That the Rationalists feel the force of our Lord's testimony to the genuineness and authenticity of the Books of Moses, is evident from the ceaseless efforts they are making to depreciate their worth. To the Church this testimony has been as conclusive during the last nineteen centuries, as it was to the Jew during the sixteen centuries which preceded the Christian dispensation. And the language of our blessed Master in the parable of Dives and Lazarus is peculiarly applicable in the present day,-"If they hear not Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead." By which Christ teaches us that the Books of Moses, as well as the Prophets, contain such internal proof of their divine origin, that, though all the dead were to arise to convince an unbeliever of the truths therein declared, the conviction could not be greater, nor the proof more evident, of the truth of those sacred records, than that which they themselves afford. Faith, sincere and genuine faith, is satisfied with such proofs as God in His word is pleased to bestow. Infidelity, like the horse-leech, never has enough. CORRESPONDENCE. INSPIRATION. To the Editor of the Christian Observer. SIR,-One argument, and I think the main one, with those who contend for a strictly verbal inspiration of the Bible, is, that supposing the revelation to be from God, but the language to be that of men, superintended indeed by the Holy Spirit, and preserved from error in their apprehension of the things revealed, but left to record those things in their own natural style and language, the mind would be left in doubt and perplexity as to the authority of the record, whether it be divine or human, or a compound of both. Now, inasmuch as the divine idea, though in the word, is not the word, but the sense and meaning of the word, which in many cases is to be collected by the ordinary methods of comparison and research, i. e., by the exercise of the human faculties of reason and judgment, I do not see what would be gained by the concession of this point, unless we possessed an infallible standard for the interpretation of the language used by the sacred writers, so as to divest every word of Scripture of the slightest shade of ambiguity. But this would necessitate a second revelation; which, consisting, as it needs must, of words subject to the same conditions as before, would leave the difficulty just where it was. Take, e.g., the word dikaioσurn, and the whole family of its congeners, δίκαιος, δικαιόω, δικαίωσις, δικαίωμα, &c. &c., who will presume to say whether, in the several places in which it occurs, the word dikatooúrn is to be understood in a strictly moral or a strictly forensic sense? And if it be answered, that the context will determine this, then the meaning of the context, which consists of words, will have to be determined by the methods already indicated with the same fallible results. The like ambiguity attaches to the co-derivatives of dikaιoovn. Again, take the family of words of which κρίσις, κρίμα, κρίνειν, κρίνεσθαι, κατάκριμα, &c., are specimens, who will undertake to assign a precise, positive, and unquestionable meaning to all or any of these words, which are susceptible of various significations, and for which, in fact, a considerable latitude and wide divergence of meaning has been assumed by the translators of our Bible? It appears therefore to me that, so far as the divine authority of the Bible is concerned, nothing is gained by the concession of its strictly verbal inspiration, but rather that a new element of difficulty is imported into the question, only adding to its complication, without bringing it one jot nearer to the mark of an unmistakable and infallibly authoritative divine revelation. I may add, that in my own opinion, the divine authority of the Bible is not in the slightest degree impugned by the supposition that the sacred writers were left, under the superintending control of the Holy Spirit, to record in their own language the truths which were supernaturally revealed to them.-I am Sir, yours faithfully, JOHN EDMUnd Carr. The Oatwoods, near Derby; THE EXCOMMUNICATE. To the Editor of the Christian Observer. SIR,-I. The Rubric prefixed before the Office "for the Burial of the Dead," states that it "is not to be used for any that die unbaptized, or excommunicate, or have laid violent hands upon themselves." I have known instances where the above directions have been strictly observed both with regard to the unbaptized, and to the suicide; but I have never known or heard of its being complied with in our time in the case of any excommunicated person, and I am not aware if there is in this country any one that has been legally placed in that condition, nor what the law of excommunication is, nor what the result and consequences would really be to an individual under its sentence. II. History informs us of the dire and sad results attending Excommunication in past ages. King John would not sanction or acquiesce in the election of Cardinal Langton to the Archbishoprick of Canterbury, therefore Pope Innocent III. commissioned three prelates to lay "an Interdict upon the whole kingdom. Immediately divine