned Art, by admitting its service. The Church has always guarded, too, against the abuse of Art ; by her preference for symbol and emblem therein : the Cross rather than the Crucifix, this represents most truly her most consistent attitude. Indeed the very instance cited affords so striking an example of the Church's attitude and so markedly THE CHURCH AND ART 191 its effect on Art, that it is necessary summarily to review both the historical development and the spiritual influence which underlay it. It is weU known that whatever its secret glorying, the Early Church at first shrank from exhibiting the source of that secret glorying, in the Cross — thus, the Mosaics of San ApolUnare nuovo at Ravenna leave a blank between the Agony of Gethsemane and the Resurrection from an empty tomb ; for the Cross was " to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks fooUshness." Yet this shrinking, natural though it was under the circumstances, soon vanished, and quickly the Cross was seen exalted, the glory of the Church as of St. Paul. Thus, in San ApolUnare in classe at Ravenna, the Cross is seen surrounded by a glory, above the fields of Paradise, in the starry heavens which it dims with its brightness. Already the Church was learning the lesson of Constantine's vision, " in hoc signo vinces." Henceforth the Cross adorns the ensign of the Warrior, the vestment of the Priest, the Crown of Kings. Yet while the Cross, at first timidly concealed in the " Chi-ro " (J? or -P) and decorative forms, soon became the recognized symbol of all that makes Christianity what it is, it was not so with the figure of our dying Redeemer, represented hung upon the Cross. 192 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH The Crucifix, as distinguished from the symbohc Cross, only emerged, when men began to dwell upon the sufferings, the sorrows, the pain and anguish of that travail for a world's redemption ; only became prominent when sin darkened the distress of evil days. The first example known dates from the fifth century, its occurrence only becomes general in the seventh. Yet even in the first of those evil days, when the Vision of the Judge to come began to cover with gloom the Visage of Him Who had come as a Saviour, even then, for awhile the Cross was a Throne, and He Who was imaged thereon was clothed in vesture of a King and crowned, or wore the sacred robes of a High Priest, as wittingly His arms were stretched to embrace and welcome all that come to Him. Only as the faith of men failed them and gloom deepened around them, did the figure of mortal agony and bodily anguish prevail, and the nails, the wound-prints, the worn and scarred form, the riven bleeding side, come to be made prominent, — and the suffering Son of Man reft of the Glory of the Son of God, be set forth to the eyes of men unhidden by that shroud of darkness and of tender ness which veiled the travail of His soul. The reason why the Crucifix rather than the Cross did not commend itself to the Church's Art in the purer days is very evident. It was not that the Crucifix was in itself wrong, THE CHURCH AND ART 193 or its use degrading ; nor from any idea that any representation of our Saviour dying for us could be in itself idolatrous or superstitious ; "He was made man," and since His incarnation in our flesh, the image of God is most truly beheld in the Ukeness of man ; besides the death upon the Cross and its History, is the central fact of the gospel of good news to those who are all sinners, and therefore to represent Christ upon the Cross could not be improper in itself, much less sinful. It might indeed seem at first sight as if it would have been the greatest possible incentive to love and to devotion — and yet, spite of all this, it was not in the Crucifix but in the Cross that the Church first gloried as did St. Paul, as does the Church to-day — for to adore the Crucifix is no advance upon glorying in the Cross. For this same cause, it comes about that our own beloved Church has always used all her art to set forth the Cross evident in the eyes of all men ; in the form of her Churches, in the windows of their walls, on the pinnacles of her roof — most prominent at the central meeting-place of all her worship, above or upon the Holy Table, on the Unen of its service and the coverings of its adornments, on the robes of her ministry and the very books of our devotion, upon the sleeping-places of the departed, as upon the Uving brows of aU her children — while all the time, since she returned to the better fashion of earher days, she has felt somehow as if the Crucifix were aUen to her devotion, somehow restrained from o 194 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH its use by an invisible hand, somehow told by a dehcate yet imperious instinct to refrain. The reason is soon told. In the Cross there is to be seen, not only the symbol of the death of Christ, but something more. The token of the Cross is richer in meaning than the Crucifix ; the one speaks of suffering only, the other of victory through suffering. The one shows at most only some faint outward imagination of the bodily pains of Him Who took upon Him " the body