,transcriber's note3    ,text enclosed  
by underscores is in italics 7italics74 
,text enclosed by equal signs is in bold
 7bold74    ,small capital text has been
 replaced with all capitals4            
99       99       99       99       99  
,illustration3 cover            ,the    
,world's ,great ,sermons      ,,volume  
,v      ,,guthrie ,,to ,,mozley         
,,the    ,,world',s    ,,great          
,,sermons      ,,compiled ,,by          
,,grenville ,,kleiser      ,formerly of 
,yale ,divinity ,school ,faculty2       
,author of ,how to ,speak    in ,public1
 ,etc4      ,with ,assistance from ,many
 of the ,foremost    ,living ,preachers 
and ,other ,theologians                 
,,introduction ,,by      ,,lewis ,o4    
,,brastow1 ,d4,d4      ,professor       
,emeritus of ,practical ,theology    in 
,yale ,university      ,,in ,,ten       
,,volumes      ,,volume ,v--,,guthrie   
,,to ,,mozley      ,,funk  ,,wagnalls   
,,company    ,,new ,,york and ,,london  
,,copyright1 #aijh1 ,,by    ,,funk      

,,wagnalls ,,company    ,printed in the 
,united ,states of ,america             
,,contents      ,,volume ,v             
,,guthrie 7#ahjc-ahgc74                 
,page    ,the ,new ,heart               
#a      ,,maurice 7#ahje-ahgb74    ,the 
,valley of ,dry ,bones                  
#bc      ,,martineau 7#ahje-aijj74      
,parting ,words                         
#de      ,,manning 7#ahjh-ahib74    ,the
 ,triumph of the ,church                
#fa      ,,park 7#ahjh-aijj74    ,the   
,prominence of the ,atonement           
#hg      ,,simpson 7#ahaj-ahhd74    ,the
 ,resurrection of ,our ,lord            
#aai      ,,theodore ,,parker           
7#ahaj-ahfj74    ,the ,transient and    
,permanent in    ,christianity          
#adg      ,,macleod 7#ahab-ahgb74       
,the ,true ,christian ,ministry         
#agg      ,,mozley 7#ahac-ahgh74    ,the
 ,reversal of ,human ,judgment          
#bje          ,,guthrie    ,,the ,,new  
,,heart      ,,biographical ,,note      
,,thomas ,,guthrie1 preacher1           

philanthropist1 and social reformer1 was
  born at ,brechin1 ,forfarshire1       
,scotland1 in #ahjc4 ,he spent ten years
  at the ,university of ,edinburgh and  
was licensed to preach by the           
,presbytery of ,brechin in #ahbe4 ,in   
#ahcj he was ordained minister of       
,arbirlot4 ,after a valuable experience 
in evangelical preaching among  the     
farmers1 weavers and peasants of his    
congregation1 he became one  of the     
ministers of ,old ,greyfriars ,church1  
,edinburgh1 in #ahbg4 ,lord  ,cockburn  
described his sermons in that city as   
appealing equally  to the poor woman on 
the steps of the pulpit as to the       
stranger  attracted solely by his       
eloquence4 ,he was a great temperance   
advocate1 becoming a total abstainer in 
#ahdd1 and has been styled  the apostle 
of the ragged school movement4 ,retiring
 from the  active work of the ministry  
in #ahfd1 he still remained in public   
life until he died in #ahgc4 ,through   
long practise1 ,dr4 ,guthrie  delivered 

his memorized discourses as tho they    
fell spontaneously  from his lips4 ,his 
voice has been described as powerful and
 musical4  ,he was fond of vivid        
illustration1 and even on his death bed1
 as  he lay dying in the arms of his    
sons1 he exclaimed3 ,i am just as       
helpless in your arms now as you once   
were in mine4          ,,guthrie        
#ahjc-ahgc    ,,the ,,new ,,heart    ,a 
new heart also will ,i give you1 and a  
new spirit will ,i put  within you2 and 
,i will take away the stony heart out of
 your flesh1  and ,i will give you an   
heart of flesh4--,ezekiel xxxvi41 #bf4  
,as in a machine where the parts all fit
 each other1 and1 bathed in  oil1 move  
without din or discord1 the most perfect
 harmony reigns  throughout the kingdom 
of grace4 ,jesus ,christ is the wisdom1 
as  well as the power of ,god2 nor in   
this kingdom is anything found          
corresponding to the anomalies and      
incongruities of the world lying        
without4 ,there we sometimes see a high 

station disgraced by a man of  low      
habits2 while others are doomed to an   
inferior condition1 who  would shine    
like gilded ornaments on the very       
pinnacles of society4  ,that beautiful  
congruity in ,christ's kingdom is       
secured by those who  are the objects of
 saving mercy being so renewed and      
sanctified that  their nature is in     
harmony with their position1 and the man
 within  corresponds to all without4    
,observe how this property of new runs  
through the whole economy  of grace4    
,when mercy first rose upon this world1 
an attribute of  ,divinity appeared     
which was new to the eyes of men and    
angels4  ,again1 the ,savior was born of
 a virgin2 and ,he who came forth from a
  womb where no child had been          
previously conceived1 was sepulchered   
in a tomb where no man had been         
previously interred4 ,the infant had  a 
new birthplace1 the crucified had a new 
burial-place4 ,again1 ,jesus  is the    
mediator of a new covenant1 the author  

of a new testament1  the founder of a   
new faith4 ,again1 the redeemed receive 
a new name2  they sing a new song2 their
 home is not to be in the old1 but in   
the new1 ,jerusalem1 where they shall   
dwell on a new earth1 and walk  in glory
 beneath a new heaven4 ,now it were     
surely strange1 when  all things else   
are new1 if they themselves were not to 
partake of  this general renovation4    
,nor strange only1 for such a change is 
indispensable4 ,a new name without a new
 nature were an imposture4  ,it were not
 more an untruth to call a lion a lamb1 
or the rapacious  vulture by the name of
 the gentle dove1 than to give the title
 of  sons of ,god to the venomous seed  
of the serpent4    ,then1 again1 unless 
man received a new nature1 how could he 
sing the  new song8 ,the raven1 perched 
on the rock1 where she whets her bloody 
beak1 and impatiently watches the dying 
struggles of some unhappy  lamb can not 
tune her croaking voice to the rich1    
mellow music of a  thrush2 and1 since it

 is out of the abundance of the heart   
that the  mouth speaketh1 how could a   
sinner take up the strain and sing the  
song of saints8 ,besides1 unless a man  
were a new creature1 he were  out of    
place in the new creation4 ,in          
circumstances neither adapted  to his   
nature1 nor fitted to minister to his   
happiness1 a sinner  in heaven would    
find himself as much out of his element 
as a finny  inhabitant of the deep1 or a
 sightless burrower in the soil1 beside 
an eagle1 soaring in the sky1 or        
surveying her wide domain from the      
mountain crag4    ,in the works of ,god 
we see nothing more beautiful than the  
divine  skill with which ,he suits ,his 
creatures to their condition4 ,he  gives
 wings to birds1 fins to fishes1 sails  
to the thistle-seed1 a  lamp to light   
the glowworm1 great roots to moor the   
cedar1 and to  the aspiring ivy her     
thousand hands to climb the wall4 ,nor  
is the  wisdom so conspicuous in nature1
 less remarkable and adorable in the    

kingdom of grace4 ,he forms a holy      
people for a holy heaven--fits  heaven  
for them1 and them for heaven4 ,and     
calling up ,his ,son to  prepare the    
mansions for their tenants1 and sending 
down ,his ,spirit  to prepare the       
tenants for their mansions1 ,he thus    
establishes a  perfect harmony between  
the new creature and the new creation4  
,you can not have two hearts beating in 
the same bosom1 else you  would be1 not 
a man1 but a monster4 ,therefore1 the   
very first thing  to be done1 in order  
to make things new1 is just to take that
 which  is old out of the way4 ,and the 
taking away of the old heart is1  after 
all1 but a preparatory process4 ,it is a
 means1 but not the  end4 ,for1 strange 
as it may at first sound1 he is not     
religious who  is without sin4 ,a dead  
man is without sin2 and he is sinless1  
who  lies buried in dreamless slumber1  
so long as his eyes are sealed4  ,now1  
,god requires more than a negative      
religion4 ,piety1 like fire1  light1    

electricity1 magnetism1 is an active1   
not a passive element2  it has a        
positive1 not merely a negative         
existence4 ,for how is pure  and        
undefiled religion defined8 ,pure       
religion and undefiled is to  visit the 
fatherless and widows in their          
affliction4 ,and on whom  does ,jesus   
pronounce ,his beatitude8 ,if ye know   
these things1 happy  are ye if ye do    
them4 ,and what is the sum of practical 
piety--the  most portable form in which 
you can put an answer to ,saul's        
question1 ,lord1 what wouldst thou have 
me to do8 ,what but this1  ,depart from 
evil1 and do good4 ,therefore1 while    
,god promises to  take the stony heart  
out of our flesh1 ,he promises more4 ,in
 taking  away one heart1 ,he engages to 
supply us with another2 and to this     
further change and onward stage in the  
process of redemption1 ,i now  proceed  
to turn your attention4    ,by way of   
general observation1 ,i remark that our 
affections are  engaged in religion4 ,an

 oak--not as it stands choked up in the 
crowded wood1 with room neither to      
spread nor breathe1 but as it  stands in
 the open field1 swelling out below     
where it anchors its  roots in the      
ground1 and swelling out above where it 
stretches  its arms into the            
air1--presents us with the most perfect 
form of  firmness1 self-support1 stout  
and sturdy independence4 ,so perfectly  
formed1 indeed1 is the monarch of the   
forest to stand alone1 and  fight its   
own battles with the elements1 that the 
architect of  the ,bell ,rock lighthouse
 is said to have borrowed his idea of   
its  form from ,god in nature1 and that1
 copying the work of a divine           
,architect1 he took the trunk of the oak
 as the model of a building  which was  
to stand the blast of the storm1 and the
 swell of the  winter seas4    ,observe1
 that although the state of the natural 
affections does  not furnish any certain
 evidence of conversion1 it is the glory
  of piety that these are strengthened1 

elevated1 sanctified by the  change4    
,the lover of ,god will be the kindest1 
best1 wisest lover  of his              
fellow-creatures4 ,the heart that has   
room in it for ,god1  grows so large1   
that it finds room for all ,god's train1
 for all  that ,he loves1 and for all   
that ,he has made2 so that the ,church1 
with all its denominations of true      
,christians1 the world1 with all  its   
perishing sinners1 nay1 all the worlds  
which ,he has created1  find orbit-room 
to move1 as in an expansive universe1   
within the  capacious enlargement of a  
believer's heart4 ,for while the love of
  sin acts as an astringent--contracting
 the dimensions of the natural  heart1  
shutting and shriveling it up--the love 
of ,god expands and  enlarges its       
capacity4 ,piety quickens the pulse of  
love1 warms and  strengthens our heart1 
and sends forth fuller streams of       
natural  affection toward all that have 
a claim on us1 just as a strong and     
healthy heart sends tides of blood along

 the elastic arteries to  every         
extremity of the body4    ,this new     
heart1 however1 mainly consists in a    
change of the  affections as they regard
 spiritual objects4 ,without again      
traveling  over ground which we have    
already surveyed1 just look at the heart
  and feelings of an unconverted man4   
,his mind being carnal1 is enmity  or   
hatred against ,god4 ,this may be       
latent1 not at first sight  apparent1   
nor suspected1 but how soon does it     
appear when put to the  proof8 ,fairly  
tried1 it comes out like those unseen   
elements which  chemical tests reveal4  
,let ,god1 for instance1 by ,his        
providences or  laws1 thwart the wishes 
or cross the propensities of our        
unrenewed  nature--let there be a       
collision between ,his will and         
ours--and the  latent enmity flashes out
 like latent fire when the cold black   
flint  is struck with steel4    ,in     
conversion ,god gives a new spirit4     
,conversion does not bestow  new        

faculties4 ,it does not turn a weak man 
into a philosopher4  ,yet1 along with   
our affections1 the temper1 the will1   
the judgment  partake of this great and 
holy change4 ,thus1 while the heart     
ceases  to be dead1 the head1           
illuminated by a light within1 ceases to
 be  dark2 the understanding is         
enlightened2 the will is renewed2 and   
our  whole temper is sweetened and      
sanctified by the ,spirit of ,god4 ,to  
consider these in their order1 ,i       
remark--    ,by this change the         
understanding and judgment are          
enlightened4  ,sin is the greatest      
folly1 and the sinner the greatest fool 
in  the world4 ,there is no such madness
 in the most fitful lunacy4  ,think of a
 man risking eternity and his           
everlasting happiness on  the uncertain 
chance of surviving another year4 ,think
 of a man  purchasing a momentary       
pleasure at the cost of endless pain4   
,think  of a dying man living as if he  
were never to die4 ,is there a convert  

to ,god who looks back upon his         
unconverted state1 and does not say     
with ,david1 ,lord1 ,i was as a beast   
before ,thee4    ,now conversion not    
only restores ,god to the heart1 but    
reason  also to her throne4 ,time and   
eternity are now seen in their just     
proportions--in their right relative    
dimensions2 the one in its  littleness1 
and the other in its greatness4 ,when   
the light of heaven  rises on the soul1 
what grand discoveries does she make--of
 the  exceeding evil of sin1 of the     
holiness of the divine law1 of the      
infinite purity of divine justice1 of   
the grace and greatness of  divine love4
 ,on ,sinai's summit and on ,calvary's  
cross1 what new1  sublime1 affecting    
scenes open on her astonished eyes6 ,she
 now1 as  by one convulsive bound1 leaps
 to the conclusion that salvation is    
the one thing needful1 and that if a man
 will give all he hath for  the life    
that now is1 much more should he part   
with all for the life  to come4 ,the    

,savior and ,satan1 the soul and body1  
holiness and sin1  have competing       
claims4 ,between these reason now holds 
the balance  even1 and man finds1 in the
 visit of converting grace1 what the    
demoniac found in ,jesus' advent4 ,the  
man whose dwelling was among  the tombs1
 whom no chains could bind1 is seated at
 the feet of  ,jesus1 clothed1 and in   
his right mind4    ,by this change the  
will is renewed4 ,bad men are worse1 and
 good men  are better than they appear4 
,in conversion the will is so changed   
and sanctified1 that altho a pious man  
is in some respects less1  in other     
respects he is more holy than the world 
gives him credit  for4 ,the attainments 
of a believer are always beneath his    
aims2 his  desires are nobler than his  
deeds2 his wishes are holier than his   
works4 ,give other men their will1 full 
swing to their passions1 and  they would
 be worse than they are2 give that to   
him1 and he would be  better than he is4
 ,and if you have experienced the       

gracious change1  it will be your daily 
grief that you are not what you not only
 know  you should be1 but what you wish 
to be4 ,to be complaining with  ,paul1  
,when ,i would do good1 evil is present 
with me2 that which ,i  would ,i do not1
 and what ,i would not1 that ,i do1 is  
one of the best  evidences of a         
gracious1 saving change4    ,children of
 ,god6 let not your souls be cast down4 
,this struggle  between the new will and
 the old man--painful and prolonged     
altho  it be--proves beyond all doubt   
the advent of the ,holy ,spirit4 ,until 
the ,savior appeared there was no sword 
drawn1 nor blood shed in  ,bethlehem1   
nor murderous decree issued against its 
innocents--they  slept safely in their  
mothers' bosoms1 ,herod enjoyed his     
security  and pleasure1 and ,rachel rose
 not from her grave to weep for her     
children because they were not4         
,christ's coming rouses all the  devil  
in the soul4 ,the fruits of holy peace  
are reaped with swords  on the fields of

 war2 and this struggle within your     
breast proves  that grace1 even in its  
infancy a cradled ,savior1 is engaged in
  strangling the old ,serpent4 ,when the
 shadow of calamity falls on  many      
homes1 and the tidings of victory come  
with sad news to many  a family1 and the
 brave are lying thick in the deadly    
breach1 men  comfort us by saying1 that 
there are things worse than war4 ,that  
is  emphatically true of this holy war4 
,rejoice that the peace of death  is    
gone4    ,by conversion the temper and  
disposition are changed and sanctified4 
,christians are occasionally to be found
 with a tone of mind and a  temper as   
little calculated to recommend their    
faith as to promote  their happiness4 ,i
 believe that there are cases in which  
this is  due to a deranged condition of 
the nervous system1 or the presence  of 
disease in some other vital organ4      
,these unhappy persons are  more        
deserving of our pity than our censure4 
,this is not only the  judgment of      

,christian charity1 but of sound        
philosophy1 and is a  conclusion to     
which we are conducted in studying the  
union between  mind and body1 and the   
manner in which they act and re-act upon
 each  other4 ,so long as grace dwells  
in a vile body1 which is the seat  of   
frequent disorder and many              
diseases--these infirmities of temper   
admit no more1 perhaps1 of being        
entirely removed1 than a defect of      
speech1 or any physical deformity4 ,the 
good temper for which some  take credit 
may be the result of good health and a  
well-developed  frame--a physical more  
than a moral virtue2 and an ill temper1 
springing from bad health1 or an        
imperfect organization1 may be a        
physical rather than a moral            
defect--giving its victim a claim on    
our charity and forbearance4 ,but1      
admitting this apology for the  unhappy 
tone and temper of some pious men1 the  
true ,christian will  bitterly bewail   
his defect1 and1 regretting his         

infirmity more than  others do a        
deformity1 he will carefully guard and  
earnestly pray  against it4 ,considering
 it as a thorn in his flesh1 a messenger
  of ,satan sent to buffet him1 it will 
often send him to his knees  in prayer  
to ,god1 that the grace which conquers  
nature may be made  sufficient for him4 
,i pray you to cultivate the temper that
 was in ,jesus ,christ4 ,is he  like a  
follower of the ,lamb who is raging like
 a roaring lion8 ,is  he like a pardoned
 criminal who sits moping with a cloud  
upon his  brow8 ,is he like an heir of  
heaven1 like a man destined to a crown1 
who is vexed and fretted with some petty
 loss8 ,is he like one in  whose bosom  
the dove of heaven is nestling1 who is  
full of all  manner of bile and         
bitterness8 ,oh1 let the same mind be in
 you that  was in ,jesus4 ,a kind1      
catholic1 gentle1 loving temper is one  
of the  most winning features of        
religion2 and by its silent and         
softening  influence you will do more   

real service to ,christianity than by   
the loudest professions1 or the         
exhibition of a cold and skeleton       
orthodoxy4 ,let it appear in you1 that  
it is with the believer under  the      
influence of the ,spirit as with fruit  
ripened beneath the genial  influences  
of heaven's dews and sunbeams4 ,at first
 hard1 it grows  soft2 at first sour1 it
 becomes sweet2 at first green1 it      
assumes  in time a rich and mellow      
color2 at first adhering tenaciously to 
the tree1 when it becomes ripe1 it is   
ready to drop at the slightest  touch4  
,so with the man who is ripening for    
heaven4 ,his affections  and temper grow
 sweet1 soft1 mellow1 loose from earth  
and earthly  things4 ,he comes away     
readily to the hand of death1 and leaves
 the  world without a wrench4    ,in    
conversion ,god gives a heart of flesh4 
,i will give you a heart  of flesh4     
,near by a stone1 a mass of rock that   
had fallen from the overhanging  crag1  
which had some wild flowers growing in  

its fissures1 and  on its top the       
foxglove1 with its spike of beautiful   
but deadly  flowers1 we once came upon  
an adder as it lay in ribbon coil1      
basking on the sunny ground4 ,at our    
approach the reptile stirred1  uncoiled 
itself1 and raising its venomous head1  
with eyes like  burning coals1 it shook 
its cloven tongue1 and1 hissing1 gave   
signs of battle4 ,attacked1 it          
retreated2 and1 making for that gray    
stone1 wormed itself into a hole in its 
side4 ,its nest and home  were there4   
,and in looking on that shattered       
rock--fallen from its  primeval         
elevation--with its flowery but fatal   
charms1 the home  and nest of the adder1
 where nothing grew but poisoned beauty1
 and  nothing dwelt but a poisoned      
brood1 it seemed to us an emblem of     
that heart which the text describes as a
 stone1 which experience  proves is a   
habitation of devils1 and which the     
prophet pronounces  to be desperately   
wicked4 ,i have already explained why   

the heart  is described as a stone4 ,it 
is cold as a stone2 hard as a stone2    
dead and insensible as a stone4 ,now1 as
 by the term flesh we  understand       
qualities the very opposite of these1 ,i
 therefore remark  that--    ,in        
conversion a man gets a warm heart4     
,let us restrict ourselves to a single  
example4 ,when faith receives  the      
,savior1 how does the heart warm to     
,jesus ,christ6 ,there is music  in ,his
 name4 ,his name is an ointment poured  
forth4 ,all the old  indifference to    
,his cause1 ,his people1 and the        
interests of ,his  kingdom1 has passed  
away2 and now these have the warmest    
place in a  believer's bosom1 and are   
the object of its strongest and         
tenderest  affections4 ,the only place1 
alas6 that religion has in the hearts   
of many is a burial-place2 but the      
believer can say with ,paul1  ,christ   
liveth in me4 ,nor is his heart like the
 cottage of ,bethany1  favored only with
 occasional visits4 ,jesus abides there 

in the  double character of guest and   
master1 its most loving and best loved  
inmate2 and there is a difference as    
great between that heart as it  is1 and 
that heart as it was1 as between the    
warm bosom where the  ,infant slept or  
smiled in ,mary's arms and the dark1    
cold sepulcher  where weeping followers 
laid and left the ,crucified4    ,is    
there such a heart in you8 ,do you      
appreciate ,christ's matchless          
excellences8 ,having cast away every sin
 to embrace him1 do you set  him above  
your chiefest joy8 ,would you leave     
father1 mother1 wife1  children1 to     
follow ,him1 with bleeding feet1 over   
life's roughest  path8 ,rather than part
 with ,him1 would you part with a       
thousand  worlds8 ,were ,he now on      
earth1 would you leave a throne to stoop
  and tie ,his latchet8 ,if ,i might so 
speak1 would you be proud to  carry ,his
 shoes8 ,then1 indeed1 you have got the 
new1 warm heart  of flesh4 ,the new love
 of ,christ1 and the old love of the    