service ceased in all the churches, and the sacraments were no longer administered except to infants and dying persons. Public prayers, and all ecclesiastical functions, were laid aside. The churchyards were shut up, and the bodies of the dead thrown into ditches like dogs, without any priest daring or being willing to assist at the funerals." (Rapin.) "The sentence of interdict was at that time the great instrument of vengeance and policy employed by the court of Rome; was denounced against sovereigns for the lightest offences; and made the guilt of one person involve the ruin of millions, even in their spiritual and eternal welfare. The execution of it was calculated to strike the senses in the highest degree, and to operate with irresistible force on the superstitious minds of the people. The nation was of a sudden deprived of all exterior exercises of its religion, &c." (Hume.) Surely, how directly contrary to Christian charity and the spirit of the Gospel were these proceedings of him who styled himself the Vicar of Jesus Christ on earth. In a later age, the excommunication of Queen Elizabeth by the pope happily had lost its power, and our religious liberties and privileges as Protestants were preserved. In the present day, the reigning pope presumes to excommunicate those he considers his political enemies; for I read in the Times a few days since, that the children of Prince Napoleon Buonaparte and the Princess Clotilde remain unbaptized, their grandfather King Victor Emmanuel, having (together with his subjects) been cut off from the communion of the church, is not allowed to act as their sponsor, and accordingly the Archbishop of Paris declines to baptize them. How long will kings and princes submit to this tyranny? III. The Bishop of Salisbury, in his recent Charge, expresses his general satisfaction with the state of his diocese as contained in answer to his inquiries addressed to the rural deans, officiating ministers, and churchwardens within its jurisdiction, with one exception, namely, that made or rather omitted by the churchwardens with "regard to the morals of their fellow parishioners;" but he considers that there is some excuse for them in not complying with his request in this particular, under present circumstances, arising from what he considers the defective state of church discipline. His lordship, in his Charge, says, "I am not, however, on this account, prepared to expunge these two Articles of Inquiry; for though we have been for some time under the necessity of foregoing the ancient discipline, my own wishes and hopes remain in entire accordance with our church on this subject; and I look to and desire the coming of the time when 'faith in the reality and grievous effect of excommunication' will have been thus far restored as to make it possible so to use church courts and church laws, that persons convicted of notorious sin may be put to open penance, and punished in this world, that their souls may be saved in the day of the Lord.'" As a plain and unlearned man, I know not what the law on the subject is; but whatever it may be, it is become obsolete from disuse, and it would be highly impolitic at the present day again to enforce it. It would be laying an onerous duty on churchwardens to call upon them to make returns to the spiritual courts of the notorious sinners and scandalous offenders residing in their parishes, and one that they would not willingly comply with. Churchwardens are not always elected on account of their moral worth or Christian character, but from the position they hold among their fellow-parishioners, and possibly some of them not very strict in their own morals. I cannot comprehend how " persons convicted of notorious sin" will be "saved in the day of the Lord," by their merely being "put to open penance, and punished in this world," without they truly repent of their "manifold sins and wickedness," and forsake their evil ways. We do not sce that punishment necessarily produces a salutary effect on hardened criminals. The question arises, who are to be amenable to "Church Courts and Church Laws," all classes of the community, or only those who are considered to belong to the Established Church? I do not see how dissenters are to be interfered with who own no allegiance to the laws of the Church, neither would they submit to them. Ecclesiastical Courts are in no great favour at present; and should these obsolete laws be restored and enforced, the probability is, they will very soon be abolished altogether. There is not much fear that these practices of former ages will be renewed and prevail, and that the terrors of church courts will be much dreaded. I am truly sorry that any wish or hope should have been expressed by one whom I desire to esteem and respect, for the restoration of so undesirable and so dangerous a state of things, both with regard to the peace of the country, and the safety of our Church Establishment. AN AGED READER. UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE. [OUR readers will not have forgotten that Mr. Bull, a pious Dissenting Minister of Newport Pagnel, was the intimate friend of John Thornton, of whom a Memoir appears, together with some notices of Mr. Bull, in one of the last papers on Wilberforce and his Contemporaries. Of his letters now in our possession, some are addressed to Mrs. Carteret and Mrs. Cavendish. They were the daughters of Sir Samson Gideon. Mrs. Carteret was maid of honour to Queen Caroline, and died at the age of ninety-one; her sister died at eighty-eight. We believe there was a third sister, Lady Catherine Harvey. Some of Mr. Bull's letters are to Mrs. Peckwell, mother of Sir Henry Blossett, who died in Christian triumph some years ago after reaching Bengal as Chief Justice.