of our humihation " ; the other speaks eloquently of One Who has seen of the travail of His soul and is satisfied. The Cross is empty, the memorial indeed of a Redemption accomphshed — while it proclaims " He is not here, He is risen," and as we gaze, the thought of death is swaUowed up in victory, and all our needs supptted in a Uving Lord Who died for us and is alive for evermore. Thus the Church ever uses Art to edification. Without withholding to depict the historical fact of the Passion and Death of her Lord, she yet prefers for isolated use, the Cross rather than the Crucifix, and uses it more freely— for the symbol of the Cross is more reverent in its reserve than any attempt at mere pictured representation of the facts, and is more akin to the spiritual aspects of the Lord's death, than any reahstic figure of His dying. It was the same instinctive spirit, which led the Church's chary sanction of Sculpture. Something THE CHURCH AND ART 195 material seemed to cling to its solidity of impersona tion — it seemed " of the earth, earthy." Only after many centuries, did Sculpture in the round find a decorative place in Romanesque Porch and the niches of Gothic Minsters ; while, even stiU to-day it is interdicted from the austere fanes of Greek worship. It is memorable that Christian Sculpture in the form of independent statuary, had its true birth in the early Renaissance ; that revival which, in the end, did so much to re-paganize the World and Art. The Church refrained somewhat from the use of Sculpture, lest it should introduce conflict into her spiritual Kingdom, by satisfying men with its external, outward, material form. Not so with Painting and its alhed Arts, — this the grace of her youth has remained ever dear to her. Enduring Mosaic gleamed from the dim wall of her sanctuaries, and emblazoned them with glorious tints of sun and sky and sea, teUing forth the tale of man's Salvation, God's Redemption, and AngeUc Praise. So also, more fading, transient Frescoes, ttmned with deUcate hues and calm sweet ness, told everywhere the story of the gentleness, the tenderness and the power of Him Who had come " full of grace and truth " to all His Saints ; of the revelation of that divine yet human judge with pierced hands, that comes again to judge the earth ; of that bright heaven of bhss and dim woe of pain that wait for men. 196 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH The Church has ever valued Painting, not primarily because of its achievements, but as aiding men to reahze the things unseen ; and Painting has remained a treasure in the Church and the honoured treasure of the Church, just in so far as Man and the Church have used its earthly beauty to unfold the vision of the things of heaven and of God. Thus also, in Uke manner, " Architecture " became the first great Christian Art ; unequalled, by anything that had preceded it, in significance. The beauty of Gothic, its final Crown, retains its spell for us, because its mystery is the mystery of hfe ; its aspiration, the aspiration of the soul ; its multiplicity, the multipUcity of God's Church " not built with hands " ; its spirit, the spirit of adoration. But if Architecture is the handmaid of the Church, surely Music is her child. From the days when solemn antiphonies of the Gregorian mode first moved the worshipper to awe and tears, till now, when jubilance has displaced contrition in her mood, Music has been cherished by the Church, because Music is the most immaterial, the most spiritual of all the Arts, the most akin to the spirit of Faith. In a word, no form of Art has remained foreign to Christianity, but she has cherished those most, which were most witting to become instruments and not ends ; servants of use and instruction ; types of a superior beauty ; humble confessors of their THE CHURCH AND ART 197 own fleeting dependent glories — interpreters of the unseen and its monitors ; incitements and aids to Devotion. Art can only serve its noblest ends, when conse crated by ReUgion ; can only fulfil itself through Sacrifice, as a means not an end ; or otherwise become material, pagan, effete. The Christian, as " a Christian," the Church, as " a Church " — not merely as a " man " and a " Society " — ahke know nothing of " Art for Art's sake." Each knows " Art " only as a source of spiritual power, strengthening man's will, confirming the intuitive insight of his soul ; an instrument to be used by Faith, to spiritual ends. It is easy to pervert Art from this its truest dignity and its worthiest service. Art must not necessarily be didactic, it must be illuminative. The highest revelation to which it can lead us, although it cannot exhibit it, is the eternal Beauty. The Beauty which Art images and manifests, as a beauty of Nature and Love and Light and Life, we can reahze through Faith, as the mystic reflection of the LoveUness of God. From the mirror, the symbohc vision — the spectacle of the seen, the earthy — we must advance to the vision of the unseen and the Heavenly : and Art's function to each Christian is to guide towards that Goal, which Faith alone can reach. To many minds, the Beauty and Appeal of Nature 198 