world1  may still meet in opposing      
currents2 but in the war and strife of  
these antagonistic principles1 the      
celestial shall overpower the           
terrestrial1 as1 at the river's mouth1  
,i have seen the ocean tide1  when it   
came rolling in with a thousand billows 
at its back1 fill  all the channel1     
carry all before its conquering swell1  
dam up the  fresh water of the land1 and
 drive it back with resistless power4   
,in conversion a man gets a soft heart4 
,as flesh1 it is soft and sensitive4 ,it
 is flesh1 and can be  wounded or       
healed4 ,it is flesh1 and feels alike   
the kiss of kindness  and the rod of    
correction4 ,it is flesh2 and no longer 
a stone1  hard1 obdurate1 impenetrable  
to the genial influences of heaven4  ,a 
hard block of ice1 it has yielded to the
 beams of the sun1 and  been melted into
 flowing water4 ,how are you moved now1 
stirred now1  quickened now1 sanctified 
now1 by truths once felt no more than   
dews falling out of starry heavens1 in  

soft silence upon rugged  rock4 ,the    
heart of grace is endowed with a        
delicate sensibility1 and  vibrates to  
the slightest touch of a ,savior's      
fingers4 ,how does the  truth of ,god   
affect it now6 ,a stone no longer1 it   
melts under the  heavenly fire--a stone 
no longer1 it bends beneath the hammer  
of the  word2 no longer like the rugged 
rock1 on which rains and sunbeams  were 
wasted1 it receives the impression of   
,god's power1 and retains  the          
footprints of ,his presence4 ,like the  
flowers that close their  eyes at night1
 but waken at the voice of morning1 like
 the earth  that gapes in summer        
drought1 the new heart opens to receive 
the  bounties of grace and the gifts of 
heaven4 ,have you experienced such  a   
change8 ,in proof and evidence of its   
reality1 is ,david's language  yours--,i
 have stretched out my hands unto thee4 
,my soul thirsteth  after thee as a     
thirsty land8    ,in conversion a man   
gets a living heart4    ,the perfection 

of this life is death--it is dead to be 
sin1 but  alive to righteousness1 alive 
to ,christ1 alive to everything which   
touches ,his honor1 and crown1 and      
kingdom4 ,with ,christ living in  his   
heart1 the believer feels that now he is
 not himself1 not his  own2 and1 as     
another's1 the grand object of his life 
is to live to  ,christ4 ,he reckons him 
an object worth living for1 had he a    
thousand  lives to live2 worth dying    
for1 had he a thousand deaths to die4   
,he  says with ,paul1 ,i am crucified   
with ,christ1 nevertheless ,i live4  ,in
 the highest sense alive1 he is dead1   
dead to things he was once  alive to2   
and he wishes that he were more dead to 
them1 thoroughly  dead4 ,he wishes that 
he could look on the seductions of the  
world1  and sin's voluptuous charms1    
with the cold1 unmoved stare of death1  
and that these had no more power to     
kindle a desire in him than in  the icy 
bosom of a corpse4 ,understandest thou  
what thou readest8    ,it is a mark of  

grace that the believer1 in his progress
 heavenward1  grows more and more alive 
to the claims of ,jesus4 ,if you know   
the  love of ,christ1 ,his is the latest
 name you will desire to utter2  ,his is
 the latest thought you will desire to  
form2 upon ,him you will  fix your last 
look on earth2 upon ,him your first in  
heaven4 ,when  memory is oblivious of   
all other objects--when all that        
attracted  the natural eye is wrapt in  
the mists of death1 when the tongue is  
cleaving to the roof of our mouth1 and  
speech is gone1 and sight is  gone1 and 
hearing gone1 and the right hand1 lying 
powerless by our  side1 has lost its    
cunning1 ,jesus6 then may we remember   
,thee6 ,if the  shadows of death are to 
be thrown in deepest darkness on the    
valley1  when we are passing along it to
 glory1 may it be ours to die like  that
 saint1 beside whose bed wife and       
children once stood1 weeping  over the  
wreck of faded faculties1 and a blank1  
departed memory4 ,one  had asked him1   

,father1 do you remember me8 and        
received no answer2  and another1 and   
another1 but still no answer4 ,and then1
 all making  way for the venerable      
companion of a long and loving          
pilgrimage--the  tender partner of many 
a past joy and sorrow1 his wife draws   
near4  ,she bends over him1 and as her  
tears fall thick upon his face1 she     
cries1 ,do you not remember me8 ,a      
stare1 but it is vacant4 ,there  is no  
soul in that filmy eye2 and the seal of 
death lies upon these  lips4 ,the sun is
 down1 and life's brief twilight is     
darkening fast  into a starless night4  
,at this moment1 one calm enough to     
remember  how the love of ,christ's     
spouse is strong as death1 a love that  
many waters can not quench1 stooped to  
his ear1 and said1 ,do  you remember    
,jesus ,christ8 ,the word was no sooner 
uttered than it  seemed to recall the   
spirit1 hovering for a moment1 ere it   
took  wing to heaven4 ,touched as by an 
electric influence1 the heart beat  once

 more to the name of ,jesus2 the        
features1 fixt in death1 relax2  the    
countenance1 dark in death1 flushes up  
like the last gleam of  day2 and1 with a
 smile in which the soul passed away to 
glory1 he  replied1 ,remember ,jesus    
,christ6 dear ,jesus ,christ6 ,he is all
 my  salvation1 and all my desire4      
,by conversion man is ennobled4         
,while infidelity regards man as a mere 
animal1 to be dissolved at  death into  
ashes and air1 and vice changes man into
 a brute or  devil1 ,mammon enslaves    
him4 ,she makes him a serf1 and condemns
 him  to be a gold-digger for life in   
the mines4 ,she puts her collar  on his 
neck1 and locks it2 and bending his head
 to the soil1 and  bathing his brow in  
sweat1 she says1 ,toil1 toil1 toil2 as  
if this  creature1 originally made in   
the image of ,god1 this dethroned and   
exiled monarch1 to save whom the ,son of
 ,god descended from the  skies1 and    
bled on ,calvary1 were a living machine1
 constructed of  sinew1 bone1 and       

muscle1 and made for no higher end than 
to work to  live1 and live to work4     
,contrast with these the benign aspect  
in which the gospel looks  on man4      
,religion descends from heaven to break 
our chains4 ,she  alone raises me from  
degradation1 and bids me lift my        
drooping  head1 and look up to heaven4  
,yes2 it is that very gospel which by   
some is supposed to present such dark1  
degrading1 gloomy views of  man and his 
destiny1 which lifts me from the dust to
 set me among  princes--on a level with 
angels--in a sense above them4 ,to say  
nothing of the divine nobility grace    
imparts to a soul which is  stamped anew
 with the likeness and image of ,god1   
how sacred and  venerable does even this
 body appear in the eye of piety6 ,no   
longer  a form of animated dust2 no     
longer the subject of passions shared in
  common with the brutes2 no longer the 
drudge and slave of ,mammon1  the once  
vile body rises into a temple of the    
,holy ,ghost4 ,vile in  one sense it may

 be2 yet what1 although it be covered   
with sores8  ,what1 although it be      
clothed in rags8 ,what1 although1 in    
unseemly  decrepitude1 it want its fair 
proportions8 ,that poor1 sickly1        
shattered form is the casket of a       
precious jewel4 ,this mean and          
crumbling tabernacle lodges a guest     
nobler than palaces may boast  of2      
angels hover around its walls2 the      
,spirit of ,god dwells within  it4 ,what
 an incentive to holiness1 to purity of 
life and conduct1  lies in the fact that
 the body of a saint is the temple of   
,god1  a truer1 nobler temple than that 
which ,solomon dedicated by his         
prayers1 and ,jesus consecrated ,his    
presence6 ,in popish cathedrals1  where 
the light streamed through painted      
window1 and the organ  pealed along     
lofty aisles1 and candles gleamed on    
golden cups and  silver crosses1 and    
incense floated in fragrant clouds1 we  
have  seen the blinded worshiper uncover
 his head1 drop reverently on his       

knees1 and raise his awestruck eye on   
the imposing spectacle2 we  have seen   
him kiss the marble floor1 and knew that
 sooner would he  be smitten dead upon  
that floor than be guilty of defiling   
it4 ,how  does this devotee rebuke us6  
,we wonder at his superstition2 how may 
he wonder at our profanity6 ,can we look
 on the lowly veneration he  expresses  
for an edifice which has been erected by
 some dead man's  genius1 which holds   
but some image of a deified virgin1 or  
bones of  a canonized saint1 and which1 
proudly as it raises its cathedral      
towers1 time shall one day cast to the  
ground1 and bury in the  dust2 can we1  
,i say1 look on that1 and1 if sensible  
to rebuke1  not feel reproved by the    
spectacle8 ,in how much more respect1 in
  how much holier veneration should we  
hold this body8 ,the shrine  of         
immortality1 and a temple dedicated to  
the ,son of ,god1 it is  consecrated by 
the presence of the ,spirit--a living   
temple1 over  whose porch the eye of    

piety reads what the finger of          
inspiration  has written3 ,if any man   
defile the temple of ,god1 him shall    
,god  destroy2 for the temple of ,god is
 holy1 which temple ye are4             
,,maurice    ,,the ,,valley ,,of ,,dry  
,,bones      ,,biographical ,,note      
,,frederick ,,denison ,,maurice1        
,english divine and author1 was born in 
#ahje4 ,he was the son of a ,unitarian  
clergyman1 and after studying  in       
,cambridge began a literary career in   
,london1 where his friend  ,coleridge   
and others persuaded him to take orders 
in the ,church of  ,england4 ,in #ahcf  
he was appointed chaplain to ,guy's     
,hospital4 ,in  #ahdj he was elected    
professor of ,english literature and    
history  and in #ahdf of divinity at    
,king's ,college1 ,london1 but lost both
  positions in #ahec because of his     
radical views4 ,he was professor of     
moral philosophy at ,cambridge from     
#ahfj until his death in #ahgb4         
,,maurice    #ahje-ahgb    ,,the        

,,valley ,,of ,,dry ,,bones    ,the hand
 of the ,lord was upon me1 and carried  
me out in the spirit  of the ,lord1 and 
set me down in the midst of the valley  
which was  full of bones1 and caused me 
to pass by them round about4 ,and behold
  there were very many in the open      
valley1 and lo1 they were very  dry4    
,and he said unto me1 ,son of man1 can  
these bones live8 ,and ,i  answered1 ,o 
,lord ,god1 thou knowest4--,,ezek4      
xxxvii41 #a-c4      ,we are naturally   
curious to know whether two contemporary
 prophets  ever conversed with each     
other4 ,in ,micah we found such evident 
indications of sympathy with the mind of
 ,isaiah as warranted the  supposition  
that he was his pupil4 ,i can not trace 
any signs of  a similar relation1 or    
indeed of any personal relation1 between
  ,jeremiah and ,ezekiel4 ,tho they were
 passing through the same crisis2  tho  
they had both to witness the evils which
 were destroying their  nation2 both to 
share its miseries2 tho the false       

prophets were the  common enemies of    
both2 yet their circumstances1 their    
character1  and their work were entirely
 distinct1 in some points even          
contrasted4 ,their very differences1    
however1 show us that they were  both   
alike prophets and priests4    ,the     
,book of ,lamentations exhibits the     
spirit of the individual man  ,jeremiah 
more transparently than his longer book1
 which is so mixed  up with historical  
details1 with anticipations of a ruin   
not yet  accomplished1 with hopes1      
however faint and soon dispelled1 of a  
national repentance4 ,most of those whom
 the prophet had denounced  were        
banished or dead4 ,men could talk no    
more about the temple of  the ,lord1    
could boast no more that the word of the
 ,lord was with  them2 the vessel which 
the potter was shaping had been broken  
to  pieces4 ,the sadness of the prophet1
 which had been checked sometimes  by   
indignation1 sometimes by the           
consciousness of a word which must      

still be spoken1 of a work which must be
 done1 became complete and  absorbing4  
,heretofore his intense sympathy with   
his country might  seem to be qualified 
by his lively apprehension of its       
crimes2  now both feelings were blended 
into one4 ,when he looked upon the      
desolation of the city there sat upon   
his soul a weight of sorrow  and evil1  
as if he were representing his whole    
people1 as if there  was no wrong which 
they had committed1 no evil habits which
 they  had contracted1 which did not    
cling to him1 for which he was not      
responsible4 ,and this was no imaginary 
fictitious state of mind into  which he 
had worked himself4 ,god had made him   
inwardly conscious of  the very         
corruptions which had destroyed the     
land4 ,if he had made  any fight against
 them2 if they did not actually         
overpower him and  enslave him1 this was
 ,god's work and not his2 the promise of
 the  covenant made with his fathers1   
which was as good for every one as  for 

himself1 was fulfilled to him4 ,and now 
he was realizing the full  effect of    
this discipline4 ,the third chapter of  
the ,lamentations1  beginning ,i am the 
man that hath seen affliction by the rod
 of ,his  wrath1 contains the climax of 
his experience4 ,in the memorable       
passages which follow1 the history of a 
life is gathered up4 ,i  said1 ,my      
strength and my hope is perished from   
the ,lord2 remembering  mine affliction 
and my misery1 the wormwood and the     
gall4 ,my soul  hath them still in      
remembrance4 ,this ,i recall to mind1   
therefore  have ,i hope4 ,it is of the  
,lord's mercies that we are not         
consumed4  ,they are new every morning2 
great is thy faithlessness4 ,the ,lord  
is  my portion1 saith my soul2 therefore
 will ,i hope in him4 ,the ,lord  is    
good unto them that wait for him4 ,it is
 good that a man should  both hope and  
quietly wait for the salvation of the   
,lord4 ,it is good  for a man that he   
bear the yoke in his youth4 ,he sitteth 

alone and  keepeth silence1 because he  
hath borne it upon him4 ,he putteth his 
mouth in the dust if so be there may be 
hope4 ,he giveth his cheek to  him that 
smiteth him1 he is filled full with     
reproach4 ,the ,lord will  not cast off 
for ever2 but tho he cause grief1 yet   
will he have  compassion according to   
the multitude of his mercies for he doth
 not  afflict willingly nor grieve the  
children of men4    ,anything more      
individual than these utterances it is  
impossible  to conceive2 and yet it is  
just by these that one understands the  
sacerdotal work to which ,jeremiah was  
called4 ,there was no longer  any       
temple4 ,the priests as well as the     
princes had been for the most  part     
carried away by ,nebuchadnezzar4 ,but   
there was a man walking  about in the   
deserted city to which the twelve tribes
 had come  up1--in the midst of the     
ruins of the holy place into which the  
sons of ,aaron had gone with the        
memorial of their names on their        

breastplates1--who really entered into  
the meaning of that function1  who      
really bore the iniquities of the       
children of ,israel before the          
,lord2--one to whom it was given to     
translate the ceremonies and  services  
of the divine house into life and       
reality4 ,he had been  taught more      
perfectly1 perhaps1 than anyone who had 
served in the  temple1 what was implied 
in its worship and sacrifices4 ,he felt 
the  burden to which those sacrifices   
pointed1 the burden of individual  and  
national sins4 ,yet1 with that burden   
resting upon him1 he could  enter into  
the presence of the ,holy ,one of       
,israel4 ,he was sure there  was a      
deliverance for his people as well as   
for himself2 that there  could not be   
one for him if there was not also one   
for them4 ,thus  when part of his work  
was over1 when he had nothing more to   
say in  the ears of kings or priests or 
people1 this office1--which had been  so
 closely connected with his prophetical 

office1 and which1 if it  had depended  
upon outward conditions1 must have been 
more entirely  at an end than           
that1--still remained in all its        
original power4 ,and  the words of the  
prophet remained to explain to all      
generations the  spiritual character and
 acts of the priest4    ,the office of  
the priest must have seemed to be more  
utterly extinct  for ,ezekiel than even 
for ,jeremiah4 ,he was forcibly removed 
from  all the associations of the temple
 while it was yet standing4 ,when  he   
was called to be a prophet to the       
captives by the river ,chebar1  he might
 have supposed that the earlier         
designation which belonged  to him as   
one of the ,levitical family1 had been  
extinguished in  the later one4 ,yet we 
have seen how he was instructed1 at the 
very commencement of his work as a      
prophet1 that the glory of  ,him who    
filled the temple was surrounding him in
 ,mesopotamia as  it surrounded him when
 he went up to present the morning or   

the  evening sacrifice in ,jerusalem4   
,such a vision was given him of  that   
glory as he had never beheld in the holy
 place4 ,he found that  the earth1--that
 common1 profane1 ,babylonian earth upon
 which he  dwelt1--was filled with it4  
,all the powers of nature1 the forms of 
animals1 man as the highest of the      
animals1 the motions and order  of the  
outward world and of human society1 were
 pointing towards it4  ,and the central 
object1 the highest object which he     
could behold1  tho there was an         
ineffable brightness beyond1 was a ,man 
upon a  throne1 ,one who could command  
him1 in whose name he was to go forth1  
whose words he was to speak4    ,this   
was no isolated revelation or dream4    
,the very name which the  prophet       
thenceforth bore1 the name by which he  
was to know himself1  depended upon it4 
,son of man1 stand upon thy feet and ,i 
will speak  unto thee1 were the first   
words which he heard after he fell upon 
his face4 ,that great title is bestowed 

upon him through all the time  in which 
he was prophesying4 ,it was in many ways
 more suitable to  him than to those who
 had gone before him4 ,there was now no 
,hezekiah  or ,josiah to represent the  
,divine king4 ,the witnesses for the    
kingdom seemed to be at an end4         
,nebuchadnezzar was the lord of the     
earth4 ,at such a time the natural      
position of the ,jewish seer became  a  
human position4 ,the ,israelite's glory 
was to be a ,son of man4    ,yet he was 
not absolved from any of the obligations
 of the older  prophets2 he was not to  
expect a more willing or attentive      
audience  among captives than they had  
found at home2 briars1 thorns would be  
with him2 he must dwell among scorpions4
 ,lamentations and mourning  and woe    
filled his roll as much as that which   
,baruch wrote out for  ,jeremiah4 ,and  
he must eat this roll2 it must become a 
part of his  very soul2 its words must  
come forth living and burning out of    
himself4    ,he must understand1        

besides1 all the fearful                
responsibilities of  the prophet4 ,he   
was to speak whether the men about him  
would hear  or whether they would       
forbear4 ,there were times when his     
tongue  would cleave to the roof of his 
mouth1 when he should be dumb and       
should not be to them a reprover4 ,but  
when ,god opened his lips1  the blood of
 those to whom he was sent was upon him2
 it would be  required at his hands if  
they died in their iniquity and he had  
not warned them4 ,he must submit to do  
all symbolical acts1 however  strange   
and fantastical they might seem in      
themselves1 which might  bring the      
feeling of coming judgments home to a   
sense-bound people4  ,he must act a     
mimic siege1 he must eat defiled bread2 
he must cut  off his hair and weigh it  
in balances1 if so the people could be  
made to understand1--in spite of their  
false prophets who spoke of  coming     
peace and enacted their signs1 which of 
course involved no  discomfort or       

humiliation to themselves1--that the    
city would really  be destroyed and the 
sanctuary laid waste4 ,he was to        
persuade his  brother captives that they
 were a remnant in which the nation     
still  lived1 a stock out of which it   
should hereafter grow and flourish1     
even tho they were most rebellious1     
dreaming of good things which  would    
never come1 not waiting for that good   
which ,god had designed  for them4      
,there was to be the same end in all the
 punishments which  were coming upon the
 land and in all its deliverances4 ,god 
was  saying in all ,i am the ,lord4     
,this sentence recurs again and again in
 the prophecies of ,ezekiel4  ,it is the
 thought of his mind1 the one which     
gives all the sublimity  and all the    
practical worth to his discourses1--that
 the knowledge  of ,god is the supreme  
good of man1 and that the desolation of 
his  countrymen has come from their not 
liking to retain it4 ,he is  transported
 in spirit to the temple4 ,there the    

same vision of the  glory of ,god which 
he had seen by the river returns to him4
 ,the  light of it shows him1 portrayed 
upon the wall of the temple round       
about1 the abominable beasts and        
creeping things1 and the idols  of the  
house of ,israel2 what the ancients of  
the house of ,israel  did in the dark1  
every one in the chambers of his        
imagery2 how the  women were weeping for
 ,tammuz2 how the men were worshiping   
the sun  towards the east4 ,whether such
 abominations as these were actually  to
 be seen in the temple1 or whether the  
prophet's eye opened by the  divine     
,spirit saw that they were possessing   
the hearts of those who  seemed to      
others1 perhaps to themselves1 to be    
worshiping the ,god  of their fathers1  
it is clear that the mind of ,ezekiel   
was led back  to the place in which he  
had ministered1 that he might be taught 
how little the sacred building could    
preserve the truth which was  enshrined 
in it4    ,what ,ezekiel has seen in the

 temple enables him to answer the elders
  of ,israel when they come to consult  
him in his own house4 ,just what  was   
going on among those who worshiped in   
,jerusalem1 was going on  in the hearts 
of those who sought his oracles4 ,they  
were setting  up idols there4 ,they     
wanted to know what ,god would do with  
them or  against them2 they did not want
 to know ,him4 ,and therefore ,ezekiel  
announces to them a great and eternal   
moral law1 one of the most  varied      
application2 ,god will answer you       
according to your idols4  ,the truth    
which is presented to you1 will be      
colored1 distorted1  inverted by the eye
 which receives it4 ,the covetousness   
which you  are cherishing will make the 
best and divinest word you hear1 a      
minister of covetousness4 ,your pride   
and your lust will make it a  minister  
of lust and pride4 ,no bolder or more   
awful paradox was ever  enunciated than 
this1 nor one which the conscience of   
everyone will  more surely verify4 ,and 