-EDITOR.] "Newport, Dec. 9, '90. "DEAR AND HONOURED MADAM,-Pray make my acknowledg ments acceptable to Lady Mary, and to Mrs. Carteret and Cavendish for their kind enquiries by letter. The sickness and death of the dear departed has nearly overset me. My spirits are very low, my temper gloomy and melancholy, my natural strength abated. I loved Mr. Thornton dearly: it was no more than I owed him, for he loved me first. The shattered state of my nerves pulling one way, and the strength of my affections another, have nearly tore me to pieces. I have been very ill, but begin to get better, and hope to muster my spirits to see Claysham once more, in the first week in January, and have wrote that I must sleep in my old room, and have my pipe, &c. &c. Moreover I will, if the Lord please, also go and see my dear and honoured friends in St. James's Place; and perhaps Lady Mary will meet me, and we will think dear, dear Mr. Thornton with us as usual, and that will be comfortable. I seem to myself another man, and in another world, because he was so much my delight; but that Jesus that united us separated us for a little time, and I shall to him, though he will not return to me. I count very much of seeing him again, and he will be glad to see me. go "Mr. Thornton did not like me only for Jesus' sake, and I hope I loved him for the same reason. But you know, my dear friends, that Jesus is still the same; just exactly the same; all over beautiful, all over lovely; all over glorious is the blessed Jesus. This dear man is gone to Jesus; and you and I shall go soon, and see the Lord in His glory; and our honoured friends, Lady Smythe and Mr. Thornton, will both astonish and delight us with telling us of the hidden joys and glories of that world. We shall see all the beauty and glory of the Godhead in the person of Jesus. We shall be melted with a sense of His love, and be brighter than the sun in the firmament. "I loved Mr. Thornton dearly, but I would not give this old pen to bring him back again. No, no; true love forbids all that; he is too happy to need or to love this world again. I rejoice that he is in glory, dear, dear man of God. We shall soon be with him, and we shall love him more than ever, because he will be brim full of the love of Jesus. Mrs. Wilberforce* is very glad to see him; and above all, Jesus rejoices. 66 Pray give my duty and love to Lady Mary and Mrs. Cavendish. I commit you tenderly to the grace and love of Jesus Christ; and am, dear and honoured madam, Your most affectionate Servant, "The Hon. Mrs. Carteret." "WM. BULL." "Newport, Feb. 21, '92. "DEAR AND HONOURED MADAM,-Please to thank Mrs. Peckwell in my name for a very kind and acceptable letter. I am much obliged to her, and to you and Mrs. Cavendish for your kind remembrance of me. I am sorry to hear Mrs. Cavendish continues indisposed, but cannot help rejoicing in the sweet and comfortable frame of mind she is favoured with. This we owe to a dear and precious Jesus, because all His ways are wise, and holy, and good; and all His dealings with us are full of love to us. It is very certain that the nearer we live to Jesus the more we shall love Him; and the longer we know Him the more confidence we shall place in Him. When we recollect how many years we have experienced His tender care, His faithful promises, the more cheerfully we shall commit ourselves to Him. "One cannot look up to the Lord without admiring Him, nor look back on past experience without feeling our hearts warm towards Him. "A young Christian is occasionally indulged with nearness to Jesus, but when we have known the Lord many years, we are permitted to live near Him, to be always in His presence. Nay we are allowed to live in the Lord Jesus, and He lives in us. We live in Him by faith, and He lives in us by His Spirit; and hence we are led to love what He loves, and to hate what He hates, and to seek after just what He seeks after. "From long experience of the grace and love of Jesus, we are enabled to delight in Him, and even allowed to speak to Him whenever we please, and that without any fear or dread; but it so happens the nearer we get to heaven we have more of the spirit of prayer, and yet we have less and less to ask. Begging and praying for this and that which we want, is lost and swallowed up in blessing and praising the Lord for what we have; for we have Jesus, and what can we desire more? Christ in us the hope of glory, is all and in all; we see and feel that Jesus is our all, and having Him we want nothing. *Aunt of the philanthropist, then recently deceased. |