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH without and the responsive human skill which can deUght in it and reproduce it in creative imagina tion — Uke Love in man's social relations, and the Moral Sense within — is the most eloquent witness of the Divine Presence, and its most intimate Revelation to the soul that wonders, ponders, and adores. To such, Devotion to Love, Beauty, Truth, as the Point of Personal Honour, appeals as the most practical Philosophy ; and Vital Rehgion, as con summate in the Knowledge of God Who is the ReaUty of their Ideals. Since Art's constant witness and protest is, that sensibiUty, imagination, emotion, are as essential factors in human Ufe as reason, conscience and will ; it is necessary, if the balance of our one yet manifold soul-Ufe is to be preserved, and a whole and whole some personaUty offered to Faith, as the perfected Instrument of devotion and worship. It is outside the hmits of this Essay to deal with those functions which Art discharges towards the Christian as towards the Natural Man, in virtue of a common humanity — precious as those uses may be, for the cultivation of the seeing eye and under standing ear, for the refinements of the fancy and the senses, as wett as in the recreation and relaxations of Ufe. " Art for Art's sake " can only be legitimately recognized in respect to the increment of enjoyment afforded by discrimination of the special beauties THE CHURCH AND ART 199 proper to its several branches, and to the intense pleasure received in the practice and appreciation of Art, from the sense of mastery and achievement in such a selective treatment of material as shall employ and bring out distinctive quahties and beauties with the greatest vividness, directness, freshness and ease. This aesthetic dehght in skilful handhng and technical effectiveness is obviously as innocent as that more universal pleasure which is derived throughout the range of Decorative Art, from the manifoldly varied apphcations of the elementary bases of design, in mere pattern and acknowledged ornament. MUSIC AND POETRY IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY It seems a most significant fact and the manifest operation of Divine Love, that the greatest simul taneous outburst of Poetical Genius and of Musical Genius which the World has ever seen, preceded that great domination of Science which has charac terized, in a unique degree, recent years. It " prevented " the pecuhar dangers that attend the special pursuit of Science, and provided a corrective against excesses it might introduce. No better antidote to the exclusive effects of scientific training can be conceived than that of Art in its widest sense — and none more necessary. ESSAY XII WORSHIP: AND WORSHIP IN THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND Religion as a cultus — in its most general terms — is the expression of our Ufe as Uved in relation to God, our Ufe as Uved to His Glory and His Praise. Its highest exhibition is necessarily found on occasion of the approach of man to God and the approach of God to man. Our Ufe as Uved to the Glory of God, finds its fullest expression in Divine Service ; our Ufe as Uved to the Praise of God, finds its perfect expression in Divine Worship. Divine Service is primarily associated with the approach of man to God ; Divine Worship is primarily associated with the approach of God to man. That such mutual approach is possible every where, does not lessen the sacredness of " the place of worship." The place which God hath chosen " to place His Name there," is " holy ground." For the Church is a place where God is, in a special sense — not as if WORSHIP 201 only there, but as really there by a special Conde scension and with a pecuhar grace and favour. He is there to manifest Himself. There, He makes known — Himself. Moreover the Church is a place where Christ bestows His presence — human, as well as Divine — for the granting of our prayers and the receiving of our homage, for the ratification of our actions and the bestowal of His grace. The Elements of Divine Service are prayer and thanksgiving ; acts of dependence, acts which in the Offices of the Church, cluster round material afforded by inspiration, i.e. round the Lord's Prayer, and round the Psalms and Canticles. The Elements of Divine Worship are acts of Blessing and of Sacrifice ; acts of fellowship betwixt God and man, a fellowship exhibited in the giving and receiving of Gifts. The acts of Blessing are acts of God in manifesta tion of His grace ; and consist essentially in acts of Absolution, Consecration, and Benediction. The acts of Sacrifice on man's part, consist of the " Sacrifice of Praise," in Eucharistic Memory of the Divine Bounty, in Creation and Redemption, by Providence and Grace — together with the offering of substance, sustenance, and self, i.e. the sacrifice of man's Ups, labour, and Ufe, in Christ. The Divine acts of Blessing and the human acts of Sacrifice, all exhibit their full significance, and have their perfect expression, in the Eucharistic Rite 202 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH instituted by Christ Himself, centering and cul minating in it to form