there was this special proof of courage 
in  making such an announcement1 that it
 must have destroyed ,ezekiel's         
reputation as a prophet4 ,the elders    
came in terror1 feeling that  they      
wanted guidance and expecting some      
ready-made answer1 such as  the regular 
traders in prophecy could always        
furnish4 ,the truly  inspired man       
answers1 ,i can tell you                
nothing1--nothing at least  that will   
not deceive you and become a lie in your
 minds4 ,for you  bring lies in your    
minds1 and except they be extirpated1   
they  must convert whatever is added to 
them from without1 to their own         
quality4    ,ezekiel himself illustrates
 in another case this great principle4  
,no commandment had established itself  
more completely by the  experience of   
the people to whom it was addrest1 than 
the second4  ,the idolatries of the land
 had accumulated with each generation4  
,each had cause to complain of the last 
as bequeathing it a stock  of corrupt   

habits and traditions2 the sins of the  
fathers had been  visited upon the      
children4 ,these were facts not to be   
gainsaid4 ,the  captives had leisure to 
reflect upon them4 ,it might have been a
 most  profound and profitable          
reflection4    ,the use they made of it 
was to prove they were under a necessary
 law  of degeneracy4 ,how could they    
help themselves8 ,the fathers had eaten 
sour grapes1 and their teeth were set on
 edge4 ,who dared dispute it8  ,there   
was ,god's own word for it4 ,had he not 
told them the plan and  method of ,his  
own government8 ,such language addrest  
to one of the  favorite preachers or    
prophets of the people1 would have      
silenced  him altogether4 ,he would have
 said1 ,it is a mystery1 no doubt2 we   
must take the words of the commandment  
tho we can not understand  them4 ,god is
 ,sovereign2 ,he can do what ,he likes4 
,if it pleases  ,him that each          
generation should be more corrupt than  
the last1 we  must submit and not       

dispute ,his will4 ,others there would  
be who  would complain boldly and with  
good reason of a will that compelled  to
 evil1 but yet would lazily submit to   
it1 supposing it to be  inevitable1 tho 
feeling the absurdity of calling it     
divine4 ,ezekiel  boldly stands forth to
 dispute and deny the whole principle4  
,he does  not dispute or deny the second
 commandment1--that was probably the    
text of his discourse4 ,but he will not 
let the second commandment  or any other
 words in the world be pleaded against  
the character of  ,god4 ,righteousness  
and equity he maintains to be the       
foundations  of the divine character and
 of the divine acts4 ,he will tolerate  
no resolution of them into a heathenish 
notion of sovereignty or  self-will4    
,the ways of ,god are equal1 he says1   
and your ways are  unequal4 ,the sins of
 the father only descend upon the son1  
they  are only punished in the son1 when
 the son accepts them1 entertains  them1
 makes them his own4 ,at any time he may

 turn round and  repudiate them and     
cleave to the ,god who doth not will the
 death of  the sinner1 but desires that 
he should return and live4 ,the doctrine
  of the second commandment and of the  
whole law1 is that a man is  righteous  
so long as he cleaves to the righteous  
,god who has made  a covenant with him1 
unrighteous when he forsakes that       
covenant  and acts independently4       
,therefore the notion of any perpetuity 
in  righteousness1 or in evil1 is       
equally cut off4 ,every man has the     
capacity of righteousness1 the capacity 
of evil4 ,let him be ever so  righteous1
 he must become evil the moment he      
ceases to trust in ,god  and begins to  
trust in himself4 ,let him be ever so   
evil1 he must  become righteous the     
moment he begins to trust in ,god and   
ceases to  trust in himself4    ,the    
enunciation of laws or principles seems 
more especially to  belong to ,ezekiel1 
as the experience of personal evil and  
the  sympathy with national sorrow      

belong more to the tender and womanly   
nature of ,jeremiah4 ,nevertheless1     
,ezekiel was to be a priest in this     
sense also1 as well as in that higher   
sense of beholding the glory  of ,god   
and proclaiming ,his name4 ,suffering   
was not the destination  of one prophet2
 it was the badge of all the tribe4     
,ezekiel's life  was to be a continual  
parable1 illustrative of the life of the
  nation4 ,a man scrupulously careful of
 the law1 was to violate the  precepts  
of it respecting food1 and to eat what  
was loathsome4 ,a man  sensitive        
probably as to his reputation1 and with 
that kind of lofty  imagination which   
makes attention to details and all petty
 acts  unspeakably painful1 must submit1
 for the sake of his countrymen1  to    
such as seemed most ignominious to      
himself and perplexing to  them4        
,finally1 the desire of his eyes must be
 taken from him with a  stroke1 and he  
must not mourn or weep4 ,even at such a 
time he must  be a sign to the people1  

tho by doing so he should seem to refuse
  the sympathy that he most wants1 and  
should only lead the captives  to say1  
,wilt thou not tell us what these things
 are to us that thou  doest so8         
,apart from these sufferings which      
concern him individually and            
domestically1 the vision of the         
desolation of ,israel became every  day 
more overwhelming to him4 ,nor was it   
only the desolation of  ,israel4 ,he who
 was called ,son of man1 was not likely 
to speak less  of ,egypt and ,tyrus and 
the land in which he was himself        
dwelling1  than those older prophets who
 had so many more reasons for regarding 
,judea as the one garden of the ,lord4  
,the arms of ,nebuchadnezzar had  been  
turning the earth upside down and making
 it waste4 ,everything  must have seemed
 to him disjointed1 incoherent1         
withered4 ,could it  ever be renovated8 
,was it possible even for that country  
which ,god  had blest above all others  
and man had curst above all others1 to  

breathe and live again8    ,this was the
 question which was proposed to the     
prophet on that day  when the hand of   
the ,lord was upon him1 and he was      
carried into  the valley which was full 
of bones4 ,the vision1 clear as it is in
  itself1 must not be read apart from   
the context of the prophecy4  ,you      
should remember where ,ezekiel was      
dwelling2 by what kind of  people he was
 surrounded2 what was the condition of  
his own land2  what had come and was    
coming upon all lands2 or you will not  
understand the picture which now rose up
 before him4 ,you should  think1 too1 of
 the man himself1 of the heat of his    
spirit1 of the  words which he had      
uttered in vain1 of the acts which had  
only  made the captives stare vacantly1 
of the desolation of his house  and his 
heart4 ,you should think of those other 
visions he had of  the ascending scale  
of creatures1 of the mysterious order of
 the  universe1 of the glory of ,god1   
before you place yourself beside  him in

 the valley1 and walk with him round    
about it1 and look at  the different    
bones1 and see how each separately how  
altogether1  they expound to him the    
condition of the house of ,israel4 ,it  
was  dead1--that body from which he had 
believed that life was to go  forth to  
quicken the universe4 ,it had none of   
the beauty of a corpse  in which there  
is still form1 on which the spirit has  
left its  impression4 ,there had been a 
time of gradual decay1 a time when the  
pulses of the nation beat feebly and    
faintly1 but when they might  still be  
felt2 a time after that when you knew it
 had ceased to  breathe1 but when you   
could still speak of it as entire4 ,but 
another  stage had come1 the stage of   
utter dissolution1 when each limb       
looked as if it had nothing to do with  
any other1 when you could  scarcely     
force yourself to believe that they had 
ever been joined  together4 ,can these  
bones live8 what a thought to come into 
the  mind of any man gazing on such a   

scene6 ,it could not have come from     
himself1 certainly1 nor from any of     
these relics4 ,god must have sent  it to
 him2 ,he must have led him to dream    
that such a resurrection  was possible4 
,and now the process of it is also      
revealed to him4 ,the  prophet is       
commanded to speak4 ,his speech seems a 
mere sound in the  air4 ,but there is a 
noise and a shaking2 then a frightful   
movement  of the bones towards each     
other1 each claiming its fellow to which
  it had once belonged4 ,this strange   
effort at a union of dead things        
betokens a power that has not yet       
declared itself4 ,and soon the  sinews  
and the flesh come up upon them4 ,they  
have acquired a form1  tho they have no 
life4 ,then said he unto me1 ',prophesy 
unto the  wind2 ,thus saith the ,lord   
,god3 come from the four winds1 ,o      
breath1  and breathe upon these slain   
that they may live4' ,so ,i prophesied  
as he commanded4 ,and the breath came   
unto them1 and they lived1 and  stood up

 upon their feet1 an exceeding great    
army4    ,doth he not speak parables8   
was the phrase by which the ,jews  of   
the captivity exprest their dislike and 
contempt for the  troublesome and       
mystical prophet who was among them4    
,doth he not  speak parables8 is a      
question which men1 looking round with  
weary  hearts upon the condition of     
,christ's ,church in various periods  of
 its existence1 have asked themselves1  
with a very different  intention and    
spirit1 when they have read this vision 
of the valley  of dry bones4 ,is not    
this written1 they have said1 for the   
ages  to come8 ,is not this one of      
parables concerning the kingdom of      
,god8 ,yes1 brethren1 if we will first  
read it fairly and honestly1  as        
describing what ,ezekiel says it        
described to him1--if we will  not      
search for a distant application till we
 have acknowledged the  immediate       
one1--we shall find that here1 as       
everywhere1 ,ezekiel is  exhibiting     

facts which belong to other times as    
well as his own1 and  laws and methods  
of a divine government which belong to  
all times as  well as his own4    ,and  
that ,i may not waste your time in      
enumerating different crises  of history
 in which the facts may be discerned1   
and by which the  law and the method may
 be tested1 ,i say at once1 they are all
 for  us2 the vision and the            
interpretation are of this day4 ,do you 
not  hear men on all sides of you       
crying1 ,the ,church which we read of   
in books exists only in them4           
,christendom consists of ,romanists1    
,greeks1 ,protestants1 divided from each
 other1 disputing about  questions to   
which nineteen-twentieths of those who  
belong to their  communions are         
indifferent4 ,and meantime what is      
becoming of the  countries in which     
these different confessions are         
established8  ,what populations are     
growing up in them8 ,does the present   
generation  believe that which its      

fathers believed8 ,will the next        
generation  believe anything8 ,brethren1
 you hear such words as these spoken4 ,i
  do not mean to inquire how much there 
is of truth in them1 how much  of       
exaggeration1 what evidences there are  
on the other side which  have been      
overlooked2 what signs of life there are
 anywhere in the  midst of apparent     
death4 ,but this ,i must say2           
,christians in general  are far too     
eager to urge special exceptions when   
they hear these  charges preferred2 far 
too ready to make out a case for        
themselves  while they admit their      
application to others2 far too ready to 
think  that the cause of ,god is        
interested in this suppression of facts4
  ,the prophets should have taught us a 
different lesson4 ,they should  have led
 us to feel that it was a solemn duty1  
not to conceal1  but to bring forward   
all the evidence which proves1 not that 
one  country is better than another1 or 
one portion of the ,church better  than 

another1 but that there is a principle  
of decay1 a tendency  to apostasy in    
all1 and that no comfort can come from  
merely  balancing symptoms of good here 
against symptoms of evil there1 no      
comfort from considering whether we are 
a little less contentious1  a little    
less idolatrous than our neighbors4     
,alas1 for this ,church1  or for any    
church1 if its existence now1 if its    
prospects for the  future1 are to be    
determined by such calculations as      
these6 ,no1  brethren1 our hope has a   
deeper foundation4 ,it is this2 that    
when  the bones have become most dry1   
when they are lying most scattered  and 
separate from each other1 there is still
 a word going forth1 if  not through the
 lips of any prophet on this earth1 then
 through the  lips of those who have    
left it1--yet not proceeding from them1 
but  from ,him who liveth for ever and  
ever1 the voice which says1 ,these      
bones shall rise4 ,it is this2 that     
every shaking among the bones1          

everything which seems at first a sign  
of terror1--men leaving the  churches in
 which they have been born1 forsaking   
all the affections  and sympathies and  
traditions of their childhood1--infidel 
questionings1 doubts whether the world  
is left to itself or whether  it is     
governed by an evil spirit1--are        
themselves not indeed signs  of life1   
but at least movements in the midst of  
death which are  better than the silence
 of the charnel-house1 which foretell   
the  approach of that which they can not
 produce4 ,it is this2 that all         
struggles after union1 tho they may be  
of the most abortive kind1  tho they may
 produce fresh sects and fresh          
divisions1 tho they must  do so as long 
as they rest on the notion that unity is
 something  visible and material1 yet   
indicate a deep and divine necessity    
which men could not be conscious of in  
their dreams if they were  not beginning
 to awake4 ,it is this2 that there are  
other visions  true for us1 as they were

 for ,ezekiel1 besides the vision of dry
  bones4 ,the name of a ,father has not 
ceased to be a true name because        
baptized men do not own themselves as   
,his children4 ,the name of the  ,son   
has not ceased to be a true name1       
because men are setting up  some earthly
 ruler in place of ,him1 or are thinking
 that they can  realize a human         
fellowship without confessing a ,man on 
the throne  above the firmament4 ,the   
name of the ,spirit has not ceased to be
  a true name because we are thinking   
that we can form combinations  and sects
 and churches without ,his quickening   
presence1 because we  deny that ,he is  
really in the midst of us4 ,it is this2 
that when  all earthly priests have been
 banished or have lost their faith1  tho
 there should be none to mourn over the 
ruins of ,jerusalem1 or  to feel its sin
 as his own1 yet there is a ,high       
,priest1 the great  ,sin-,bearer1 ever  
presenting ,his perfect and accepted    
sacrifice  within the veil1 a ,high     

,priest not of a nation1 but of         
humanity4 ,it  is this2 that tho all    
earthly temples1 in which ,god has been 
pleased  to dwell1 should become        
desecrated and abominable1 tho all foul 
worship should go on in the midst of    
them1 and tho what is portrayed  on     
their walls should too faithfully       
represent what is passing in  the more  
secret chambers of imagery1 tho at last 
the shrines that  have been supposed to 
contain the mystery which they set forth
  should be utterly destroyed1 and a    
voice should be heard out of the  midst 
of them1 saying1 ,let us depart1--yet   
that this will not be  the sign that the
 ,church of ,god has perished1 only the 
sign that the  temple of ,god has been  
opened in ,heaven1 and that from thence 
must  come forth the glory that is to   
fill the whole earth4                   
,,martineau    ,,parting ,,words        
,,biographical ,,note      ,,james      
,,martineau1 an ,english ,unitarian     
divine1 was born at ,norwich  in #ahje4 

,he was educated for the ,unitarian     
ministry at ,manchester  ,college1 and  
in #ahbh ordained to the ,presbyterian  
ministry in  ,dublin4 ,resigning his    
pastorate in ,ireland1 he took charge of
 the  ,paradise ,street ,chapel in      
,liverpool1 but on being elected to the 
chair of mental and moral philosophy in 
,manchester ,new ,college  followed it  
to ,london #ahec1 succeeding ,j4 ,j4    
,taylor as principal of  the institution
 in #ahfh4    ,his sermons1 delivered in
 the course of four years in the chapel 
of ,manchester ,new ,college are        
specimens of combined eloquence and     
philosophical profundity1 yet are1      
perhaps1 most valuable for their        
ethical quality4 ,he preached in        
,dublin1 ,liverpool1 and ,london4  ,he  
was a lofty and earnest soul1 given to  
mysticism1 a master of  ,english style1 
and has been widely read4 ,he died in   
#aijj4          ,,martineau             
#ahje-aijj    ,,parting ,,words         
,peace ,i leave with you3 ,my peace ,i  

give unto you3 not as the world  giveth1
 give ,i unto you4--,john xiv41 #bg4    
,this is a strange benediction to       
proceed from the ,man of ,sorrows1  at  
the dreariest moment of ,his life2      
strange at least to those who  look only
 to ,his outward career1 ,his incessant 
contact with misery  and sin1 ,his      
absolute solitude of purpose1 ,his lot  
stricken with  sadness ever new from    
temptation to the cross2 but not strange
  perhaps to those who heard the deep   
and quiet tones in which this  oracle of
 promise went forth--the divinest music 
from the center  of the darkest fate4   
,he was on the bosom of the beloved     
disciple  and in the midst of those who 
should have cheered ,him in that hour   
with such comfort as fidelity can always
 offer2 but who1 failing in  their duty 
to ,his griefs1 found the sadness creep 
upon themselves2  while ,he1 seeking to 
give peace to them1 found it ,himself   
profusely  in the gift4 ,it was not till
 ,he had finished this interview and    

effort of affection1 and from the warmth
 of that evening meal and  the flush of 
its deep converse they had issued into  
the chill and  silent midnight air1 nor 
till the sanctity of moonlight 7never to
 be  seen by ,him again7 had invested   
,him1 and coarse fatigue had sunk ,his  
disciples into sleep upon the grass1    
that having none to comfort1 ,he  found 
anguish fall upon ,himself4 ,deprived of
 the embrace of ,john1  ,he flew to the 
bosom of the ,father2 and after a       
momentary strife1  recovered in trust   
the serenity ,he had found in toil2 and 
while ,his  followers lie stretched in  
earthly slumber1 ,he reaches a divine   
repose2 while they1 yielding to nature1 
gain neither strength nor  courage for  
the morrow1 ,he1 through the vigils of  
agony1 rises to  that godlike power1 on 
which mockery and insult beat in vain1  
and  which has made the cross1 then the 
emblem of abjectness and guilt1  the    
everlasting symbol of whatever is holy  
and sublime4    ,the peace of ,christ1  

then1 was the fruit of combined toil and
 trust2  in the one case diffusing      
itself from the center of ,his active   
life1  in the other from that of ,his   
passive emotions2 enabling ,him in  the 
one case to do things tranquilly2 in the
 other1 to see things  tranquilly4 ,two 
things only can make life go wrong and  
painfully  with us2 when we suffer or   
suspect misdirection and feebleness in  
the energies of love and duty within us1
 or in the providence of  the world     
without us3 bringing1 in the one case1  
the lassitude of  an unsatisfied and    
discordant nature2 in the other1 the    
melancholy  of hopeless views4 ,from    
these ,christ delivers us by a summons  
to  mingled toil and trust4 ,and herein 
does ,his peace differ from that  which 
the world giveth--that its prime        
essential is not ease1 but  strife2 not 
self-indulgence1 but self-sacrifice2 not
 acquiescence  in evil for the sake of  
quiet1 but conflict with it for the sake
  of ,god2 not1 in short1 a prudent     

accommodation of the mind to  the world1
 but a resolute subjugation of the world
 to the best  conceptions of the mind4  
,amply has the promise to leave behind  
,him  such a peace been since fulfilled4
 ,it was fulfilled to the apostles  who 
first received it2 and has been realized
 again by a succession  of faithful men 
to whom they have delivered it4    ,the 
word peace denotes the absence of jar   
and conflict2 a  condition free from the
 restlessness of fruitless desire1 the  
forebodings of anxiety1 the stings of   
enmity4 ,it may be destroyed  by        
discordance between the lot without and 
the mind within1 where  the human being 
is in an obviously false position--an   
evil rare and  usually self-curative2 or
 by a discordance wholly internal1 among
  the desires and affections themselves4
 ,the first impulse of the  natural man 
is to seek peace by mending his external
 condition2  to quiet desire by increase
 of ease2 to banish anxiety by increase 
of wealth2 to guard against hostility by

 making himself too strong  for it2 to  
build up his life into a fortress of    
security and a  palace of comfort1 where
 he may softly lie1 tho tempests beat   
and  rain descends4 ,the spirit of      
,christianity casts away at once this   
whole theory of peace2 declares it the  
most chimerical of dreams2  and         
proclaims it impossible even to make    
this kind of reconciliation  between the
 soul and the life wherein it acts4 ,as 
well might the  athlete demand a victory
 without a foe4 ,to the noblest         
faculties of  soul rest is disease and  
torture4 ,the understanding is          
commissioned  to grapple with ignorance1
 the conscience to confront the powers  
of  moral evil1 the affections to labor 
for the wretched and opprest2  nor shall
 any peace be found1 till these1 which  
reproach and fret us  in our most       
elaborate ease1 put forth an incessant  
and satisfying  energy2 till1 instead of
 conciliating the world1 we vanquish it2
 and  rather than sit still1 in the     

sickness of luxury1 for it to amuse  our
 perceptions1 we precipitate ourselves  
upon it to mold it into a  new creation4
 ,attempt to make all smooth and        
pleasant without1 and  you thereby      
create the most corroding of anxieties1 
and stimulate  the most insatiable of   
appetites within4 ,but let there be     
harmony  within1 let no clamors of self 
drown the voice which is entitled  to   
authority there2 let us set forth on the
 mission of duty1  resolved to live for 
it alone1 to close with every resistance
 that  obstructs it1 and march through  
every peril that awaits it2 and in  the 
consciousness of immortal power1 the    
sense of mortal ill will  vanish2 and   
the peace of ,god well nigh extinguish  
the sufferings of  the man4 ,in the     
world we may have tribulation2 in       
,christ we shall  have peace4    ,this  
peace1 so remote from torpor1 arising1  
indeed1 from the intense  action of the 
greatest of all ideas1 those of duty1 of
 immortality1  of ,god1 fell1 according 

to the promise1 on the first disciples4 
,not  in vain did ,jesus tell them in   
their sorrows that the ,comforter  would
 come2 nor falsely did ,he define the   
blessed visitant1 as  the spirit of     
truth--the soul reverentially faithful  
to its  convictions1 and expressing     
clearly in action its highest aspirings4
  ,such peace had ,stephen1 when before 
the ,sanhedrim that was striving  to    
hush up the recent story of the cross1  
he proclaimed aloud the  sequel of the  
ascension2 and priests and elders arose 
and stopped  their ears1 and thrust him 
out to death2 he had his peace2 else    
how1  if heaven of divinest tranquility 
had not opened to him and revealed  to  
him the proximity of ,christ to ,god1   
how as the stone struck his  uncovered  
and uplifted head1 could he have so     
calmly said1 ,lord1  lay not this sin to
 their charge8 ,such peace had ,paul--at
 least  when he ceased to rebel against 
his noble nature1 and became1  instead  
of the emissary of persecution1 the     