the characteristic act of Christian Worship " until He come." However combined and intermingled Divine Service and Divine Worship are, yet the Act of Divine Worship is the more exalted, for it alone is an act of direct Divine Institution, while it is in connection with it that Divine Service— even the Divine Form of Prayer — attains its highest use. " Divine Service " is still the same in essence, as with the Jews of old in their synagogues, though now rendered through the Name of Christ. " Divine Worship " is that of which all their Temple Worship was but the shadow, for the Temple Sacrifices were but the presages of that Sacrifice of Christ which is the meritorious foundation of ours. Subject to these First Principles, Liturgical Forms have, in general, originated by a natural tendency. This is inevitable, for the elements of Devotion are constant — confession of sin, prayers for self, intercession for others, thanksgiving, praise, adora tion, these are the natural channels through which the spirit of devotion is habitually outpoured ; and by " habit " they tend to run ever more deeply in hke Forms. The elements of rehgious experience are the same to all, and in their deepest expression, att devout souls draw closer in " the Communion of Saints " ; consequently, while habit induces a hkeness of utterance in devotional use, that result is justified WORSHIP 203 and turned to good account, on a profound basis and for a universal purpose, and set forms of worship become the fitting vehicle of Public Use. Such a development is parallel to that lesser development through which the rise of regular movement, accent, and pitch of voice in religious exercises — in unconscious and unstudied harmony with their emotional contents, issues in a gradual fixity and permanence, as " Monotone " and " In flection." But, if Liturgical Forms have originated, in general, by a natural tendency, that tendency has none the less worked, in particular, along certain hnes. As with the crystattization of supersaturated salts, so here, the crystaUizing forces must have a " polar centre " from which to work. This they find either in inheritance or prescription. They are based either on what we have always been accustomed to, or on what we are commanded or instructed to use by recognized authority. Both these influences worked in Christianity. On the one hand, certain forms were prescribed by Christ Himself, i.e. the Baptismal Formula and the Eucharistic Canon. Around these centres the chief and most definite offices or forms will collect, and indeed they are the core and inspiration of the Creeds and Liturgy, which are therefore traceable to the highest antiquity and primitive employment. In a lesser degree, the Lord's Prayer seems to 204 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH have formed a " polar centre " for Prayers ; and still more weakly marked, the Divine Scriptures became a nucleus round which Benedictions clustered, of which an example still remains in the " Glory be to Thee, O Lord," used in our Church in connection with the reading of the Gospel. Certain forms of a less imperative, invariable and impressive character, were the inheritance of the Early Christians from their earUest youth, viz. those pubhc devotions of the Temple and Synagogue, such as the Psalms, which ran parattel with the instinctive products of their own personal and private soul-life — whence arises a more obscure connection of the Daily Offices with the pubhc worship of the Old Covenant, a more free but not less real connection than the prior one. Outside the Form and Matter of the Two Sacra ments instituted by Christ Himself, the whole ques tion of Rites, Ceremonies, and Ornament is one of expediency and not of principle — if once the Position of the Church of England be granted, viz. that fixed Rite and stated Office, formal Order and the use of Ornament and Symbol, are lawful and right in Christian Worship, provided they are not repugnant to God's plain Word, do not involve false or obscure true doctrine, and are instituted — as things themselves " indifferent " but recognized as receiving a lawful sanction, by the internal Authority of the Church, for the practical applications of spiritual edification. WORSHIP 205 On examination, both Rites and Ceremonies are seen to be, in bulk, a natural growth of which the relative importance and value in detail can be ascer tained, on the one hand, by the History of their Evolution, and on the other by consideration of the Doctrinal or Practical Influences from which they sprang, or which favoured their rise and development, or which gave them such significance as they may possess in the Present or have possessed in the Past. Such investigations and the matters with which they deal, fatt well within the practised judgment and the determining power of a National Church rich in Historic experience and habituated to deal with and adapt her manifold stores of Precedent and Material throughout the extended range of enlarged experience. It is, in the highest degree, unwise to fix arbitrarily upon the setting or form of Worship in any age, as exclusively, or pre-eminently " CathoUc." The " catholicity " of worship is evidenced by its vital spontaneity and sensitive fitness of corre spondence to the devotional temper and spiritual character of any People, in each temporal Period, with their attaching conception of the Faith, — a CathoUcity preserved from eccentricity or loss by the tradition of Historic Inheritance. It is equatty impossible to argue that the Re formers could — in a period of unrest and transition — absolutely stereotype the character of the Church's System for other and more peaceful times. 