ambassador of ,god4 ,was  there ever a  
life of less ease and security1 yet of  
more buoyant  and rejoicing spirit than 
his8 ,what weight did he not cast aside1
  to run the race that was set before   
him8 ,what tie of home or nation  did he
 not break1 that he might join in one of
 the whole family of  ,god8 ,for forty  
years the scoff of synagogues and the   
outcast of his  people1 he forgot the   
privations of the exile in the labors of
 the  missionary2 flying from charges of
 sedition he disseminated the           
principles of peace2 persecuted from    
city to city1 yet he created  in each a 
center of pure worship and ,christian   
civilization1 and  along the coasts of  
,asia1 and colonies of ,macedonia1 and  
citadels  of ,greece1 dropped link after
 link of the great chain of truth that  
shall yet embrace the world4 ,amid the  
joy of making converts1 he had  also the
 affliction of making martyrs2 to       
witness the sufferings1  perhaps to bear
 the reproaches1 of survivors2 with     

weeping heart to  rebuke the fears1 and 
sustain the faith of many a doubter2 and
 in  solitude and bonds to send forth   
the effusions of his earnest spirit  to 
quicken the life1 and renovate the      
gladness1 of the confederate  churches4 
,yet when did speculation at its ease   
ever speak with  vigor so noble and     
cheerfulness so fresh as his glorious   
letters2  which recount his perils by   
land and sea1 his sorrows with friend   
and foe1 and declare that none of these 
things move him2 which  show him        
projecting incessant work1 yet ready for
 instant rest2  conscious that already  
he has fought the good fight1 and       
willing  to finish his course and resign
 the field2 but prepared1 if needs  be1 
to grasp again the sword of the ,spirit1
 and go forth in quest  of wider        
victories4 ,does any one suppose that it
 would have been  more peaceful to look 
back on a life less exposed and         
adventurous1  on a lot sheltered and    
secure1 on soft-bedded comfort1 and     

unbroken  plenty1 and conventional      
compliance8 ,no6 it is only beforehand  
that  we mistake these things for peace2
 in the retrospect we know them  better1
 and would exchange them all for one    
vanquished temptation  in the desert1   
for one patient bearing of the cross6   
,what--when all  is over1 and we lie    
upon the last bed--what is the worth to 
us of  all our guilty compromises1 of   
all the moments stolen from duty to  be 
given to ease8 ,if ,paul had cowered    
before the tribunal of ,nero1  and      
trembled at his comrade's blood1 and1   
instead of baring his neck  to the      
imperial sword1 had purchased by poor   
evasions another year  of life--where   
would that year have been now--a lost   
drop in the  deep waters of time--yet   
not lost1 but rather mingled as a poison
  in the refreshing stream of good men's
 goodness by which ,providence          
fertilizes the ages4    ,the peace of   
,christ1 thus inherited by ,his         
disciples1 and growing  out a living    

spirit of duty and of love1 contrasts   
not merely with  guilty ease1 but with  
that mere mechanical facility in        
blameless  action which habit gives4    
,there is something faithless and       
ignoble  in the very reasonings         
sometimes employed to recommend virtuous
  habits4 ,they are urged upon us1      
because they smooth the way of  right2  
we are invited to them for the sake of  
ease4 ,adopted in such  a temper1 duty  
after all makes its bargain with        
indulgence1 and is  not yet pursued for 
its own sake and with the allegiance of 
a loving  heart4 ,moreover1 whoever has 
true conscience sees that there is a    
fallacy in this persuasion2 for whenever
 habits become mechanical1  they cease  
to satisfy the requirements of duty2 the
 obligations of  which enlarge          
definitely with our powers1 demanding an
 undiminished  tension of the will1 and 
an ever-constant life of the affections4
  ,it can never be1 that a soul which   
has a heaven open to its view1  which is

 stationed here1 not simply to          
accommodate itself to the  arrangement  
of this world1 but also to school itself
 for the spirit  of another1 is intended
 to rest in mere automatic regularities4
  ,when the mind is thrown into other   
scenes1 and finds itself in the  society
 of the world invisible1 suddenly       
introduced to the heavenly  wise and the
 sainted good--what peace can it expect 
from mere dry  tendencies to acts no    
longer practicable and blameless things 
now  left behind8 ,no2 it must have that
 pure love which is nowhere a  stranger1
 in earth or heaven2 that vital goodness
 of the affections1  that adjusts itself
 at once to every scene where there is  
truth and  holiness to venerate2 that   
conscience1 wakeful and devout1 which   
enters with instant joy on any career of
 duty and progress opened  to its       
aspirations4 ,and even in the life that 
now is1 the mere  mechanist of virtue1  
who copies precepts with mimetic        
accuracy1  is too frequently at fault1  

to have even the poor peace which       
custom promises4 ,he is at home only on 
his own beat4 ,an emergency  perplexes  
him1 and too often tempts him           
disgracefully to fly4 ,he  wants the    
inventiveness by which a living heart of
 duty seizes the  resources of good1 and
 uses them to the last2 and the courage 
by  which love1 like honor1 starts to   
the post of noble danger1 and  maintains
 it till1 by such fidelity1 it becomes a
 place of danger  no more4 ,it is a vain
 attempt to comprize in rules and       
aphorisms  all the various moral        
exigencies of life4 ,hardly does such   
legality  suffice to define the small   
portion of right and wrong contemplated 
in human jurisprudence4 ,but the true   
instincts of a pure mind1 like  the     
creative genius of art1 frames rules    
most perfect in the act  of obeying     
them1 and throws the materials of life  
into the fairest  attitudes and the     
justest proportions4 ,he whose          
allegiance is paid  to the mere         

perceptive system1 shapes and carves his
 duty into the  homeliest of wooden     
idols2 he who has the spirit of ,christ 
turns it  into an image breathing and   
divine4 ,children of ,god in the noblest
  sense1 we are not without something of
 ,his creative spirit in our  hearts4   
,the power is there to separate the     
light from the darkness  within us1 and 
set in the firmament of the soul        
luminaries to guide  and gladden us1 for
 seasons and for years2 power to make   
the herbage  green beneath our feet1 and
 beckon happy creatures into existence  
around our path2 power to mold the clay 
of our earthly nature into  the likeness
 of ,god most high2 and thus only have  
we power to look  back in peace upon our
 work1 and find a ,sabbath rest upon the
  thought that1 morning and evening1 all
 is good4    ,but the peace which       
,christ left and bequeathed was the     
result of  trust1 no less than toil4    
,however immersed in action1 and engaged
  in enterprises of conscience1 every   

life has its passive moments1  when the 
operation is reversed1 and power1       
instead of going from us1  returns upon 
us2 and the scenes of our existence     
present themselves  to us as objects of 
speculation and emotion4 ,sometimes we  
are forced  into quietude in pauses of  
exhaustion or of grief2 stretched upon  
the bed of pain1 to hear the great world
 murmuring and rolling by2  or lifted   
into the watch-tower of solitude1 to    
look over the vast  plain of humanity1  
and from a height that covers it with   
silence  observe its groups shifting and
 traversing like spirits in a city  of  
the dead4 ,at such times our peace must 
depend on the view under  which our     
faith or our fears may exhibit this     
mighty field of  the world2 on the      
forces of evil1 of fortuity1 or of ,god1
 which  we suppose to be secretly       
directing the changes on the scene1 and 
calling up the brief apparition of      
generation after generation4 ,and  so   
great and terrible is the amount of     

evil1 physical and moral1 in  the great 
community of men2 so vast the numbers   
sunk in barbarism1  compared with the   
few who more nobly represent our nature2
 so  many and piercing 7could we but    
hear them7 the cries of unpitied        
wretchedness1 that with every beat of   
the pendulum wander unnoticed  into the 
air2 so dense the crowds that are thrust
 together in the  deepest recesses of   
want1 and that crawl through the        
loathsome hives  of sin2 that only two  
men can look through the world without  
dismay2  he1 on the one hand1 who       
suffering himself to be bewildered with 
momentary horror1 and in the confusion  
of his emotions1 to mistake  what he    
sees for the moral chaos1 turns his back
 in the despair of  fatalism1 crying1   
,let us eat and drink1 for to-morrow we 
die2 and  he1 on the other1 who1 with   
the discernment of a deeper wisdom1     
penetrates through the shell of evil to 
the kernel and the seed  of good2 who   
perceives in suffering and temptation   

the resistance  which alone can render  
virtue manifest1 and conscience great1  
and  existence venerable2 who           
recognizes1 even in the gigantic growth 
of guilt1 the grasp of infinite desires1
 and the perseverance of  godlike       
capacities2 who sees how soon1 were ,god
 to take up ,his  omnipotence1 and      
snatch from ,his creature man the care  
of the  world and the work of           
self-perfection1 all that deforms might 
be swept away1 and the meanest lifted   
through the interval that  separates    
them from the noblest2 and who therefore
 holds fast to the  theory of hope and  
the kindred duty of effort2 takes       
shelter beneath  the universal          
,providence of ,god2 and seeing time    
enough in ,his vast  cycles for the     
growth and consummation of every        
blessing can be  patient as well as     
trust2 can resign the selfish vanity of 
doing all  things himself1 and making a 
finish before he dies2 and cheerfully   
give up his life to build up the mighty 

temple of human improvement1  tho no    
inscription mark it for glory1 and it be
 as one of the hidden  stones of the    
sanctuary1 visible only to the eye of   
,god4 ,such was  the spirit and the     
faith which ,jesus left1 and in which   
,his first  disciples found their rest4 
,within the infinitude of the divine    
mercy trouble did but fold them closer2 
the perversity of man did  but provide  
them to put forth a more conquering     
love2 and tho none  were ever more the  
sport of the selfish interests and      
prejudices of  mankind1 or came into    
contact with a more desolate portion of 
the  great wastes of humanity1 they     
constructed no melancholy theories2  but
 having planted many a rose of ,sharon1 
and made their little  portion of the   
desert smile1 departed in the faith that
 the green  margin would spread as the  
seasons of ,god came round1 till the    
mantle of heaven covered the earth1 and 
it ended with ,eden as it had  begun4   
,between these two sources of ,christian

 peace1 virtuous toil1 and  holy trust1 
there is an intimate connection4 ,the   
desponding are  generally the indolent  
and useless2 not the tried and          
struggling1  but speculators at a       
distance from the scene of things1 and  
far from  destitute of comforts         
themselves4 ,barren of the most blest of
 human  sympathies1 strangers to the    
light that best gladdens the heart of   
man1 they are without the materials of a
 bright and hopeful faith4  ,but he who 
consecrates himself sees at once how    
,god may sanctify  the world2 he whose  
mind is rich in the memory of moral     
victories  will not easily believe the  
world a scene of moral defeats2 nor was 
it ever known that one who1 like ,paul1 
labored for the good of man1  despaired 
of the benevolence of ,god4    ,whoever 
then would have the peace of ,christ1   
let him seek first the  spirit of       
,christ4 ,let him not fret against the  
conditions which ,god  assigns to his   
being1 but reverently conform himself to

 them1 and do  and enjoy the good which 
they allow4 ,let him cast himself freely
 on  the career to which the secret     
persuasion of duty points1 without      
reservation of happiness or self2 and in
 the exercise which its  difficulties   
give to his understanding1 its conflicts
 to his will1  its humanities to his    
affections1 he shall find that united   
action  of his whole and best nature1   
that inward harmony1 that moral order1  
which emancipates from the anxieties of 
self1 and unconsciously  yields the     
divinest repose4 ,the shadows of darkest
 affliction  cannot blot out the inner  
radiance of such a mind2 the most       
tedious  years move lightly and with    
briefest step across its history2 for   
it is conscious of its immortality1 and 
hastening to its heavens4  ,and there   
shall its peace be consummated at       
length2 its griefs  transmuted into     
delicious retrospects2 its affections   
fresh and  ready for a new and nobler   
career2 and its praise confessing that  

this final peace of ,god doth indeed    
surpass its understanding4              
,,manning    ,,the ,,triumph ,,of ,,the 
,,church          ,,biographical ,,note 
,,henry ,,edward ,,manning1 ,roman      
,catholic prelate1 was born #ahjh at    
,totteridge in ,hertfordshire and       
educated at ,harrow and ,oxford4  ,after
 graduation in #ahcj1 he studied for    
holy orders in the ,church  of ,england 
and was ordained in #ahcc4 ,the         
,tractarian ,movement  was then at its  
height and ,manning took a leading part 
in it4  ,appointed ,archdeacon of       
,chichester in #ahdj he took a          
commanding  place as a preacher and     
leader4 ,newman's recession did not     
shake  his allegiance1 but the decision 
in the ,gorham case1 which gave the     
,crown the power of deciding doctrinal  
questions1 drove him to seek  refuge in 
the ,roman ,catholic fold in #ahea4     
,he was ordained priest by ,cardinal    
,wiseman and to the end of his  life    
devoted himself to religious and        

philanthropic work in ,london4  ,he was 
appointed to succeed ,wiseman as        
,archbishop of ,westminster in  #ahfe4  
,he was made cardinal in #ahge4 ,as a   
preacher he was logical and  dogmatic1  
but his style is imaginative and his    
flights of eloquence  tinged with poetic
 coloring and passion4 ,he died in      
#ahib4          ,,manning    #ahjh-ahib 
,,the ,,triumph ,,of ,,the ,,church     
,we give thanks unto ,god1 who maketh us
 always to triumph in ,christ  ,jesus1  
and manifesteth the odor of the         
knowledge of ,him by us in  every place4
 ,for we are a good odor of ,christ unto
 ,god1 both in them  that are saved and 
in them that perish2 in the one indeed  
an odor of  life1 in the other an odor  
of death unto death4--#b ,cor4 ii41     
#ad-af4  7,douay ,version47      ,such  
was the confidence of the ,apostle in   
the face of all that was  most hostile1 
mighty1 and triumphant in the judgment  
of this world4  ,he was confident that  
through ,god his mission in the world   

was being  accomplished1 that the ,word 
of ,god was triumphing over all the     
power of man4 ,they may well have said  
to him1 ,what is this triumph  you speak
 of8 ,if this be triumph1 what is       
defeat8 ,you were stoned  the other day 
in ,lystra2 you were imprisoned at      
,philippi2 you were  scourged at        
,jerusalem2 you were saved out of the   
hands of the people  only by ,roman     
soldiers2 you were confounded by the    
philosophers  at ,athens2 and you were  
refuted out of the holy ,scriptures by  
the  ,jews of ,berea4 ,if this is       
triumph1 you are welcome to it4 ,such1  
no doubt1 was the lordly and confident  
language of men in the face  of the     
apostles of ,jesus ,christ then1 and    
such is the language of  confidence with
 which the world looks on the ,catholic 
,church at  this hour4 ,it counts it to 
be a comedy played out1 a stale medieval
  superstition1 and a name that is      
trampled in the earth4 ,in every age    
the ,church has been militant and in    

warfare4 ,it is under the same  law of  
suffering which crucified its divine    
,head4 ,his throne was  a cross1 and    
,his crown was of thorns4 ,nevertheless 
,he triumphed1  and ,he triumphs still1 
and shall triumph to the end4 ,and so at
  this moment1 in this nineteenth       
century1 in the century of modern       
civilization1 of light1 of progress1 of 
scientific affectation1  the ,catholic  
,church is derided4 ,they say to us1    
,look at the  ,catholic ,church in      
,germany2 look at it in ,italy2 the head
 of the  ,church dethroned2 and not a   
spot on earth for the incarnation to    
set its foot upon4 ,if this be triumph  
you are welcome to it4 ,our  answer is3 
,yes1 even now we triumph always and in 
every place4  ,the ,catholic ,church is 
triumphing now in ,america1 and in      
,ireland1  and in the colonies of the   
,british empire2 aye1 and in the midst  
of the confusions in ,spain1 and in     
,france through revolution after        
revolution1 and in the furnace of       

infidelity2 aye1 and in ,germany1  in   
the midst of all that the might of man  
can do against it2 and in  ,italy too1  
where the head of the ,church is morally
 a prisoner1 it  is triumphing even now4
    ,but how can ,i verify this         
assertion8 ,it would be enough indeed to
  quote the words of the apostle1 but ,i
 hope to do more4 ,the world  esteems   
the triumph of the ,church to be in     
wealth1 power1 glory1  honor1 public    
sway over empires and nations4 ,there   
was a time indeed  when the world laid  
these things at the feet of the apostles
 of  ,jesus ,christ4 ,there was a time  
when the ,catholic ,church and the      
,christian world knew how to sanctify   
the society of men2 but there  is this  
difference--the world then believed1 and
 the world now is  apostate4            
,nevertheless1 there is a triumph in the
 ,christian world  and there is a       
triumph in the anti-,christian world2   
and what is it8  ,it is that the ,church
 in every age and in every condition1   

and in  the midst of all antagonists1   
fulfils its mission and accomplishes    
its work1 and no power of man can hinder
 it4 ,men may1 as we shall  see         
hereafter1 to their own destruction1    
resist the mission of  the ,church1 but 
its work will be accomplished           
nevertheless1 and  accomplished even in 
them2 and its work will be a good odor  
of  ,christ unto ,god both in those that
 are saved and in those that  perish4   
,the world has neither tests nor        
measures by which to  understand what   
the mission and the work of the ,church 
are2 but they  who see by the light of  
faith have both4 ,let us examine1 then1 
what  is its mission1 what is its work1 
and how it is fulfilled4    ,first of   
all1 the mission of the ,church among   
men is this--to be  a witness for ,god1 
and for the incarnation of ,god in the  
face of  the world4 ,our ,divine ,lord  
said of ,himself3 ,for this was ,i born1
  and for this came ,i into the world1  
that ,i should give testimony  unto the 

truth4 ,as it was with ,him1 so it is   
with ,his ,church2 and  therefore ,he   
said to ,his apostles3 ,you shall be    
witnesses unto  me1 and ,st4 ,john said3
 ,that which was from the beginning1    
which  we have heard1 which we have seen
 with our eyes1 which we have  looked   
upon1 and our hands handled1 of the word
 of life2 for the  life was manifested1 
and we have seen it1 and do bear        
witness1 and  declare unto you1 the life
 eternal which was with the ,father1 and
  hath appeared unto us2 that is to say1
 the manifestation of ,god in  the      
flesh1 the incarnation of the ,son of   
,god4 ,the ,church was the  witness of  
this divine fact to the world1 and it is
 witness to this  hour4 ,i may say it is
 an eye-witness4 ,it was eye-witness of 
what it  declares4 ,it was an           
ear-witness of what it affirms4 ,i may  
say in  truth that the ,church of ,god1 
which testifies at this hour1 saw the   
,son of ,god1 and heard ,his words1 and 
was witness of ,his miracles4  ,so ,st4 