206 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH They certainly could not anticipate the needs or developments of days to come, in such a way as to make detailed provision for them. Happily we are not bound by the opinions, the intentions, or the wishes of the Reformers, though we are bound to understand, to weigh and to respect them, for we accept much of the fruit of their labours. We accept — i. The Principles of the Reformation which are enunciated in the Prayer Book. 2. The Practices of the Church, as modified by the Reformed Rubrics and actual Ecclesiastical Law. 3. The Doctrines of the Reformers, expUcitly formulated in the Articles, the Prayer Book, and the Catechism. Subject always to such modifications as the Church has seen fit to make in subsequent Revisions and by recognized Usage. It seems almost unnecessary to add, that while bound by the broad outlines of the Formularies of the Church in their natural sense, we are certainly not bound by the leanings or views, their silences or ambiguities permitted or implied in the eyes of those who framed them. Yet although not bound to accept any unachieved aim or copy any excused excess on the part of the Reformers, it is impossible without a jar to leave their essential position. Thus, for example, while it is in no way necessary WORSHIP IN CHURCH OF ENGLAND 207 to accept the Calvinistic explanation as to the mode of the Presence in the Holy Eucharist, it must not be forgotten that some such way of regarding it, commended itself to some of them, because it recog nized that the Presence of Christ then bestowed was a Presence incapable of localization in Time and Space, and that it was this fundamental conviction which gave its characteristic sense of mystery and per vading worship to the whole Eucharistic Office as we have received it from their hands, along with the practical coroUary carried with it, that a " Mystery " needs, not concealment but openness, to display Itself as Such. Again, where other Bodies have drawn Usages from an identical or similar Historical source with the Church of England, it does not in any way concern us what construction those Bodies or their Members choose to put upon them now or what construction they may have put upon them in the past ; we are only concerned with the construction our own Reformed Church has always put upon them, or that which it to-day puts upon our permitted use of them (e.g. the use of ever-burning Sanctuary Lights). And where similarity of use is evident, it is a confusion of thought, hastily to ascribe to " imita tion," what a sense of Fitness may dictate in respect to the disposal, use and arrangement of common material, — or practical utihty commend, as in the case of the Lavabo or washing of hands. 208 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH In a word, our practice is not to be restricted, necessarily, by the fashions of the Church in any age, or by the influences which moulded them. Indeed most of the apparatus in greatest dispute at the present time, is part of the furnishing of Natural Rehgion, instinctive in man and permitted by God, — and by its very Universahty to be ascribed to nothing but a certain intrinsic fitness and appeal. This especially covers the case of Festal occasions. Yet even then, it is instinctively felt most befitting to restrict indulgence in the splendid Pageantry of an ornate ceremonial, to portions of observance which he outside the actual conduct of the service proper, i.e. to Processions, and in this respect, a prevalent and growing tendency incUnes to give natural instinct the practical issue which it indicates. The general elements of Ceremonial — Lights, Vestments, Incense, Symbohc Ornament and Festal Decoration, so far as they can be reaUy termed " CathoUc " at all, are " cathohc " because human, not because of Divine institution, and the history of their adoption in the Christian Church disclaims for them any higher sanctity than that of association. The elaboration of Ceremonial is in itself as natural to man, as his instinct for all decorative ornament, and its presence as inevitable, while it is equally indifferent to moral significance and spiritual meaning, though docile to both, so long as duly obedient to similar laws. Nor can a low standard WORSHIP IN CHURCH OF ENGLAND 209 of utihty operate in regard to either, without limiting human endowment and impoverishing human per sonahty ; it is not rejection but regulation that is necessary — and " necessary " even in the sense of possible. Certain considerations of a general character help to clear what is advisable or desirable in the way of habitual Rite, Ceremony, or Ornament. They are these — 1. Worship is the whole attitude and act of whole man worshipping. 2. Outward Worship, as the expression of the inward Attitude of man worshipping, involves Ceremonial. Outward Worship, as the expression of the inward Act of man worshipping, involves Ritual. 3. All external Worship has for its End, the expression, or the reahzation of Internal Worship. Inasmuch as the externals of ReUgion are Com mentaries on Divine Institutions or Witnesses of Divine Truth, they become, in the most profound sense, " dramatic " and " symbohc," just in the proportion to which they fulfil their common end. That is to say, that Ritual, Ceremonial, and Orna ments, in their characteristic aspect, as apart from those Festal uses already mentioned, must not receive independent stress for their own sake as separable adjuncts however impressive ; they must p 210 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH either unfold or explain the significance of some Divine Institution or subserve its use, or else they must exhibit some crucial aspect of the Revelation of God in Christ, or of man's response to It. In a word, all Ceremony, Ritual, and Ornament, should be the illuminative observance of the essential features of the Divine Institution embodied, or the interpretative comment on the essential character of the Divine Truth enshrined, — and the quiet, notable and suitable provision for this, is sure to furnish just the simple means needed to brighten, dignify, and adorn the sanctuary. It should hardly be necessary to add two restraints — i. Not every observance or truth in worship requires illustration. 2. While the externals of worship must befit worship, in having both in matter and manner, due ornament and due order, it is not fitting that worship should be external ized — it must not become merely orna mental, formal, spectacular. All that belongs to Pubhc Worship should be marked by the simple comehness, dignity and worth which pertains to the ordered fitness of the house of God, for the worship of Him, Whose abode it is. The very appearance of the House of Prayer, thanksgiving and Praise, should breathe that Spirit of chastened feeling and grave beauty, which pre eminently marks the Church of England and her WORSHIP IN CHURCH OF ENGLAND 211 Order as a pecuhar heritage and possession, and which fit it to be the truest voice, symbol, and exponent of our Enghsh Character, in its reserve, its tenderness, its solemnity and its deep devotion. Above aU, it must always be felt that under all the beauty and dignity of outward things, there hes that beauty of holiness, that dignity of sainthood, which is the most appropriate and fittest adornment of the living Temple ; if the Church is to be pleasing to God, — and clothed with beautiful apparel, because all beautiful within. The Genius of the Enghsh Church as expressed in its pubhc Offices, has been wett characterized as " statuesque " ; its impressiveness comes from its simple sincerity, its conscious restraint, its grouping, its proportions — it is truly Classic in its dignity, its breadth, its directness, its recollectedness, its fitness ; the fussiness, the triviality, the obsequiousness, the display, the elaboration of merely sensuous appeal, has no place in it ; it is terse, sober, lucid, profound in expression and feeUng — and the introduction of elements involving any lowering of its tension means a total loss of its austere beauty and aweful yet tender reserve. Nor should the evident omissions, defects, and shortcomings in our own Prayer Book, bhnd us to the very evident faults, the involved garruhty or ob scurity of phrase, the baldness or tediousness of expression, the lack of concentration and unity, of other traditional forms of Service. 212 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH All interpolations, additions, or secret devotions, intended to assimilate our reformed service to either modern Roman practice or merely Mediaeval doctrine cannot be too strongly condemned. There must be nothing merely fanciful, nothing superstitious, intruded into the fabrics, the rites, the devotions of our beloved Church. The best model for ceremonial and ritual pro priety in the Church to-day, is to be found in those natural moulds unconsciously afforded by the re current customs of such periods in the Post-Reforma tion History of the Church as are marked by the greatest consciousness, at once, of her Cathohc caUing and Her Protestant position, i.e. such periods as that of the Caroline Divines. There seems no doubt that the " ornaments rubric " was intended to preserve the externals of the Church's worship, as far as they related to the fittings of the Church and the dress of its Ministers, as they were at the time of Reformation, save in such things as had been abohshed by authority because of superstitious associations. Thus, the Chancels were to continue, "as in times past," not only in respect to their fabric, but also in respect to their furniture, with the exceptions referred to above. But the Offices, with their arrangement and the way of saying them and the actions which constitute their ceremonial, entirely superseded the old rites — except