,peter expressly declares1 speaking of  
,his transfiguration3  ,we have not1 by 
artificial fables1 made known to you the
 power and  presence of our ,lord ,jesus
 ,christ2 but we were eye-witnesses of  
his  greatness4 ,for he received from   
,god the ,father honor and glory1  this 
voice coming down to him from the       
excellent glory3 ,this is my  beloved   
,son1 in whom ,i am well pleased2 hear  
ye him4 ,and his voice  we heard brought
 from heaven1 when we were with him in  
the holy  mount4 ,more than this3 it was
 a witness of the day of ,pentecost1    
and upon it the ,holy ,ghost descended4 
,it heard the sound of the  mighty wind 
and it saw the tongues of fire4 ,the    
,church therefore  testifies at this day
 as an ear-witness and an eye-witness of
 the  divine facts which it declares4   
,and how can this be said8 ,because     
that which the apostles saw and heard   
they delivered to others who  believed  
in them upon a full test and knowledge  
of their truth1 and  those who received 

their testimony held it as a sacred     
trust and  declared it to those who came
 after4 ,from age to age the testimony  
of the apostles has descended unbroken4 
,the intrinsic certainty of  their      
witness1 resting on their own           
eye-witness and ear-witness of  the     
facts1 has not diminished by a shade1   
jot1 or tittle in the  lapse of time1   
and the external evidence of that fact  
has multiplied  and extended throughout 
all time and throughout the world4      
,therefore  the testimony of the        
apostles to these divine realities and  
truths  is as living and fresh at this  
day as it was in the beginning4  ,then  
twelve men testified2 now the nations of
 the world1 united  in one body by faith
 and by baptism1 take up and perpetuate 
that  testimony4 ,and part of that      
testimony is this--that when the ,son of
  ,god ascended into heaven1 as they saw
 ,him ascend1 ,he fulfilled ,his        
promise that ,he would send the ,spirit 
of ,truth1 the ,holy ,ghost1 to  abide  

with them forever2 that when one divine 
,teacher had gone up  to ,his ,father's 
throne1 another should come in ,his     
stead2 that the  world should never be  
without a divine ,person and a divine   
,teacher  in the midst of it2 and that  
the ,spirit of ,truth by which they     
were united to their divine ,head in    
heaven should unite them also  to each  
other as ,his members in one mystical   
body1 and should form  to ,himself a    
dwelling-place in which to abide        
forever4 ,as the soul  abides in the    
body of the man1 so the ,holy ,ghost    
abides in the body  of the ,church4 ,it 
is the sanctuary in which ,he dwells2   
the organ by  which ,he speaks1 so that 
the words of our ,divine ,lord are      
fulfilled  to the very letter--,he that 
heareth you heareth me2 for the voice   
of the head and that of the body1 as    
,st4 ,augustine says1 are one and  the  
same voice4 ,as they make one moral     
person1 so their voice is  identical1   
and the assistance of the ,holy ,spirit 

keeps the voice of  the ,church always  
in perfect harmony with the voice of its
 divine  ,head1 fulfilling the promise  
of the ,lord by ,his prophet3 ,my spirit
  which is upon thee and my word which  
,i put in thy mouth1 shall never  depart
 out of thy mouth1 nor out of the mouth 
of thy seed1 nor  out of the mouth of   
thy seed's seed from this time and      
forever4  ,thus1 then1 the mission of   
the ,church is fulfilled always2 whether
  the world believe or disbelieve1      
whether it gainsay or assent1 it        
matters not2 the testimony of the       
,church forever triumphs in every       
place4    ,another part of the mission  
of the ,church is this--to teach the    
doctrines of ,jesus ,christ in the midst
 of all the controversies and           
contradictions of men4 ,in the face of  
all the errors and heresies  of men     
there is one divine ,teacher perpetually
 declaring the same  immutable truth4   
,in the clamor and confusion of the     
human voices  of philosophers and human 

guides1 of the scribes and ,pharisees of
  the new laws1 there is one divine     
voice--articulate1 clear1 and           
piercing--which cleaves through all the 
confusion1 and is to be  heard above the
 clamor of men and of nations--the voice
 of that  one holy1 ,catholic1 and      
,roman ,church1 spreading from the      
sunrise  to the sunset1 immutable in its
 doctrine1 teaching the same truths     
identically in every place1 and abiding 
always the same unchanging  teacher in  
every age4 ,this is a fact legible in   
human history4 ,i  need not offer proof 
of it from histories written by         
ourselves2 it  is proved by histories   
and controversies of those who are most 
opposed to us4 ,there is an accusation  
which is repeated from age  to age      
against the ,catholic and ,roman        
,church2 and what is it8 ,that  it      
always persists in its old errors4 ,i   
accept the accusation4 ,its  persistence
 proves its immutability1 and that which
 they account  error we know to be the  

doctrine of ,jesus ,christ2 because1 as 
,i have  already shown from the ,word of
 ,god1 neither can the ,catholic ,church
  ever err in believing1 nor can the    
,catholic ,church err in teaching4      
,these are two impossibilities1 and they
 descend from one and the  same divine  
truth4 ,god1 the ,holy ,ghost1 abiding  
forever in the  mystical body of        
,christ1 illuminates the whole body of  
the faithful  from the time of their    
baptism4 ,from the time that the graces 
of  faith1 hope1 and charity are infused
 into their souls1 they are  illuminated
 with the light of faith as the world is
 illuminated by  the splendor of the sun
 at noonday2 and the faithful throughout
  the world continue passively in their 
persistence in that one  baptismal faith
 wherewith they were enlightened from   
their earliest  consciousness4 ,and     
further1 they can never err in          
believing1  because the ,church which   
teaches them can never err in teaching4 
,the episcopate throughout the world1   

which is the college of the  apostles   
multiplied and expanded among all       
nations1 has always the  assistance of  
the ,spirit of ,truth to guide and      
preserve it1 so that  the errors of men 
and infirmities of our intellect never  
prevail  over the light of faith by     
which the whole ,episcopate and the     
,church  is sustained in the revelation 
of the day of ,pentecost4 ,and more     
than this3 nineteen general councils1   
from the first which declared  the      
coequality and consubstantiality of the 
,son with the ,father and  the ,holy    
,ghost1 down to the last which declared 
the infallibility  of the vicar of      
,jesus ,christ1--those nineteen councils
 have been  the organ of the ,holy      
,ghost1 preserving the truth in all     
ages2 and  the pontiffs1 two hundred and
 fifty-seven in number1 have also been  
guided and assisted by the same ,spirit 
of ,truth2 so that no doctrine  of faith
 and morals from their hand and from    
their lips has been out  of harmony with

 the revelation of ,jesus ,christ4 ,for 
these reasons  the ,church is fulfilling
 its mission1 always and in every place1
 and  it can say in every age1 with a   
divine certainty of knowledge and  with 
a divine authority of teaching3 ,it     
seemed good to the ,holy  ,ghost and to 
us4    ,once more1 and lastly3 there is 
another part of the mission of the      
,church which never fails1 and is never 
baffled--and that is1 that  the ,church 
judges between the truth of ,god and the
 errors of men1  and gives decision with
 divine certainty what is truth1 what is
  falsehood1 what is light and what is  
darkness4 ,here again the world1  in the
 confusion of its discordant witnesses1 
bears testimony to  our truth4 ,the     
world disclaims altogether the presence 
of any divine  teacher in the midst of  
us4 ,it derides the very notion4 ,there 
is  not a sect or a communion1 or a     
so-called church1 which lays claim  to  
this divine guidance4 ,they say         
infallibility exists nowhere but  in    

,god4 ,as the ,pharisees said3 ,who can 
forgive sins but ,god only8  thereby    
acknowledging the divinity of ,him who  
forgave the palsied  man4 ,and while    
they say3 ,we have no infallibility in  
us2 we do  not claim it2 we deny its    
existence on the face of the earth1 the 
one ,teacher1 who never varies in ,his  
voice1 says3 ,he that heareth  me       
heareth him that sent me4 ,it seemed    
good to the ,holy ,ghost and  unto us   
that we should claim that infallibility1
 and we cite you  before the tribunal of
 ,god to answer for your denial of that 
truth4  ,we say further that no man     
knows that any revelation was ever made 
to man except through our testimony4    
,you never saw the ,word made  flesh1   
you nor your forefathers2 and you have  
no unbroken succession  of witnesses who
 trace upward these eighteen hundred    
years to the  day when the ,holy ,ghost 
descended with wind and fire2 you are   
not  in contact with the original       
revelation of ,god4 ,how can you rise   

up and say3 ,this was revealed upwards  
of eighteen hundred years  ago1 when you
 have no proof to give1 except that     
which you borrow  from me1 that the ,son
 of ,god ever came into the world8 ,you 
take my  witness for the fact of        
,christianity1 and you then contradict  
me  when ,i teach you what the doctrines
 of ,christianity are4 ,and if  men     
appeal to the ,scriptures1 our answer is
 the same4 ,how do you  know the        
,scriptures were ever written8 ,how can 
you prove that there  ever was a book   
called the ,word of ,god8 ,you had it   
from me2 you  snatched it out of my     
hand1 and you then read it and interpret
 it  in contradiction to my teaching4   
,how do you know that there were  four  
greater prophets and twelve lesser in   
the ,old ,testament2 that  there were   
four evangelists and fourteen epistles  
of ,st4 ,paul in the  ,new8 ,who told   
you all these things8 ,you had them all 
from me--from  me alone1 to whom these  
,scriptures were committed in custody   

and  in guardianship2 from me1 who      
preserved and handed them on to this    
day4 ,you1 who are denying the          
inspiration of this book and of that1   
of this text and of that text1 and who  
are gnawing away1 as a moth  fretteth a 
garment1 the whole written word of ,god1
 you rise up and  tell us3 ,this is the 
meaning of the holy ,scriptures1 and you
  reject the holy ,catholic faith4      
,dear brethren1 it needs great patience 
to hear these things2  nevertheless1 the
 judge is always calm and patient while 
he is  fulfilling his work among men1   
and that because it is a grave  thing to
 be the odor of life unto life and of   
death unto death to  the eternal souls  
of men4 ,and when men appeal to         
antiquity and tell  us that this is not 
the primitive tradition1 the ,church    
answers3  ,were you ever in antiquity1  
or anyone that belongs to you8 ,i was   
there1 and as a perpetual witness       
antiquity is to me nothing but my  early
 days4 ,antiquity exists in my          

consciousness to this hour1 as  men     
grown to riper years remember their     
childhood4 ,men of the world  know that 
the contemporaneous interpretation of a 
law is the most  authentic and certain  
interpretation4 ,but ,i have the        
contemporaneous  interpretation of holy 
,scripture2 and more than this1 men who 
practise before human tribunals know    
that the continuous usage of a  country 
is the interpretation of its laws       
written and unwritten4 ,but  ,i have the
 contemporaneous and the continuous     
usage of the ,church  of ,god4 ,the     
seven sacraments are institutions of    
,jesus ,christ and  every one of them   
interprets a cluster of truths4 ,the    
existence  of the ,church itself is an  
interpretation of the words3 ,thou art  
,peter1 and upon this rock will ,i build
 my church1 and the gates of  hell shall
 not prevail against it4 ,the           
jurisdiction that ,i have  over the     
world1 which the hearts of men recognize
 and to which their  consciences        

respond1 is the interpretation of the   
words3 ,receive  ye the ,holy ,ghost1   
whose soever sins ye forgive1 they are  
forgiven  unto them2 and whose soever   
sins ye retain1 they are retained4      
,but lastly there is another appeal     
which men make in this day4 ,we  are now
 told that scientific history is the    
test of truth2 and ,i saw  the other day
 in a document having great pretension  
from a certain  body of men who are     
troubling ,germany and attempting to    
trouble even  ,england with the name of 
,old ,catholics1 that the way to know   
the  pure faith of ,jesus ,christ is to 
interpret history by science4 ,alas1  as
 ,i said before1 the world is full of   
pretensions to science2 but  those who  
claim to be ,catholics1 and who yet     
appeal from the living  voice of the    
,catholic ,church to any other tribunal 
whatsoever1 are  all of them identical  
in their principle1 and that principle  
is  heresy4 ,luther appealed from the   
voice of the ,catholic ,church to       

,scripture1 and thereby became a        
heretic4 ,there are others who appeal   
to antiquity1 and the appeal is the     
same--it is an appeal from the  living  
voice1 from the divine authority of the 
,church1 to something  of their own     
choice and creation4 ,it matters not to 
what the appeal  is made4 ,that which   
constitutes both the treason of the act 
and the  heresy of the principle is that
 they appeal from the living voice1     
that is from the divine voice4 ,this it 
is that is being done at this  moment by
 a body of men who profess to be and to 
intend to live and  die ,catholics2 and 
what is more1 to purify and reform the  
,church by  staying in it4 ,what is     
their appeal8 ,their appeal is to       
history1 to  scientific history2 that   
is1 to history interpreted by           
themselves4  ,luther was much more      
direct and much wiser4 ,he appealed to a
 book  which is certainly written by the
 ,holy ,ghost2 they appeal to ,i know   
not what books1 but to books certainly  

written only by men1 and not  by the    
,spirit of ,god2 to human history1 the  
authenticity of which  and the purity of
 the text of which no one can guarantee2
 and even  this they interpret for      
themselves4    ,now bear with me further
 if ,i dwell a few moments longer upon  
this4  ,at the time ,i speak1 in the old
 ,catholic city of ,cologne there  is   
assembled together a number of these    
men--some four or five  hundred--with a 
handful of unhappy priests1 perhaps six 
or eight1  of whom the greater part had 
already the note of unsoundness upon    
them before they took their deadly step4
 ,and what are they8 ,what  are these   
men who are rising up to purify the     
,church8 ,what do they  believe8 ,some  
believe all the ,council of ,trent1 but 
not the ,council  of the ,vatican4 ,some
 believe the ,church to be infallible1  
but not  its ,head2 others propose to   
reject the invocation of saints1 and    
purgatory1 and compulsory confession1   
and ,i know not what4 ,others  ask for  

either half or altogether rationalism4  
,and who have they to  assist them8     
,excommunicated ,jansenists from        
,holland1 and members1 ,i  grieve to    
say1 of the ,established ,church from   
,england2 and those  chosen1 as it were1
 by a happy fatality1 one the most      
extreme of  old-fashioned high-church   
orthodoxy--an estimable and excellent   
man1  whose person ,i both respect and  
love2 and another whose advanced        
rationalism is such that even his own   
brethren can hardly forbear  protesting 
against him4 ,so that we have assembled 
in this congress1  which is to reform   
and purify the ,catholic and ,roman     
,church of all  ages1 men so            
irreconcilably in contradiction with    
themselves that  they cannot touch a    
religious doctrine without discord1 and 
they  cannot find anything on which to  
unite except in opposition to the  one  
immutable truth4 ,there was a day when  
all the ,scribes1 and all  the          
,pharisees1 and all the ,herodians1 and 

all the hypocrites1 and  all the men who
 could agree in anything else or at any 
other time1  were united together in one
 conspiracy1 and tho their witnesses did
  not agree together and their          
discordant voices could not be combined 
they all had one will and one purpose   
against the ,son of ,god and  against   
,his truth4 ,these men1 ,i bear         
witness--many of them at  least--have no
 such intention2 but we know from the   
,word of ,god that  neither had they who
 crucified our divine ,master a         
knowledge of what  they did3 ,father1   
forgive them1 for they know not what    
they do4  ,which none of the princes of 
this world knew2 for if they had known  
it they would never have crucified the  
,lord of glory4 ,but they are  at this  
moment fulfilling the very words of the 
apostles3 ,and to  some the testimony of
 the ,church is life unto life1 to      
others death  unto death4    ,such then1
 is the mission and the work of the     
,church--to bear its  witness1 to teach 

and to judge2 and in doing this1 whether
 men  will believe or whether men will  
not believe1 it is accomplishing  its   
triumph in the world4 ,the world forgets
 that there is not only  salvation1 but 
there is also judgment2 and ,god1 the   
just judge of  all1 is putting men on   
their trial4 ,the ,church is fulfilling 
its  office by proposing the way of     
salvation to men1 visibly to the  eye by
 its own presence1 audibly to the ear by
 its own teachings1  clearly to the     
intellect by the evident truth of its   
doctrines4 ,it  is putting men upon     
trial and applying the test to their    
hearts4 ,it  tests their faith to see   
whether men will believe2 it tests their
  candor to see whether they will choose
 ,god above all things2 it  tests their 
courage to know whether they are ready  
to take up their  cross and follow their
 divine ,master4 ,the ,church says to   
the men of  this day3 ,whosoever will   
save his life shall lose it1 and        
whosoever  shall lose his life for my   

sake and the gospel shall save it4 ,and 
in saying this ,god is separating       
between nation and nation and  between  
man and man4 ,his fan is in his hand and
 he will thoroughly  purge his floor and
 gather his wheat into the garner1 but  
the chaff  will be burnt with           
unquenchable fire4 ,he that believeth   
and is  baptized will be saved2 but he  
that believeth not is condemned4  ,we   
thank ,god1 who always maketh us to     
triumph in ,christ ,jesus and           
manifesteth the odor of him by us in    
every place2 for we now1 at  this hour1 
in the midst of the nineteenth century1 
in the midst  of science and progress1  
are the odor of life unto life and the  
odor of death unto death4 ,for the      
purpose of ,god in the world is         
this--to gather out1 as ,he did of old1 
a people for ,his name4 ,among  the     
,gentiles of the old world ,he chose    
,israel2 so now amongst the  nations of 
the new world ,he chooses those that    
believe4 ,he knows the  number of ,his  

elect and ,he calls them by their name4 
,he proposes to  them the way of        
salvation and puts all things           
necessary--truth and  grace--within     
their reach4 ,god is putting them on    
trial1 and the  ,church in this is      
fulfilling its mission and accomplishing
 its work4    ,the world is on its      
probation now4 ,it has been for         
generations  and generations driving    
,god and ,christianity out of its public
  life4 ,christianity is cancelled from 
its public law2 ,christianity  is silent
 in the legislature2 ,christianity at   
this moment lingers  in education1 but  
men are endeavoring to close the doors  
of the  schools against it and so to    
shut ,christianity out of the knowledge 
of the rising generation4 ,wo to the    
people the tradition of whose           
,christian education is cut asunder6 ,wo
 to your children and to  your          
posterity1 if they are brought up       
without the knowledge of  ,christianity6
 ,the world is laboring with all its    

might1 and all  its fraud1 and all its  
riches1 and all its public authority1 to
  accomplish this end4 ,i do not say    
that the men who are doing it  know what
 they do2 but ,i affirm that they are   
doing what ,i say4  ,unbelievers like   
those who created the infidel revolution
 of ,france  in the last century knew   
well what they were doing4 ,let us      
destroy  the accurst one1 was the       
language in which they frankly spoke of 
,jesus ,christ4 ,men are more refined in
 the present day4 ,they talk  only of   
the religious difficulty4 ,let us evade 
or get around the  religious difficulty2
 and1 under this plea of evading the    
religious  difficulty1 ,christianity is 
to be excluded from our schools2 that   
is to say1 because grown men choose to  
controvert and contradict  each other as
 to what is the truth of ,god1 the      
little ones of  ,jesus ,christ are to be
 robbed of their faith4 ,again1 the     
world is  separating its civil powers1  
its public authority from the unity of  

the faith and of the ,church everywhere4
 ,it is making it a part of  high and   
perfect legislation1 of what we hear    
called in these days  progress and      
modern civilization1 to separate the    
,church from the  ,state1 and the school
 from the ,church4 ,progress has deposed
 the ,head  of the ,church2 it has put  
in derision a crown of thorns upon his  
head2 and it believes that at last it   
has the whole world to itself4    ,this 
indeed is the triumph of the world4 ,but
 meanwhile the ,church  is triumphing1  
tho men know it not4 ,the ,church was   
never more  widespread than at this     
moment2 never more luminous in the eyes 
of  men1 never more explicitly known in 
its faith2 never more united1  vigorous1
 pure1 and confident in its work4 ,its  
kingdom is not of  this world3 that is1 
it is not derived from it2 the          
foundation of  its jurisdiction is in   
eternity2 the source of its truth is in 
the  ,holy ,ghost1 and its imperishable 
,head is the ,son of ,god at the right  

hand of the ,father4 ,his kingdom is in 
the world1 but not of it4 ,the  world   
may prosper and go its way2 it may stop 
its ears against the  voice of the      
divine witness to the truth2            
nevertheless that witness  will be the  
odor of death unto death4    ,and       
,england also is on its probation4 ,i   
bear witness that in ,england  errors   
are vanishing away1 as the snow melts   
before the sun--passing  away1 as the   
hard frosts before the coming of the    
spring4 ,the errors  which were once    
dominant1 lordly1 confident1 and        
persecuting--where  are they now8 ,at   
this day men are proclaiming that they  
are not  certain of what their          
forefathers bequeathed to them2 that    
they  cannot precisely tell what was the
 doctrine which was intended in  the    
,thirty-nine ,articles1 and was         
incorporated in statute laws4  ,they are
 no longer certain of these things2 and 
,i bear them witness  that a gentler    
spirit and a kindlier disposition is    

working in the  hearts of many4 ,in the 
midst of this darkness1 truth is rising 
again1 and the old ,catholic ,church and
 faith1 for which ,ireland has  stood   
inflexible as a martyr1 with the aureola
 upon her head1 at  this day is         
multiplying the children of faith here  
and throughout  the world4 ,here too in 
,lancashire1 where the faith of ,england
 has  never been extinct--where to this 
day the little children of our  flock   
are the descendants of those who were   
martyrs and confessors  some three      
hundred years ago--the lingering        
tradition of faith once  more is        
embodied in the perfect hierarchy of the
 ,church of ,god1 in  its perfect order1
 perfect unity1 perfect jurisdiction1   
perfect  authority4 ,and1 what is more1 
the men of ,england have learned to     
know it better4 ,they have heard it     
speak2 they have seen it worship2  they 
have even knelt together with us before 
the same altar1 perhaps  hardly knowing 
what they did2 and that because the     

,spirit of ,god is  working for ,his    
truth1 and multitudes will be saved4 ,we
 are only in  the twilight of the       
morning2 but we can see ,jesus standing 
on the  shore1 and there is a net in the
 hands of ,his apostles let down in  the
 water4 ,but when we are long gone to   
our rest1 who can say what  shall be the
 great draft of souls which shall be    
miraculously taken  in ,england8    ,i  
must bear witness that in ,england there
 are tokens full of hope4  ,england     
never rejected the holy ,catholic faith4
 ,a tyrannous and  guilty king1 a       
corrupt and covetous court1 men full of 
the conceit  of false learning1 schemers
 and intriguers1 men that hungered to   
spoil the ,church for their own         
enrichment--these tyrannized over  the  
people of ,england4 ,the people of      
,england held to their faith  and died  
for it4 ,the people of ,england never   
rejected it4 ,they were  robbed of it2  
they were deprived of their inheritance1
 and their  children were born          

disinherited of their faith2 every      
century from  that hour to this they    
have gone farther and farther from the  
light  of the one truth4 ,poor ,english 
people6 ,bear with them--,i speak as an 
,englishman--bear with them2 they know  
not what they do in believing  that we  
worship images1 that we imbrued our     
hands in the massacre of  ,st4          
,bartholomew4 ,let the men who write    
these things look at their  own hands2  
there is blood enough upon them4 ,but   
the ,english people  do not believe     
these things now2 they are passed away4 
,and there has  come in the place of    
these impostures a desire after         
truth--,only  let me find it2 a craving 
after unity--,can we never make an end  
of these divisions8 a thirsting for the 
presence of ,jesus ,christ  upon the    
altar--,where can ,i find ,him8 ,and    
what are all these  aspirations8 ,they  
are the evidences of the good odor of   
life unto  life4    ,and if so1 then1   
dear brethren1 you that have the        

inheritance of  faith are on your       
probation too4 ,you are called to let   
the light of  your faith shine like the 
day4 ,the silent1 penetrating1          
convincing  light of a man who1 knowing 
the faith1 speaks it calmly1 without    
controversy1 without bickering1 without 
contention1 sheds a grace  around him4  
,as men that possess the greatest gift  
of ,god1 and who  desire to make        
everybody else share it to the full1 so 
let your  faith shine4 ,and next1 as you
 have faith1 so you ought to have  the  
warmth of charity4 ,where there is      
light1 there is warmth2 and  where there
 is greater light there is greater      
warmth4 ,where there  is perfect truth1 
there ought to be perfect charity4 ,you 
who have  the whole revelation of ,god  
ought to have the whole charity of ,god 
in you4 ,let your neighbors who are     
round about1 even those who are  not of 
the faith1 feel that there is something 
in you--a warmth1  a kindness1 a        
sympathy and generosity which they find 

in no other  man4 ,and1 lastly1 let     
there be the fragrance of a holy life4  
,this is  the good odor of ,christ unto 
,god1 and this diffuses life unto life  
wherever you go4 ,you are upon this     
probation4 ,be worthy of the great  gift
 which has been given to you4 ,you have 
it in its fulness4 ,be  then1 worthy of 
its fulness1 in faith and in charity4   
,and now1 dear brethren1 in the midst of
 all the lordly triumph of  the world1  
of all that which no doubt we shall hear
 to-morrow1 be  of good heart4 ,as they 
said to the apostles so they will say to
 us3  ,if this be triumph1 what can be  
defeat8 ,we do not quarrel if you  are  
content with these victories4 ,overhead 
there is a throne1 and  round about it  
are those whom no man can number2 the   
powers and  prerogatives of ,him who    
sits upon that throne are working       
mightily  in the world4 ,there is one   
who sits above the water-flood1 with all
  its confusions1 whose voice penetrates
 through all the jangling               

contradictions of men4 ,he is bringing  
to its fulfilment the purpose  which    
from all eternity ,he has predestined4  
,he knows ,his own by  number and by    
name1 and ,he will gather them out as   
the shepherd  gathers his flock1 and ,he
 will separate the goats from the sheep4
  ,he will reign until the whole of that
 work is accomplished4 ,when  it is     
done1 and when the last of ,his elect   
has been gathered in1  and the last of  
,his redeemed has been made perfect1    
then ,he will  manifest ,himself to all 
men1 and the world shall then know that 
,he  has triumphed always and in every  
place4          ,,park    ,,the         
,,prominence ,,of ,,the ,,atonement     
,,biographical ,,note      ,,edwards    
,,amasa ,,park was born at ,providence1 
,r4 ,i41 in #ahjh4 ,after a  short      
pastorate of two years he became        
professor at ,amherst1 and  subsequently
 at ,andover ,theological ,seminary4 ,he
 was one of the  well-known exponents of
 the ,new ,england ,calvinism1 and his  

teachings  had a wide influence over the
 ministers of his generation4 ,his      
sermons1 frequently rewritten1 were     
marked by elegance of style  and great  
moral force4 ,both as a preacher and    
teacher he showed  largeness of view1   
depth of thought1 and a rare facility of
 clear  and powerful expression4 ,he    
wrote a number of biographies and other 
works4 ,he died in #aijj4               
,,park    #ahjh-aijj    ,,the           
,,prominence ,,of ,,the ,,atonement#a   
#a ,printed here by kind permission of  
,messrs4 ,w4 ,f4 ,draper  ,co41         
,andover ,publishing ,house1 ,andover1  
,mass4    ,for ,i determined not to know
 anything among you1 save ,jesus        
,christ1  and him crucified4--#a        
,corinthians ii41 #b4      ,should the  
apostle who penned this eloquent        
expression resume his  ministry on      
earth1 and should he deign to hold      
converse with us on  the principles of  
his high calling1 and should he repeat  
his strong  words1 ,i am now1 as of old1

 determined not to know anything among  
you save ,jesus ,christ1 and ,him       
crucified1 some of us would feel an     
impulse to ask him3    ,can your words  
mean what they appear to imply8 ,you are
 learned in  ,rabbinical literature2 you
 have read the ,grecian poets1 and even 
quoted from ,aratus2 you have examined  
the statuary of ,greece1 and  have made 
a permanent record of an inscription    
upon an altar in  ancient ,athens2 you  
have reasoned on the principles of      
,aristotle  from effect to cause1 and   
have taken rank with the philosophers1  
as well as orators of the world2 and    
now1 you seem to utter your             
determination to abandon all knowledge  
save that which concerns the  ,jew who  
was crucified4 ,you once said that you  
had rather speak five  words with the   
understanding1 than ten thousand words  
in an unknown  tongue2 and here1 lest   
the pithy language of this text should  
fail  of being truly apprehended1 we    
desire to learn its precise meaning  in 

three particulars3    ,in the first     
place1 do you intend to assert that our 
knowledge is  controlled by our will8   
,you determined not to know anything    
save  one4 ,can you by mere choice expel
 all but one of your old ideas1 and     
make your mind like a chart of white    
paper in reference to the vast  majority
 of your familiar objects of thought8   
,i am ready to concede1 is the reply1   
that much of our knowledge  is          
involuntary2 still a part of it is      
dependent on our will4 ,in some  degree1
 at some times1 we may attend to a theme
 or not attend to  it1 as we choose1 and
 thus our choice may influence our      
belief1 and  thus are we responsible1 in
 a certain measure1 for our knowledge4  
,besides1 the word 'know' is used by us 
,hebraistic writers to include  not only
 a mental apprehension1 but also a moral
 feeling4 ,when we  know ,christ1 we    
feel a hearty complacence in ,him4      
,again1 to 'know'  often signifies to   
manifest1 as well as to possess1 both   

knowledge  and love4 ,we do not know an 
old acquaintance when we of set purpose 
withhold all public recognition of him1 
and act outwardly as if  we were        
inwardly ignorant of his being4 ,but ,i1
 ,paul1 say to you1  as ,i said to the  
,corinthians1 that ,i shall make the    
atonement of  ,christ1 and nothing but  
the atonement of ,christ1 the main theme
 of  my regard1 of my loving regard1 and
 such loving regard as is openly        
avowed4    ,thus our first query is     
answered2 but there is a second inquiry 
which some of us would propose to the   
apostle1 were he uttering to  us        
personally the words which he wrote to  
the ,corinthians4 ,it is  this3         
,should a ,christian minister out of the
 pulpit1 as well as in the  pulpit1 know
 nothing save the ,crucified ,one8 ,did 
you not know how to  sustain yourself by
 the manufacture of tents2 and did you  
not say to  the circle of elders at     
,ephesus1 ',these hands have ministered 
to my  necessities'8 ,did you not       

dispute with the ,roman sergeants1 plead
  your cause before the ,roman courts8  
,must not every minister cease  for a   
time to converse on the word of ,jesus2 
and must he not think  of providing for 
his own household1 lest he become worse 
than an  infidel8    ,i am willing to   
admit1 is the reply1 that the pulpit is 
the  place where the minister should    
speak of ,christ with more uniform      
distinctness than in other places2 but  
there are no places1 and no  times1 in  
which he should fail to manifest1 more  
or less obviously1  his interest in his 
,redeemer4 ,wherever he goes he has a   
pulpit4  ,whether he eat1 or drink1 or  
whatever he do1 he must do all for  the 
glory of ,god1 and the highest glory of 
,god is ,christ1 and the  highest honor 
of ,christ is in ,him crucified4 ,a     
minister must always  respect the       
proprieties of life2 in honoring them he
 knows that  appropriate model ,man who1
 rising from the tomb1 wrapped up the   
napkin that was about ,his head1 and    

laid it in a place by itself4  ,now the 
proprieties of life do require a        
minister to speak in the  pulpit on     
themes more plainly and more easily     
connected with the  atonement1 than are 
various themes on which he must speak in
 the  market-place or in the schools4   
,but all subjects on which he may       
discourse do lead1 sooner or later1 more
 or less obviously and  easily1 to the  
great work of ,jesus2 and he should     
converse on them  with the intent of    
seizing every hint they give him1       
following out  every line to which they 
point him1 in the direction of the      
cross4 ,i  have been in many synagogues1
 and in the temple1 and on ,mars' ,hill1
  and on a ,mediterranean ship-deck2 and
 once ,i was hurried along in a  night  
ride from ,jerusalem to ,csarea with    
four hundred and seventy  soldiers1     
horsemen and spearmen4 ,i have resided  
at leisure with my  arm chained to a    
,roman guard in a prison at the capital 
of the ,roman  ,empire2 but in all such 

places ,i have felt1 and everywhere ,i  
do  feel1 bound to speak out1 and to act
 out1 all the interest which  the       
fitness of the occasion admits1 in the  
atonement of ,jesus2 and  not to        
manifest1 and not to feel1 any interest 
in any theme which  may lessen my regard
 for this1 the chiefest among ten       
thousand6    ,but there is a third      
question which some of us would propose 
to the  apostle1 were he to speak in our
 hearing the words of the text3         
,should every man1 as well as every     
minister1 cherish and exhibit no        
interest in anything but ,christ8       
,should a sailor at the masthead1  a    
surgeon in the extirpation of the       
clavicle1 a warrior in the  critical    
moment of the last charge1 look at      
nothing1 and hear of  nothing1 but the  
cross8 ,must not everyone conduct       
business1 and  sustain cares1 which draw
 his mind away from the atonement8    ,i
 am ready to grant1 is the reply1 that  
some duties are less  plainly and less  

intimately connected than others with   
the work of  ,jesus2 but all of them are
 connected with it in some degree1 and  
this connection may be seen by all who  
choose to gain the fitting  insight4    
,the great principle of duty belonging  
to the minister in  the pulpit1 belongs 
to him everywhere2 and the great        
principle of  duty belonging to the     
minister1 belongs to every man1 woman1  
and  child4 ,there is not one religion  
for the man when he is in the  temple1  
and another religion for the man when he
 is in the parlor  or in the street4    
,there is not one law for ordained      
pastor1 and  another law for the        
tradesman or the mechanic4 ,the same law
 and no  different one1 the same        
religion and no different one1 are the  
law  and religion for the apostles1 and 
publicans1 and prophets1 and tax        
gatherers1 and patriarchs1 and children1
 and nobles1 and beggars4  ,every man is
 bidden to refuse everything1 if it be  
the nearest  friend1 who interferes with

 the claims of the ,messiah2 and        
therefore  every man1 layman as well as 
clergyman1 must keep his eye fixed      
primarily upon the cross4 ,he may see   
other things within the range  of that  
cross1 but he must keep the cross       
directly at the angle of  his vision1   
and allow nothing else1 when placed side
 by side with  the tree of ,calvary1 to 
allure his eye away from that central1  
engrossing object4    ,here1 then1 is   
our third question answered2 and in     
these three  replies to these three     
queries1 we perceive the meaning of our 
text  to be3 that not on the first day  
only1 but on every day likewise1  not in
 the religious assembly only1 but in all
 assemblies1 and  in all solitudes      
likewise1 not the preacher only1 but the
 hearer  likewise1 every man must adopt 
the rule1 to give his voluntary1 his    
loving1 his secret and open regard to   
nothing so much as to the  character and
 work of his ,redeemer4    ,having      
inquired into the meaning of the        

apostle's words1 let us  proceed1 in the
 next place1 to inquire into the        
importance of  making the atonement of  
,christ the only great object of our    
thought1 speech and action4    ,and     
here1 did we hold a personal interview  
with the author of our  text1 we should 
be prompted to put three additional     
queries before  him4 ,our first inquiry 
would be3    ,is not your theme too     
contracted8 ,it is well to know ,christ1
 but  in all the varying scenes of life 
is it well not to know anything  else8  
,will not the pulpit become wearisome   
if1 spring and autumn1  summer and      
winter1 it confine itself to a single   
topic8 ,we have  known men preach       
themselves out by incessant repetitions 
of the  scene at ,calvary1--a scene     
thrilling in itself1 and on that very   
account not bearing to be presented in  
its details1 every ,sabbath  day4 ,how  
much less will the varying sensibilities
 of the soul  endure the reiteration of 
this tragic tale every day and at every 

interview6 ,such extreme familiarity    
induces irreverence4 ,the  ,bible is not
 confined to this theme4 ,it is rich in 
ecclesiastical  history1 political      
history1 ethical rules1 metaphysical    
discussion1  comprehensive theology4 ,it
 contains one book of ten chapters which
  has not a single allusion to ,god1 and
 several books which do not  mention    
,christ2 why then do you shut us up to a
 doctrine which will  circumscribe the  
minds of good men1 and result in making 
their  conversation insipid8            
,contracted6--this is the reply--and you
 consider this topic a  limited one1    
whose height1 depth1 length1 breadth1 no
 finite mind  can measure8 ,of what     
would you speak8    ,we would speak of  
the divine existence4    ,but ,christ is
 the ',i am4'    ,we would speak of the 
divine attributes4    ,but ,christ is   
the ,alpha and ,omega2 ,he searcheth the
 reins and  trieth the hearts of men2   
,he is the same yesterday1 to-day1 and  
forever2 full of grace and truth2 to    

,him belong wisdom and power and  glory 
and honor2 of ,his dominion is no end4  
,of what1 then1 would you  speak8    ,we
 would speak of the divine sovereignty4 
,but ,christ taught us to say3 ,even so1
 ,father1 for so it seemed good  in ,thy
 sight--and ,he and ,his ,father are    
one4    ,we would converse on the divine
 decrees4    ,but all things are planned
 for ,his praise who was in ,christ1 and
 in  whom ,christ was at the beginning4 
,we would discourse on electing love4   
,but the saints are elect in ,christ    
,jesus4    ,we would utter many words on
 the creation of men and angels4    ,now
 by our ,redeemer were all things       
created that are in heaven and  that are
 in the earth1 visible and invisible4   
,we would converse on the preservation  
of what has been created4    ,now       
,christ upholdeth all things by the word
 of ,his power4 ,what  would you have1  
then1 for your theme8    ,we would take 
the flowers of the field for our theme4 
,but they are the delight1 as well as   

the contrivance of the  ,redeemer4      
,we would take for our theme the globes 
in space4    ,but they are the work of  
,his fingers4    ,then we would take the
 very winds of heaven for our theme1    
lawless  and erratic as they are4       
,but ,jesus taught us to comment upon   
these as an illustration of  ,his truth4
 ,his poetic mind gave us the conception
 that the wind  bloweth where it        
chooseth to blow2 and we look on1       
wondering whence  it cometh1 and whither
 it goeth1 knowing only that it is the  
breath  of the wonderful1 the counselor1
 who arouseth it as ,he listeth1 or     
saith1 ,peace1 be still4 ,what else1    
then1 do you prefer for your  topic of  
conversation8    ,we prefer the laws of 
nature for our topic4    ,but in them   
the ,father worketh and ,christ worketh 
equally4    ,if it be so1 we will select
 the fine and useful arts for our       
subject4    ,but all the materials of   
these arts and all the laws which       
compact them1 and all the ingenuity     

which arranges them are of  ,his        
architectonic plan4 ,he is the guide of 
the sculptor1 painter1  musician1 poet4 
,he is the contriver of all the graces  
which we  in our idolatry ascribe to the
 human discoverer1 as if man had        
originally invented them4 ,the history  
of the arts is the history of  ,christ's
 government on earth4 ,will you propose1
 then1 some other  theme for your       
remark8    ,do let us converse on the   
moral law4    ,you may2 but ,christ gave
 this law and came to magnify it4       
,then let us comment on the ceremonial  
law4    ,you may2 but all its types are 
prophecies of ,jesus4    ,then we will  
expatiate on virtue in the general4     
,do so2 but ,christ is the first        
exemplar1 the brightest  representative 
of all abstract goodness1 of all your   
virtue in the  general4    ,then we will
 take up the ethical maxims4    ,take   
them up2 but they are embodied in ,him  
who is the way1 the  truth1 the life4   
,we will resort1 then1 to human         

responsibility for our subject of       
discourse4    ,but we must all appear   
before the judgment seat of that        
fair-minded  arbiter who is man as well 
as ,god4    ,may we not speak of eternal
 blessedness8    ,yes2 but it is ,christ
 who welcomes ,his chosen into life4    
,shall we not converse1 then1 on endless
 misery8    ,yes2 but it is ,christ who 
will proclaim3 ,depart1 ye cursed4      
,the human body2 we would utter some    
words on that4    ,but your present body
 is the image of what your ,lord wore   
once1 and  the body that you will have1 
if you die in the faith1 is the image   
of what your ,lord wears now2 the image 
of the body slain for our  offenses and 
raised again for our justification4 ,and
 have you still  a favorite theme which 
you have not suggested8    ,the         
pleasures of life are our favorite      
theme4    ,yes1 and ,jesus provided them
 and graced them at ,cana4    ,the      
duties of the household are our favorite
 theme4    ,yes1 and ,jesus has         

prescribed them and disciplines you by  
them1  and will judge you for your      
manner of regarding them4 ,what would   
you have1 then1 what can you think of   
for your choice topic of  discourse8    
,we love to talk of our brethren in the 
faith4    ,but they are the indices of  
,christ1 and ,he is represented by them4
    ,we choose to converse on our       
,redeemer's indigent1 imprisoned1       
diseased1 agonized followers4    ,and   
,he is anhungered1 athirst1 penniless1  
afflicted in them1 and  whatsoever we do
 to one of them we do to ,him1 and what 
we say of one  of them we say of ,him4  
,may we speak in the pulpit of slaves8  
,of slaves6 ,can you not speak of ,medes
 and ,parthians1 ,indians and           
,arabians8 ,why not then of ,africans8  
,have they1 or have they not1  immortal 
souls8 ,was ,jesus1 or was ,he not1     
crucified for them8 ,was  ,he ashamed of
 the lowly and the down-trodden1 and    
those who have  become the reproach of  
men and the despised of the people8 ,you

 may  speak of all for whom ,christ     
died2 as all men1 bond or free1 and all 
things1 globes or atoms1 suggest        
thoughts leading in a right line  or in 
a curved line to the cross of ,christ4  
,all things1 being thus  nearly or      
remotely suggestive of the atonement1   
are for your sakes2  whether ,paul or   
,apollos1 or ,cephas1 or the world1 or  
life1 or death1  or things present1 or  
things to come1--all are yours1 for your
  thoughts1 for your words4 ,if things  
pertain to the divine essence1  the     
whole of that is the essence of ,jesus2 
if they pertain to the  divine          
relations1 all of them are the relations
 of ,jesus2 if they  pertain to the     
noblest and brightest features of       
seraphs1 all the  angels of ,god bow    
down before ,jesus2 if they pertain to  
the minutest  changes of human life1 in 
all our vicissitudes ,jesus keeps up    
,his  brotherhood with us2 if they      
pertain to the vilest and darkest spot  
of our depravity1 they pertain to       

,jesus1--for to speak aright of sin  is 
to be determined to speak of ,christ and
 of ,him crucified for sin4    ,and is  
this the doctrine which men call a      
contracted one8 ,narrow6  ,the very     
suspicion of its being narrow has now   
suggested the first  reason why you     
should place it and keep it as the crown
 of all  your words and deeds--it is so 
large1 so rich1 so boundless1 that  you 
need nothing which excludes it4 ,and    
therefore1 continues  the apostle1 ,i   
mean to know and to love nothing1 and to
 make  it manifest that ,i care for     
nothing1 in comparison with1 and        
disconnected from1 the ,god-man1 as ,he 
develops all ,his attributes  and all   
,his relations on the cross4    ,but    
were the author of these laconic words  
in a familiar conference  with us1 we   
might be tempted to address to him a    
second inquiry3    ,is not your theme   
too large8 ,at first we deemed it too   
small1 but  now it swells out before us 
into such colossal dimensions that we   

change our ground1 and ask3 ,can the    
narrow mind of man take in this         
multiplicity of relations1 comprehended 
in both the natures1 and in  the        
redemptive1 as well as all the other    
works of ,christ8 ,do not  frail powers 
need one day as a day of rest1 and one  
place as a  sanctuary of repose1 from   
every thought less tender than that of  
the  atoning death itself8 ,must we not 
call in our minds from ,christ and  ,him
 crucified1 so as to concentrate all our
 emotions on the simple  fact of ,christ
 crucified8    ,too large a theme6 this 
is the reply1 it is a large theme1 too  
large to be fully comprehended by finite
 intelligences4 ,men have  dreamed of   
exhausting the atonement by defining it 
to be a plan for  removing the obstacles
 which stand in the way of our pardon4  
,it is  too large for that definition1  
as the atonement also persuades the     
,most ,high to forgive us4 ,then men    
have thought to mark it round  about by 
saying that it is a scheme for inducing 