in so far as traditional custom has universally WORSHIP IN CHURCH OF ENGLAND 213 been recognized, or the matter is subsidiary to the due observation of the directions given, or a given thing being ordered to be done, it continues to be done as it had been done, without expUcit instructions being laid down. As to the Vestments worn " by ministers at att times of their " customary " ministrations," these continue to be " retained and had in use," but the right to them having been asserted and their pre script allotment being maintained, they are not required, either by rubric or by habitual interpreta tion of the covering Clause. The Canons of 1604, in accordance with the Injunctions of EUzabeth's reign, viewed in the Ught of the Practice of the Revisers of i662,andinterpreted by the History of the course of events in the reign of Elizabeth, afford an authoritative sanction to the sufficient observance of the provision made in this respect. In the year 1548 and the Use of 1549, the old vestments were ordered ; since EUzabeth's time, their property is recognized, but their use is not enforced. To unite in worship, there must be an authority to give common direction, and an interpreter to refer to, for practical guidance where a matter is uncertain. Such an authority must be " Law " to aU ; and such interpretations must be given the greatest weight and deference. 214 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH An authority of this nature we possess in the Book of Common Prayer, and a practical interpreter of this character we possess in each Diocese in those Bishops whose charge is the government and over sight of the flock of Christ. The Prayer Book shows that authority to decree Rites and Ceremonies is claimed for individual National Churches and its exercise provided for accordingly. History proves that it is through the mutual interaction of such territorial adjustment that Usage grows uniform, rather than by enactment of the Church Universal. In accordance with this position, the Church of England as a whole, imposes the Prayer Book on its individual members, requiring a loyal conformity to its rules, and yet more, so far as may be, seeking to secure loyal conformity to its spirit. Such is the only possible way in which to secure Unity in common prayer and praise and the general practice of the devout Ufe. Opinions may differ as to the comparative value of the book, as to the wisdom of its regulations, the expediency of its directions, the desirability of reform, either conservative or progressive, but the Prayer Book as it is, i.e. the Prayer Book of 1662, is our law, so long as it remains as it is, remains that is to say, unchanged by the authoritative action of the Church ; and consequently it demands from each and all, the most faithful allegiance and scrupulous obedience. Such a treatment — one which it ahke demands WORSHIP IN CHURCH OF ENGLAND 215 and deserves — the Prayer Book has never fairly received since it was first put forth in its reformed state. It remains for us to exercise this plain duty and privilege in its entirety and thoroughness. The Prayer Book, at least, speaks the voice of no Party, for all parties alike claim some share and shelter under her oracles, but as a whole, the Prayer Book is the utterance of the Church of England as a whole, measured, weighty, consistent, harmonious. The Prayer Book knows no party either inside or outside the Church. Just as it ignores aU party within her pale, so the Prayer Book takes its own line as the rule of the Church of England, without being concerned with the affairs or arrangements of other rehgious communions. It has a distinct position of its own — that of the CathoUc Church under the constraints of History ; hke the Church of England unwittingly protestant, because unreservedly CathoUc ; CathoUc but not Roman, Protestant but not Puritan. Along with our EngUsh Bible, our EngUsh Prayer Book forms the most precious fruit of our Reforma tion, the subject of its most anxious labours, the treasure of its deepest estimation. And to be true to that Reformation, as the Church of England worked it out, accepted and maintains it, the Prayer Book must be given freest scope, fuUest justice and fairest play. 216 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH There is an alternative between doing what is forced on us, and doing just as we ourselves choose. Our fathers had, another communion stiU has, hard and fast rules, exacting the most rigorous submission. Called to walk in that which we beheve to be a better way, are we to tread that way more carelessly ? Because the Church of England asks for loyalty and voluntary obedience, are we to reject such a freedom to follow her behests on Principle, for the hcense of self-will and wilful ignorance ? It is only members of the Church of England that the Prayer Book can bind, and on them it is binding, obedience in such a matter being part of our duty towards God under Whose good providence that Prayer Book has been received and lawlessness in respect to which is against His Law as well as against that of His Church. To hearken to what the Prayer Book, as the voice of the Church of