,god to interpose in  our aid4 ,but the 
atonement is too large for that defining
 clause1  as it also presents motives to
 man for accepting the interposition  of
 ,god4 ,then some have thought to define
 it exactly1 by saying  that the        
atonement is both an appeal to the      
,lawgiver and also an  appeal to the    
sinner4 ,too large still is the         
atonement for that  explanation4 ,it is 
an appeal to both ,god and man1 but it  
is more4 ,it  is an appeal to the       
universe1 and is as many-sided as the   
universe  itself is to be variously     
affected4 ,can we by searching find out 
the  whole of atoning love8 ,it is the  
love of ,him who stretched out ,his     
arms on the fatal wood1 and pointed to  
the right hand and to the  left hand1   
and raised ,his eyes upward1 and cast   
them downward2 and  thus all things     
above and below1 and on either side1 ,he
 embraced  in ,his comprehensive love4  
,it is a large theme1 but not too large 
to operate as a motive upon us4 ,the    

immeasurable reach of a motive  is the  
hiding of its power4 ,the mind of man is
 itself expansive1  and requires and    
will have something immense and infinite
 of truth  or error1 either overpowering
 it for good or overmastering it for    
evil4 ,the atonement is a great theme1  
but not too great2 and for  the         
additional reason1 its greatness lies1  
in part1 in its reducing  all other     
doctrines to a unity1 its arranging them
 around itself in  an order which makes 
them all easily understood4 ,we know in 
other  things the power of unity amid   
variety4 ,we know how simple the        
geography of a land becomes by          
remembering that its rivers1 altho      
meandering in unnumbered circuits around
 the hills and through  the vales1 yet  
pursue one main direction from one      
mountain to one  sea4 ,now all the      
truths of ,god flow into the atonement4 
,they are  understood by means of it1   
because their tendencies are toward it2 
and it is understood by means of them1  

because it receives and  comprehends    
them4    ,consider more fully the first 
part of this sentence2 all other  truths
 are understood by means of the         
atonement4 ,it gives to them  all a     
unity by illustrating them all4 ,other  
truths are not so much  independent     
themes1 as they are branches growing up 
or sidewise  out of this one root1 and  
they need this single theme in order    
that  their relations may be rightly    
understood4 ,what1 for example1 can  we 
know in its most important bearings1    
unless we know the history  and office  
of our ,redeemer8 ,begin from whatever  
point we may examine  the uses of       
things1 we can never measure their full 
utility until we  view them from the    
cross4 ,the trees bud and blossom4 ,why8
 ,to bear  fruit for the sustenance of  
the human body4 ,but is this an ultimate
  object8 ,the nourishment of the body  
favors the growth of the mind4  ,but is 
the human mind an end worthy of all the 
contrivances in  nature8 ,does the sun1 

with all its retinue of stars1 pursue   
its  daily course with no aim ulterior  
to man's welfare8 ,do we adopt a        
,ptolemaic theory in morals1 that man is
 the center of the system1  and other   
worlds revolve round him8 ,all things   
were made of ,god1 as  the ,being in    
whom they all terminate4 ,do they exist 
for elucidating  ,his power8 ,this is   
not his chief attribute4 ,his knowledge8
 ,there is  a nobler perfection than    
omniscience4 ,his love8 ,but there is   
one  virtue imbedded as a gem in ,his   
love1 and ,his love is but a shining    
casket for this pearl of infinite price4
 ,this pearl is grace4 ,this  is the    
central ornament of the character of    
,jehovah4 ,but there is no  grace in    
,jehovah save as it beams forth in      
,christ2 not in ,christ as  a mere      
,divinity1 nor in ,christ as a mere     
spotless humanity1 but in  the two      
united1 and in that ,god-man crucified4 
,all things were made  by ,him and for  
,him1 rising from the cross to the      

throne4 ,without  reference to ,him in  
,his atoning love has nothing been made 
that was  made in this world4 ,the star 
in the ,east led wise men once to the   
manger where the ,redeemer lay2 and all 
the stars of heaven lead  wise men now  
to ,him who had risen above the stars1  
and whose glory  illumines them all4 ,he
 is termed the ,sun of righteousness2   
and1 as  the material sun binds all the 
planets around it in an intelligible    
order1 so does ,christ shine over1 and  
under1 and into1 and through  all other 
objects1 attract them all to ,himself1  
marshal them all  into one clear and    
grand array1 showing them all to be ,his
 works1  all suggestive of our duty1 our
 sin1 our need of atonement1 our        
dependence on the one ,god1 and the one 
,mediator between ,god and man4    ,the 
first part of my sentence was1 ,all     
other truths are understood  by means of
 the atonement4 ,consider next the      
second part3 ,the  atonement is         
understood by means of other truths4 ,it

 crystallizes  them around itself1 and  
reduces them into a system1 not only    
because  it explains them1 but also     
because it makes them explain it4 ,it is
  not too large a theme1 for all the    
sciences and the arts bring their       
contributions to make it orderly and    
plain4 ,our text is a simple  one1      
because its words are interpreted by a  
thousand facts shining  upon it1 and    
making themselves and it luminous in    
their radiations  around and over it4   
,listen again to its suggestive words3  
',for ,i determined not to know anything
 among you save ,jesus ,christ1  and him
 crucified4'    ,now1 what is the       
meaning of this plain term ',christ'8   
,it means a  ',king4' ,but how can we   
appreciate the ,king1 unless we learn   
the  nature of the beings over whom ,he 
rules8 ,he reigns over the heavens2     
therefore we investigate the heavens4   
,the whole earth is full of  ,his glory2
 therefore we study the earth4 ,he is   
the ,lord over the  angels2 when we     

reflect on them1 we catch a glimpse of  
,him in ,his  regal state4 ,he is the   
,king of the ,jews and the ,gentiles4   
,when we  meditate on men1 we enjoy a   
glance at ,him who was born for this    
end1 that ,he might have dominion over  
our race4 ,when we contemplate  the     
material worlds1 all the vastness and   
the grandeur included in  them--the     
sphere of mind1 all the refinement and  
energy involved  in it--we are          
overpowered by the reality1 surpassing  
fable1 that  ,he who superintends all   
the movements of matter and first spake 
it  into being and once framed1 as ,he  
now governs1 the souls of ,his          
creatures--,he is the ,king who atoned  
for us2 and the more we know of  the    
stars in their courses1 and of the      
spirit in its mysteries1 so  much the   
deeper is our awe in view of the        
condescending pity which  moved their   
,creator to become one with a lowly     
creature acquainted  with grief for you 
and me4 ,so much is involved in the word

 ',christ4'    ,but our text speaks of  
,jesus ,christ4 ,that word ',jesus6'    
,what is  the meaning of it8 ,it means a
 'deliverer1' and in the view of some   
interpreters it means ',god1 the        
deliverer4' ,deliverer8 ,from what8 ,we 
do not understand the power of ,his     
great office1 unless we learn the       
nature and the vileness of sin2 and we  
have no conception how mean1  how       
detestable1 sin is1 unless we know the  
needlessness of it1 the  nobleness of   
the will which degrades itself into it1 
the excellence  of the law which is     
dishonored by it4 ,all our studies1     
then1 in  regard to the nature of the   
will1 the unforced voluntariness of     
depravity1 the extent of it through our 
race1 the depth of it1 the  purity of   
the commands aiming to prevent it1 the  
attractions of  virtue1 the strangeness 
of their not prevailing over the        
temptations  of vice--they are not mere 
metaphysics2 they are studies concerning
  the truth and the grace of ,immanuel1 

who is ,god with us1 and whose  name is 
',deliverer' because ,he delivers ,his  
people from their sins2  sins involving 
the power and the penalty of free wrong 
choice2  a penalty including the        
everlasting punishment of the soul2 a   
punishment suggesting the nature and the
 character of the divine  law1 and the  
divine ,lawgiver1 in their relation to  
the conscience  and all the             
sensibilities of the mind2 and that     
mind1 as undying as  its ,maker4 ,all   
these things are comprehended in the    
word ',jesus4'    ,but our text speaks  
of ,jesus ,christ and ,him crucified3   
and this  third term1 'crucified1' adds 
an emphasis to the two preceding  terms1
 and stirs us up to examine our own     
capabilities--to learn  the skill       
pervading our physical organism1 so     
exquisitely qualified  for pain as well 
as pleasure2 the wisdom apparent in our 
mental  structure1 so keenly sensitive  
to all that can annoy as well as        
gratify2 and thus we catch a glimpse of 

the truth1 that ,he who  combines all of
 our dignity with none of our guilt1 and
 with all  of the divine glory1 and who 
thus develops all that is fit to be     
explained in man1 and all that can be   
explained in ,god--,he it is who  chose 
to hang and linger with aching nerve and
 bleeding heart upon  the cross for you 
and me4 ,this cross makes out an        
atonement of the  sciences and the arts 
and brings them also1 as well as devout 
men1  at one with ,god2 all of them     
tributary to the doctrine that we are   
bought with a price--that we are        
redeemed1 not with silver and gold1  but
 with the precious blood of a man1 who  
was ,god manifest in the  flesh4 ,too   
large a theme is the atonement8 ,but it 
breaks down the  middle wall of         
partition that has kept apart the       
different studies  of men2 and it brings
 them together as illustrations of the  
truth1  which in their light becomes as 
simple as it is great4    ,the very     
objection1 then1 that the redemptive    

work is too extensive  for our familiar 
converse1 has suggested the second      
reason why it  should be the main thing 
for us to think upon1 and speak upon1   
and  act upon3 ,it systematizes all     
other themes1 and gains from them a     
unity which becomes the plainer because 
it is set off by a luminous  variety2   
and for this cause1 continues the       
apostle1 ,i intend to  know nothing with
 supreme love1 except this centralizing 
doctrine  which combines all other      
truths into a constellation of glories4 
,there is still a third inquiry which we
 might present to the author  of our    
text1 could we meet him in a personal   
colloquy3    ,your words all converge   
toward one point2 will they not then    
become  monotonous1 and inapposite to   
the varying wants of various1 or even   
the same1 individuals8    ,a monotonous 
theme6 this is the reply3 ,what can be  
more  diversified than the character and
 work of ,him who is at one time        
designated as the omniscient ,god1 and  

at another time as a ,mechanic2  at one 
time as a ,judge1 and at another time as
 an ,intercessor2 now  a ,lion1 and then
 a ,lamb2 here a ,vine1 a ,tree1 there a
 ,way1 a ,door2  again a ,stone1 a      
,rock1 still again a ,star1 a ,sun2 here
 without sin1  and there ,he was made   
sin for us4    ,monotonous is this      
theme8 ,then it is sadly wronged1 and   
the mind of  man is sadly harmed2 for   
this mind shoots out its tendrils to    
grasp  all the branches of the tree of  
life1 and the tree in its healthy       
growth has branches to which every      
sensibility of the human mind  may      
cling4 ,the judgment is addrest by the  
atonement1 concerning the  nature of law
 of distributive justice1 the mode of   
expressing this  justice either by      
punishing the guilty or by inflicting   
pain as a  substitute for punishment1   
the influence of this substitution on   
the transgressor1 on the surety1 on the 
created universe1 on ,god  ,himself4    
,there is more of profound and even     

abstruse philosophy  involved in the    
specific doctrine of the atonement1 than
 in any  other branch of knowledge2 and 
there has been or will be more of       
discussion upon it1 than upon all other 
branches of knowledge2 for  sacred      
science is the most fruitful of all     
sciences in logical  deduction1 and this
 specific part of the science is the    
richest of  all its parts4    ,here1    
then1 is the first method in which you  
may keep up the habit  of making ',jesus
 and ,him crucified' the soul of your   
activity3 ,bring  to your help the force
 of a resolute determination4 ,there is 
a  tendency in this resolute spirit to  
divert your thoughts from other  themes1
 to turn the current of your            
sensibilities into the right  channel1  
to invigorate your choice1 to exert a   
direct and reflex  influence in         
confirming the whole soul in ,jesus4    
,god is in that  determination4 ,he     
inspires it4 ,he invigorates it4 ,he    
works with it  and by it4 ,there is a   

power in it1 but the power is not yours2
 it is  the power of ,god4 ,god is in   
every holy resolve of man4    ,in our   
interview with the apostle we should    
address to him a second  inquiry3    ,in
 what method can we avoid both the fact 
and the appearance of  being slavishly  
coerced into the habit of conversing on 
,christ  and on ,christ alone8 ,you     
speak of taking your stand1 adhering to 
your decision2 but this dry1 stiff      
resolve-comes any genial spirit  from   
it8 ,will you not be a slave to your    
unswerving purpose8 ,your  inflexible   
rule1 will it not be a hard one1        
wearisome to yourself1  disagreeable to 
others8 ,you hold up a weighty theme by 
a dead lift4    ,i am determined--this  
is the reply--and it is not only a      
strong  but it is a loving resolve4 ,for
 the love of ,christ constraineth  me2  
whom having not seen in the flesh ,i    
love2 in whom1 though now  ,i see him   
not1 yet believing1 ,i rejoice with the 
joy unspeakable  and full of glory4 ,it 

is not a business-like resolution4 ,it  
is  not a diplomatic purpose4 ,it is not
 a mechanical force4 ,it is an          
affectionate decision4 ,it is a joyous  
rule4 ,it is the effluence of a  supreme
 attachment to the ,redeemer4    ,and   
this is the second method in which you  
may retain ,jesus ,christ  as the jewel 
of your speech and life3 ,cherish a     
loving purpose to  do so4 ,a man has    
strength to accomplish what with a full 
soul he  longs to accomplish4 ,your     
,christian toil will be irksome to you1 
if  it be not your cordial preference2  
but if your undeviating resolve  spring 
out of a hearty choice of your ,savior1 
then will it be ever  refreshed and     
enlivened by your outflowing1 genial    
preference2 then  will your pious work  
be the repose of your soul4 ,there is a 
power in  your love to your work4 ,it is
 a power to make your labor easy for    
yourself and attractive to others4 ,this
 is not your power2 it is the  power of 
,god4 ,he enkindles the love within you4

 ,he enlivens it4 ,he  gives it warmth4 
,he makes it instinct with energy4 ,god 
is in all the  holy joy of man4    ,in  
our conference with the author of our   
text we might suggest to  him our third 
and last inquiry3    ,in what method can
 we feel sure of persevering in this    
habitual  exaltation of ,christ8 ,you   
speak of your stern purpose1 but can you
  depend upon the continuance of it8    
,you speak of your cordial as well  as  
set resolve4 ,but who are you8 7forgive 
our pertinacious query74  ,jesus we     
know4 ,but ,his disciples1 ,his chief   
apostles--is not every  one of them a   
reed shaken with the wind1 tossed hither
 and thither1  unstable as a wave upon  
the sea8    ,i know it is so--this is   
the reply4 ,often am ,i afraid lest1    
having preached the gospel to others1 ,i
 should be a castaway4 ,and  after all  
,i am persuaded that nothing--height    
depth1 life1 death1  nothing--shall be  
able to separate me from the love of    
,christ2 for  ,i put my confidence in   

,him1 and while my purpose is inflexible
 and  affectionate1 it is also inwrought
 with trust in the atonement and  the   
intercession4 ,i do pursue my ,christian
 life in weakness and in  fear and in   
much trembling4 ,for all the piety of   
the best of men  is in itself as grass1 
and the goodliness thereof as the flower
 of  the field4 ,therefore serve ,i the 
,lord with all humility of mind  and    
with many tears and temptations4 ,yet ,i
 am determined with a  confiding love4  
,i am troubled on every side2 my flesh  
has no rest2  without are fightings1    
within are fears2 in presence ,i am base
 among  you1 my bodily presence is weak 
and my speech contemptible2 and if  ,i  
must needs glory1 ,i will glory in the  
things which concern my  infirmities4   
,still1 after all1 ,i am determined1 my 
right hand being  enfolded in the hand  
of my ,redeemer4 ,i know whom ,i have   
believed1  and am persuaded that ,he is 
able to keep that which ,i have         
committed  unto ,him against that day4  

,for my conversation is in heaven1 from 
whence ,i am to look for the ,savior1   
the ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 who shall     
change our vile body that it may be     
fashioned like unto ,his glorious  body1
 according to the mighty working whereby
 ,he is able to subdue  all things unto 
,himself4 ,i say the truth in ,christ2  
,i lie not2 ,i am  the least of the     
apostles1 that am not meet to be called 
an apostle1  because ,i injured the     
,church of ,god2 ,i am less than the    
least of all  saints4 ,still ,i am      
determined2 for by the grace of ,god ,i 
am what ,i  am2 and this grace which was
 bestowed upon me was not in vain1 but  
,i labored more abundantly than they    
all2 yet not ,i but the grace of  ,god  
which was with me2 for ,i can do all    
things through ,christ which            
strengtheneth me1 and therefore ,i am   
determined4    ,borne onward1 therefore1
 by your fixed plan1 and no one can     
succeed  in anything without a plan1 yet
 you must never rely ultimately  upon   

your determined spirit4 ,allured further
 and further onward  by your delight in 
your plan1 and no one can work as a     
master in  anything without enthusiasm  
in his prescribed course1 still you     
must not place your final dependence    
upon your affectionate spirit2  for if  
you take1 for your last prop1 either the
 sternness or the  cheerfulness of your 
own determination1 then you will know   
your  determination1 and you are not to 
know anything save ,jesus ,christ  and  
,him crucified4 ,here1 then1 is the     
third method in which you may  give the 
fitting prominence to the best of       
themes3 ,you must rest for  your chief  
and final support on ,him and only on   
,him1 from whom all  wise plans start1  
by whom they hold out1 and to whom they 
all tend1  who is all and in all1 ,jesus
 ,christ and ,him crucified4    ,my     
,christian brethren1 you are all        
apostles4 ,every man1 every woman1      
every child1 the richest and the        
poorest1 the most learned and the  most 

ignorant of you--who have come up hither
 to dedicate yourselves  and this       
sanctuary to your ,lord1 all being sent 
of ,him to serve ,him1  have in fact and
 in essence the same responsibility     
resting on you  as weighed on the author
 of our text4 ,and he was burdened by   
the  same kind of temptations and fears 
which oppress your spirit4 ,but he  was 
held up from failing in his work by a   
threefold cord2 and that  was his       
resolute determination1 as loving as it 
was resolute1 and as  trustful as it was
 loving1 to know nothing save ,jesus    
,christ and ,him  crucified4 ,the last  
that you hear of him as an impenitent   
man is in  the words3 ,and ,saul1 yet   
breathing out threatening and slaughter 
against the disciples of the ,lord4 ,it 
was ,christ whom the proud ,jew  last   
opposed4 ,the first that you hear of him
 as a convicted man is  in the words3   
,who art thou1 ,lord8 ,it was ,christ   
whom the inquiring  ,jew first studied4 
,and the first that you hear of him as a

 penitent  man is3 ,lord1 what wilt thou
 have me to do8 ,it was ,christ to whom 
the humble disciple first surrendered   
his will4 ,and the first that  you hear 
of him as a ,christian minister is3 ,and
 straightway he  preached ,christ in the
 synagogs that he is the ,son of ,god4  
,and the  last that you hear of him as a
 ,christian hero is3 ,i have fought  the
 good fight1 ,i have finished my course4
 ,i have kept the faith2  henceforth    
there is laid up for me a crown of      
righteousness4 ,and  the secret of this 
victorious career is in words like those
 of our  text3 ,i adhered to my plan    
7when among the fickle ,corinthians71 ,i
  was decided 7when among the           
vacillating ,galatians7 to know nothing 
7when among the learned at ,athens and  
them of ,csar's household at  ,rome7    
save ,jesus ,christ 7when ,i was among  
my own kinsmen who scorned  ,him71 and  
,him crucified 7when ,i was among the   
pupils of ,gamaliel1  all of whom       
despised my chosen theme72 still ,i was 

determined to  cling to that theme among
 the ,greeks and the ,barbarians1 before
  ,onesimus the slave and ,philemon the 
proud master2 for ,i loved my  theme1   
and1 suffering according to the will of 
,god1 ,i committed the  keeping of my   
soul to ,him in well-doing as unto a    
faithful ,creator4    ,and herein is it 
to be your plan1 my brethren1 and your  
joy1 not to  make this sanctuary the    
resort of wealth and of fashion1 but    
rather  of humble suppliants1 who by    
their prayers may divert all the wealth 
and fashion of the world into the       
service of your ,lord2 not to make  this
 temple the resting-place of hearers who
 shall idly listen to  the words of an  
orator1 but a temple of earnest         
coworkers with  ,christ--thinking of    
,him1 speaking of ,him1 loving ,him     
first1 and  last1 and midst1 and without
 end4 ,as you come to this house of ,god
  on the ,sabbath1 as you go from it1 as
 your week-day recollections  gather    
around it1 may you renew and confirm    

your plan to know your  ,redeemer1 and  
not only to shut yourselves up to the   
supreme love  of nothing except ,christ1
 but also--,his grace will be sufficient
  for you--to worship and serve ,christ 
in the central relation of ,him         
crucified4 ,knowing ,him alone1 ,he will
 sustain you as fully as if ,he  knew   
you alone4 ,he will come to you in this 
temple as frequently  as if ,he had no  
other servants to befriend4 ,he will    
listen to your  prayers as intently as  
if no supplications came up to ,him from
  other altars1 and ,he will intercede  
for you as entirely as if ,he           
interceded in behalf of no one else2 for
 remember1 that when ,he  hung upon the 
cross1 ,he thought of you1 and died for 
you1 just as  fully as if ,he had been  
determined to think of no one1 and to   
die  for no one1 save you1 whom ,he now 
calls to the solemn service of          
consecrating your own souls1 and your   
holy and beautiful house to  the glory  
of ,jesus ,christ and ,him crucified4   