England, orders and desires, to observe as exactly as possible both the directions and dispositions of the Church as exhibited in it and her other Formularies, in the evidence of her History, and the counsels and judgments of her Bishops, is the only way in which to have a clear conscience and a position that cannot be impugned. Men can never all have just the same notions of things, nor the same ideas as to the best arrangements for worship and the rehgious conduct of life. Man kind are far too different in character and training, WORSHIP IN CHURCH OF ENGLAND 217 in circumstance and position, in education and in thought, in prepossession and taste, for Uniformity in this ; but all can sink themselves and their own ideas and ways sufficiently for the purpose aimed at, the Unity of Common Prayer and Common Praise, and to ensure the preservation of peace in the Church, the procuring of reverence, the exciting of Piety and the exercise of Devotion in the pubhc Worship of God, the staying of offences, and the preparation of all for the Worship of Heaven. THE CHURCH'S YEAR; FASTS AND FESTIVALS The Church's Year — 1. Shows the dramatic side of the Faith ; setting forth the drama of a World's Redemption. 2. Maintains the Proportion of the Faith. 3. As the connected course of the Church's hfe, but repeats on an infinitely larger scale, the incidents of the ordinary Christian Life. The time of awakening, the time of new-birth, the spring of first hfe into fresh energies, the testing of temptation, the sacrifice of self, the dormancy of spiritual evidence, the renewed existence of the sustained soul, the ascended citizenship of heaven, — all are mirrored in the corporate hfe of Christ's Body, whilst also the experience of every member. Only the " growth in grace " imaged in that body passes through more regular and unimpeded courses than with us, its progress is triumphant and resistless as the Lord's, the hkeness of Whose sufferings and glories she commemorates. Not so do we reflect the hkeness of our Lord — progress with us is broken, the 218 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH spiritual energies intermittent, and penitence and joy ahke are broken fragments here and there in our lives. Lent, for example, as a Church Season, is the collected and focussed image of those scattered experiences of repentance and reahzed forgiveness, and presents itself in the only form possible to a cor porate body, as a definite, clearly-marked, periodic Season. The spiritual hfe is essentially and characteristi cally a hfe of Faith, incidentally of Penitence ; there is no Penitence in Heaven. " Disciphne " is always a strain when conscious ; therefore necessarily " seasonable." Fasts are the time of self-discipUne. The keeping of stated Fasts witnesses that the Christian Ufe is not the ascetic hfe ; it sets asceticism in its right place — as an instrument, not an ideal ; a means, not an end. Festivals are kept, as — i. Memorials of thankfulness — they bear the stamp of universal indebtedness. 2. Memorials of instruction — commemorating typical Saints in experience and training and character — and emphasizing the varied forms of sanctity where aU are yet saints. 3. Incentives for imitation ; witnessing to the Communion of Saints unbroken — on earth and in Paradise — in Christ. CONCLUSION 219 Upon the Church of England he momentous responsibihties. Within her are unborn possibiUties, pregnant issues affecting the destiny of the World. On her faithfulness, her courage and her wisdom, depends in a unique degree, how the Eternal ReUgion shaU be known to man in time to come. She is neither a survival of Antiquity, nor a rudiment of the unformed Future, but a hving Creation, inheriting the past, developing the present, and bracing up her being, to fill the Ages with the labours and the riches of a matured vitality. She is no compromise, but a Ufe built up on elements made her own from every time, — and grow ing still, true to the instinct law which frames her destiny, by the all-sovereign fiat of the creative purposes of God. From venerable age She draws the credential witnesses of an unbroken Faith and Order and Worship, her Spirit of devotion and reverence ; from the new birth of a reformation, the fresh energies of free and fearless, hberal, thought and character, her spirit of insight and love ; from the Evangelical and Cathohc quickening of later days, arise refined asceticism and chastened humanism. Her's, now, a Ufe enriched with subtleties manifold and unsuspected strengths : a Spirit, intangible yet resistless. Free, grave, mystic and intimate, ardent and restrained, those who share Her Secret, know Her 220 FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH communicant of the hfe of God and most meet celebrant of His Mysteries. In our most Holy Faith there is something for patience, something for fear, much yet to learn, much yet to see; much yet to strive; much more to trust: man to reverence, God to adore, Christ to unite and bless in Earth and Heaven, till God be all in all. the end PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, LONDON AND BECCLES. YALE UN I VEH SVjf, fr'Stiuui'i 1 1 3 9002 05318 4116