,,simpson    ,,the ,,resurrection ,,of  
,,our ,,lord          ,,biographical    
,,note    ,,matthew ,,simpson1          
,methodist ,episcopal ,bishop1 was born 
at ,cadiz1  ,ohio1 in #ahaj4 ,he early  
distinguished himself as an orator1 his 
style being that of spontaneous         
unpremeditated eloquence1 in which  he  
carried his congregation to heights of  
spiritual fervor and  enthusiasm4 ,he   
visited ,europe in #ahgh as delegate to 
the ,world's  ,evangelical ,alliance in 
,berlin1 which served to widen his      
reputation  as a public speaker4 ,he    
officiated at the funeral of ,abraham   
,lincoln  at ,springfield1 ,illinois4   
,his ,lectures on ,preaching delivered  
before the divinity students at ,yale   
have been widely read4 ,he died  in     
#ahhd4          ,,simpson    #ahaj-ahhd 
,,the ,,resurrection ,,of ,,our ,,lord  
,but now is ,christ risen from the dead1
 and become the first fruits  of them   
that slept4--#a ,cor4 xv41 #bj4      ,a 
little more than eighteen hundred years 

ago1 as the light of the  morning was   
breaking around the walls of ,jerusalem1
 there was a  guard placed about a      
sepulcher in a small garden near the    
walls  of the city4 ,they were guarding 
a grave4 ,some strange scenes had       
occurred on the ,friday before4 ,while a
 man whom they had taken from  the hills
 of ,galilee and around the little lake 
of ,capernaum had  been hanging on the  
cross crucified as a malefactor1 strange
 signs  appeared in the heavens1 and on 
the earth and in the temple4    ,it was 
rumored that he had said he would rise  
the third morning4  ,the third morning  
was coming1 and as the light began to   
break in  the ,east1 there came two     
women silently and sadly wending their  
way  among the tents that were pitched  
all around the city of ,jerusalem2  they
 had sojourned all night in the tents1  
for as yet the gates of  the city had   
not been opened4 ,they came to see the  
sepulcher and  were bringing spices in  
their hands4 ,they loved the man who had

 been  crucified as a malefactor1       
because of his goodness1 his purity1 and
  his compassion4 ,they seemed to be    
almost the only hearts on earth  that   
did love him deeply1 save the small     
circle of friends who had  gathered     
around him4 ,there had been curses upon 
his head as he hung  on the             
cross--curses from the by-standers1     
curses from the soldiers1  curses from  
the people4 ,they cried3 ,away with him2
 his blood be on  us and on our         
children6 and on that morning there were
 none but a  few feeble1 obscure1       
heart-broken friends that dared to come 
near  his grave4    ,a little more than 
eighteen hundred years have passed and  
on the  anniversary of that day1 the    
morning of the first day of the week1   
the first ,sabbath after the full moon  
and the vernal equinox1 at the  same    
season1 the whole world comes to visit  
that grave4 ,the eyes of  princes and of
 statesmen1 the eyes of the poor and the
 humble in all  parts of the earth are  

turned toward that sepulcher4    ,all   
through ,europe men and women are       
thinking of that grave and of  ,him who 
lay in it4 ,all over western lands1 from
 ocean to ocean1 on  mountain top and in
 valley1 over broad prairies and deep   
ravines1  the eyes and hearts of the    
people are gathered round that grave4   
,in  the darkness of ,africa1 here and  
there1 we see them stretching out  their
 hands toward it4 ,along the coasts of  
,india and the heights of  the          
,himalayas they have heard of that grave
 and are bending toward  it4 ,the       
,chinese1 laying aside their prejudices1
 have turned their  eyes westward and   
are looking toward that sepulcher4      
,along the  shores of the seas1 over the
 mountain tops and in the valleys1 the  
hearts of the people have not only been 
gathering around that grave1  but they  
have caught a glimpse of the rising     
inmate who ascended in  ,his glory      
toward heaven4    ,the song of jubilee  
has gone forth1 and the old men are     

saying1 ,the  ,lord is risen from the   
dead4 ,the young men and matrons catch  
up the  glowing theme1 and the little   
children around our festive boards1     
scarcely comprehending the source of    
their joy1 with glad hearts  are now    
joyful1 because ,jesus has risen from   
the dead4 ,all over the  earth tidings  
of joy have gone forth1 and as the      
valleys have been  ringing out their    
praises on this bright ,sabbath morning 
how many  hearts have been singing--    
,our ,jesus is going up on high6    ,why
 this change8 ,what hath produced such a
 wonderful difference in  public        
feeling8 ,the malefactor once curst1 now
 honored2 the obscure  and despised1 now
 sought for2 the rising ,redeemer1 not  
then regarded  by men1 now universally  
worshiped4 ,what is the cause of this   
great  change8--how brought about8 ,the 
subject of this morning1 taken from  the
 associations of this day1 call us to   
consider as briefly as we  may the fact 
of the resurrection of ,christ from the 

dead and some of  the consequences which
 flow to us from that resurrection4     
,it is important for us to fix clearly  
in our minds the fact that  this is one 
reason why such days are remembered in  
the annals of  the ,church as well as in
 the annals of nations2 for our faith   
rests on facts1 and the mind should     
clearly embrace the facts  that we may  
feel that we are standing on firm       
ground4 ,this fact  of the resurrection 
of ,christ is the foundation of the     
,christian  system2 for the apostle     
says3 ,and if ,christ be not raised1    
your  faith is vain1 ye are yet in your 
sins2 then they also which are  fallen  
asleep in ,christ will perish4 ,if      
,christ be not risen1 we  shall never   
see the fathers and the mothers who have
 fallen asleep  in ,jesus2 we shall     
never see the little ones who have gone 
up to  be1 as we believe1 angels before 
the throne of ,god4 ,if ,christ be  not 
raised1 we are of all men the most      
miserable1 because we are  fancying     

future enjoyment1 which never can be    
realized2 but if  ,christ be raised1    
then shall we also rise1 and them that  
sleep in  ,jesus will ,god bring with   
,him4 ,and that our minds may rest as to
 the  fact of ,christ's resurrection1   
let us notice how ,god hath arranged    
the evidences to secure the knowledge of
 this fact clearly to man4    ,the first
 point to which our attention is invited
 is the fact of  ,christ's death4 ,were 
not this fact clearly established it    
would  be in vain to try to prove ,his  
resurrection from the dead4 ,christ     
might have suffered for man in some     
obscure place2 ,he might have  laid down
 ,his life as a ransom1 and yet there   
would have been  no legal evidence of   
it4 ,god allowed the wrath of man to    
become  the instrument of praising ,him1
 in that ,he suffered ,christ to be     
taken under what was then the legal     
process--arrested first by  the great   
council of the ,jews1 and then by the   
authority of the  ,roman governor1 so   

that the matter became of public        
record--a  legal transaction4 ,the      
highest power1 both of the ,jewish and  
,roman  governments1 united in this fact
 of ,his arrest1 ,his trial1 and ,his   
condemnation to death4    ,not only was 
this permitted1 but the time of the     
occurrence was  wisely arranged4 ,it was
 at the feast of the ,jews1 the         
,passover1 when  all the ,jews came up  
to keep the ,passover4 ,they came not   
only from  ,egypt but from all the      
country through which they were         
scattered4  ,jerusalem could not hold   
the people that came together2 they     
pitched  their tents all around the     
city1 on the hills and in the valleys4  
,it was the time of full moon1 when     
there was brightness all night1  and    
they came together with safety and      
security4 ,the multitude1  then1 was    
there to witness the scene1 so that it  
might be attested  by people from all   
parts of ,judea and from all countries  
round about  ,judea4    ,then1 again1   

the form of the death was such as to be 
not a sudden  one1 but one of torture1  
passing through many hours4 ,had the    
execution been a very sudden one1 as it 
might have been1 the death  would have  
been equally efficacious1 yet it would  
not have been  witnessed by so many2 but
 as ,he hung those dreadful hours1 from 
nine until three1 the sun being         
darkened1 what an opportunity was  given
 to the people passing by to be imprest 
with the scene6 ,the  crucifixion was   
near the city2 the crowd was there2 the 
temple  worship was in process2 the     
strangers were there2 and as one great  
stream passes on some festive day       
through the great thoroughfare of  your 
city1 so passed the stream of men1      
women1 and children by that  cross on   
which the ,savior hung4 ,they wagged    
their heads and reviled  as they passed 
by4 ,the very ones whom ,jesus had      
healed1 whose  fathers had been cured of
 leprosy or fever1 whose mothers' eyes  
had  been opened2 the ones who had been 

raised up from beds of sickness  by the 
touch of that ,savior1 passed by and    
reviled1 and said3 ,he  saved others1   
,himself ,he cannot save4 ,the multitude
 saw ,him as ,he  hung suffering on the 
cross4    ,then1 again1 the             
circumstances attending ,his death were 
such as  to invite universal attention4 
,it was not designed that the death     
should be a private one2 not merely a   
legal transaction1 a matter  soon over1 
but a protracted and agonizing          
spectacle--one to be seen  and known by 
the multitude2 but1 in addition1 that   
man's attention  should be drawn to     
something to be connected with that     
wonderful  scene2 hence ,god called upon
 the heavens and the earth1 the air and 
the graves1 and the temple itself for   
testimony4 ,it is said that  before the 
coronation of a prince in olden time in 
,europe--and in  some kingdoms the      
custom is still observed--there is sent 
forth  a herald1 sometimes three days in
 advance1 at different periods          

according to the custom1 to issue a     
challenge to anyone that dares  to claim
 the kingdom to come and prove his      
right1 and to announce  that the        
coronation of this prince is to take    
place4    ,methinks it was such a       
challenge ,god gave to all the powers of
  humanity and to all the powers of     
darkness4 ,there hung suffering on  the 
cross ,he who died for human wo1 and as 
,he hung ,god was about  to crown ,him  
,king of ,kings and ,lord of ,lords on  
the morning of the  third day4 ,he sends
 forth ,his voice of challenge1 and as  
,he speaks  the earth rocks to its      
center2 that ground1 shaking and        
convulsing1  was a call to man to       
witness what was about to occur4    ,not
 only is there a voice of earth4 ,yonder
 the sun clothed himself  in sackcloth  
for three hours1 as much as to say3     
,there may be gloom  for three days2 the
 great ,source of light hath veiled     
,himself1 as in  a mantle of night1 for 
three days4 ,as for three hours this    

darkness  hangs1 but as out of the      
darkness the light shines forth1 so at  
the end of the three days shall the ,sun
 of ,righteousness shine out  again1 the
 great center of glory1 with that glory 
which ,he had with  the ,father from the
 foundation of the world4 ,it was the   
herald's  voice that passed through the 
heavens1 and that spoke through all  the
 orbs of light1 ,give attention1 ye     
created beings1 to what is  to happen6  
,but it was not alone in the earth1     
which is the great  center1 nor in the  
heavens1 which is the great source of   
light1 that  the tidings were           
proclaimed4    ,look in yonder valley4  
,the tombs are there2 the prophets have 
been  buried there4 ,yon hillside is    
full of the resting-places of the  dead2
 generations on generations have been   
buried there2 friends are  walking in   
it1 and they are saying1 ,yonder is a   
mighty judge in  ,israel2 there is the  
tomb of a prophet4 ,they were passing to
 and  fro through that valley of death  

when the earthquake's tread was  heard1 
and behold6 the tombs were opened1 the  
graves displayed the  dead within1 and  
there was a voice that seemed to call   
from the very  depths of the graves1    
,hear1 ,o sons of men6    ,what feelings
 must have thrilled through the hearts  
of those who  stood by those monuments  
and bended over those graves1 when1     
thrown  wide open1 the doors bursting1  
and the rocks giving way1 they saw  the 
forms of death come forth and recognized
 friends that once they  had known4     
,what was to occur8 ,what could all this
 mean8 ,then the  great sacrifice was   
offered4 ,it was three o'clock in the   
afternoon  when ,christ was to give up  
the ghost4 ,yonder the multitude of     
pious  people were gathered toward the  
temple4 ,the outer court was full2  the 
doors and gates which lead into the     
sanctuary were crowded2 the  lamb was   
before the altar2 the priest in his     
vestments had taken the  sacrificial    
knife2 the blood was to be shed at the  

hour of three2  the multitude were      
looking4    ,yonder hangs a veil2 it    
hides that inner sanctuary2 there are   
cherubim in yonder with their wings     
spread over the mercy-seat2 the         
shekinah once dwelt there2 ,god ,himself
 in ,his glory was there and  the people
 are bending to look in4 ,no one enters 
into that veil save  the high priest1   
and he1 with blood and in the midst of  
incense1 but  once a year2 but it was   
the mercy-seat and the eye of every     
pious  ,jew was directed toward that    
veil1 thinking of the greater glory     
which lay beyond it4    ,as the hour of 
three came and as the priest was taking 
the  sacrificial knife from the altar   
and was about to slay the lamb1  behold6
 an unseen hand takes hold of that veil 
and tears it apart  from top to bottom1 
and has thrown open the mercy-seat1 not 
before  seen by men4 ,the cherubim are  
there2 the altar with its covering  of  
blood is there2 the resting-place of the
 ark is there2 it is  the holiest of    

holies4 ,methinks the priest drops the  
knife1 the  lamb goes free1 for the     
,lamb that was slain from the foundation
 of  the world is suffering for man4    
,the way to the holy of holies is       
open1--a new and living way1 which men  
may not close1 which priest  alone can  
not enter2 but a way is open whereby    
humanity1 opprest and  downtrodden1 from
 all parts of the earth1 may find its   
way to the  mercy-seat of ,god4 ,there  
was a call to the pious worshiper by    
voices  which seemed to say3 ,an end to 
all the sacrifices1 an end to all  the  
suffering victims1 an end to all the    
sprinkled hyssop that is  used in       
purification1 for ,one has come to do   
the will of ,god on whom  the burden of 
man had been laid4    ,now here were all
 these calls to humanity from all parts1
 as if to  announce the great           
transaction4 ,while all this was        
occurring ,christ  was on the cross1    
suffering the agony of crucifixion4 ,how
 deep that  agony we need not attempt to

 tell you2 it was fearful2 and yet no   
complaint escaped ,his lips1 no         
murmuring was there4 ,he bore the sins  
of many in ,his own flesh on the tree4  
,he heard the multitudes revile  ,him2  
,he saw them wag their heads2 ,he       
remembered that the disciples  had fled 
from ,him--one followed afar off1 but   
the rest had gone2 and  yet ,he         
complained not4 ,friends and kindred had
 all left ,him and ,he  trod the        
wine-press alone4 ,he drank the cup in  
all its bitterness  and no complaint    
escaped from ,him4 ,one left ,him that  
had never  forsaken ,him before4 ,the   
world is gone1 the disciples ,i have fed
  and taught have all fled and passed   
away1--all have forsaken ,me4    ,but   
there was no time until that moment of  
fearful darkness came1  when all the    
load of guilt was upon ,him and for our 
sins ,he was  smitten1 that ,his spirit 
was crusht1 and ,he called out1 ,my     
,god1 my  ,god1 why hast thou forsaken  
me8 ,all else might go--it were little2 

,why hast thou forsaken me8 ,but it is  
over2 the darkness is past2  the load is
 borne2 and ,i hear ,him say1 ,it is    
finished2 ,he bows ,his  head and dies4 
,now there is publicity for the         
transaction4 ,it demanded public        
investigation1 it received it4 ,there   
was not only the mental agony  united   
with the agony of crucifixion1 but there
 was the voluntary  giving up of ,his   
life2 yet1 lest there might be some     
suspicion1 to  all this was added the   
proof of the fact of ,his death4 ,when  
the  limbs of the others were broken and
 ,he was perceived to be dead1 the      
soldier thrust the spear into ,his side 
and there came out of that  side both   
water and blood4    ,there is a         
peculiarity in the sacred writings4 ,a  
little incident  that seems to be       
mentioned without care becomes the      
strongest  possible proof1 not only of  
the fact of ,christ's death1 but of the 
nature of ,his death4 ,when that        
sentence was written the human frame    

was not understood1 the circulation of  
the blood was not understood4           
,anatomists had not then1 as they have  
now1 unveiled the human  system2 the    
great science of pathology had not yet  
been clearly  taught to man2 and yet in 
that sentence we have almost a world of 
meaning4 ,for it is well attested now   
that where persons die from  violent    
mental emotion1 by what is termed a     
broken heart1 a crusht  spirit1 there is
 always formed a watery secretion around
 the heart4  ,it was not known then to  
the soldier who lifted up the spear and 
pierced the body2 but so much of that   
water had secreted around the  heart    
that he saw it issuing forth from the   
pierced side1 unstained  by blood1 which
 showed that the great heart had been   
crusht by agony  within4    ,when taken 
from the cross ,he was put in the       
sepulcher4 ,his friends  had given ,him 
up1 ,his disciples had forsaken ,him2   
some of them saw  ,him die2 they knew   
that ,he was crucified and they         

abandoned ,him4  ,they were returning to
 their former employments2 but ,his     
enemies  remembered ,he had said ,he    
would rise the third day1 and they put  
a guard around ,him4 ,the ,roman        
soldiers were there2 the king's  seal   
was on the stone rolled over the mouth  
of the sepulcher2 they  made everything 
secure4 ,here again ,god ordered that we
 should have  abundant proof of         
,christ's crucifixion4    ,he was       
crucified on ,friday1 which was to them 
the last day of the  week1 resting in   
the grave on our ,saturday1 which is    
their ,sabbath1  and then comes the     
first day of the week1 our ,sabbath     
morning1 made  our ,sabbath because of  
,christ's resurrection from the dead4   
,there  came an humble visitant to the  
tomb1 ,mary ,magdalene2 she had been    
healed of much1 forgiven much and she   
loved ,him4 ,mary1 the mother of        
,james1 came also and beheld the scenes 
that occurred2 but there had  been      
strange commotions elsewhere4    ,heaven

 had been gathering around that grave4  
,angels had been  watching there2 they  
had seen the ,roman guard2 they had seen
 the  shining spear and polished shield2
 they had seen that ,christ was  held as
 a prisoner by the greatest powers on   
earth4 ,methinks ,i see  the angelic    
host as they gathered round the throne  
of ,god and looked  up into the face of 
,omnipotence1 and if ever there was a   
time when  there was silence in heaven  
for half an hour1 it was before the     
morning light of the third day dawned4  
,i hear them say ,how long  shall man   
triumph8 ,how long shall human power    
exalt itself8 ,how long  shall the      
powers of darkness hold jubilee8 ,let us
 away and roll  away the stone2 let us  
away and frighten yonder ,roman guard   
and  drive them from the sepulcher4     
,they waited until permission was given4
 ,i see the angel coming down  from the 
opening doors of glory2 he hastens      
outside the walls of  ,jerusalem and    
down to the sepulcher2 when they saw him

 coming the  keepers shook1 they became 
like dead men2 he rolls away the stone  
and sets himself by the mouth of the    
sepulcher4 ,christ1 girding  ,himself   
with all the power of ,his divinity1    
rises from the grave4  ,he leads        
captivity captive1 tears the crown from 
the head of death1  and makes light the 
darkness of the grave4 ,behold ,him as  
,he rises  just preparatory to ,his     
rising up to glory4 ,oh1 what a moment  
was  that6 ,hell was preparing for its  
jubilee2 the powers of earth were       
preparing for a triumph2 but as the     
grave yields its prey1 ,christ1  charged
 with being an impostor1 is proved to be
 the ,son of ,god with  power2 it is the
 power of ,his resurrection from the    
dead4    ,there was ,christ's           
resurrection from the dead4 ,he became  
the first  fruits of them that slept4   
,but to give the amplest proofs of ,his 
resurrection ,he lingered on earth to be
 seen of men1 and to be seen  in such a 
manner as to show that ,he was still the

 ,savior ,christ4  ,in my younger days  
,i used to often wonder why was it that 
,mary  ,magdalene came first to the     
sepulcher1 and the mother of ,james that
  stood there--why ,he should appear to 
them2 but in later days ,i have  said it
 was to show that ,he was the ,savior   
still2 that the same  nature was there  
which had made ,him stoop to the        
lowliest of the  low--the power that    
enabled ,him to heal the guiltiest of   
the guilty2  that that power1 that      
compassion1 were with ,him still4       
,tho now raised beyond death and        
triumphing over hell1 ,he still had     
within ,him the ,savior's heart4        
,methinks ,i see1 when ,peter had run   
in anxiety to tell the news1 ,mary      
remained there2 she could not  fully    
comprehend it2 the grave was open1 the  
napkins were there2  it was said ,he was
 not there1 but ,he was risen4 ,and yet1
 there was  a darkness upon her2 she    
could not fully conceive1 it seems to   
me1  the resurrection of the dead4 ,she 

stood wondering1 when she heard a  voice
 behind her which said1 ,woman1 why     
weepest thou8 ,bathed in  tears as she  
was1 she turned round and saw the man   
standing1 and  taking him to be the     
gardener1 and supposing that he had     
taken the  body and carried it away as  
not fit to lie in that tomb or be in    
that garden1 she said3 ,if thou hast    
taken1 him away1 tell me where  thou    
hast laid him1 and ,i will take him     
away4 ,if ,he must not lie in  this     
tomb1 if ,he can not lie in the garden1 
if as a malefactor ,he  must be cast out
 from man1 tell me where the body is and
 ,i will take  it away4 ,it was a proof 
of her affection4    ,a voice said1     
,mary1 ,mary4 ,oh1 she recognized it1   
and her heart  cried out3 ,rabboni1 my  
,lord and my ,god6 and then she would   
have  thrown herself at ,his feet and   
bathed those feet again with her  tears1
 but ,he said1 ,touch me not1 ,i am not 
ascended to my ,father2  go and tell the
 disciples and ,peter that ,i am risen  

from the dead4  ,see the compassion of  
the ,savior6 and then that message6     
,tell the  disciples and ,peter4 ,why   
send a message to him8 ,because he curst
  and swore and denied the ,master4 ,the
 other disciples might have  said1 ,if  
,christ is risen1 ,he may receive and   
bless us all2 but  ,peter is gone1      
hopelessly and irretrievably gone2 he   
that forsook  his ,master and denied    
,him1 there is no hope for him4 ,and yet
 said  ,jesus1 ,go and tell the         
disciples and ,peter--poor backslidden  
,peter4    ,jesus knew his sorrow and   
anguish and almost felt the throbbings  
of his broken heart1 and ,he sent a     
message to ,peter4 ,he may be a         
disciple still--may come back and be    
saved through the boundless  love of    
,christ4 ,oh1 the compassion of the ,son
 of ,god6 ,thank ,god that  ,peter's    
,savior is on the throne this morning6  
,not only was ,he seen by these1 but ,he
 met with the disciples  journeying by  
the way and explained the ,scriptures to

 them2 and  as they met in the upper    
room ,he was there4 ,when the doors were
  unopened ,he came in their midst and  
said1 ,peace6 breathed on them  and     
said1 ,receive ye the ,holy ,ghost4     
,thus ,he met with them and  said to    
,thomas1 ,reach hither thy fingers1 and 
be not faithless but  believing4        
,then afterward ,he was seen by five    
hundred1 and from the ,mount  of        
,olives1 while the disciples were       
gathered around ,him1 ,he was  received 
up into glory4 ,they saw ,him and as ,he
 went ,he blest  them4 ,the last vision 
that ever humanity had of the ,son of   
,god  ere he ascended to heaven was that
 of spreading out ,his hands  in        
blessing4 ,oh1 my ,savior hath thus gone
 up1 and ,he dropt from  those          
outstretched hands a blessing which     
falls to-day like the  gentle dew all   
over the earth2 it reaches heart after  
heart4 ,it  hath reached patriarchs1    
apostles1 martyrs1 fathers1 and mothers 
and little children1 and1 thank ,god1   

the heavenly dew1 as from  those        
outstretched hands1 is coming down on   
our assembly this very  morning4 ,on    
this glad day blessings are dropping    
from the throne of  ,god upon us from   
this risen ,savior4 ,he hath ascended up
 on high1 the  gates have opened for    
,him1 and ,he hath gone to ,his throne  
in glory4    ,let us look at a few of   
the results that flow to us from these  
facts  thus sustained of ,his death and 
resurrection from the dead6    ,in the  
first place it established all ,bible   
declarations4 ,it had  been predicted   
that ,he should not stay in the grave1  
and when ,he  arose it put the seal to  
the ,old ,testament as the ,word of     
,god4 ,the  prophecy in ,him fulfilled  
gave glorious proof that the other parts
  of it should be also fulfilled as the 
word of an unchanging ,god4    ,again1  
in ,his resurrection we see a proof of  
,his divine power4 ,no  man hath been   
raised from the dead by his own power4  
,all died1 from  ,adam to ,moses1 with  

the exception of ,enoch and ,elijah1    
who1 because  of their devotion and     
acknowledgment of the divine head1      
themselves  became prophets of a coming 
,savior4 ,he rose by ,his own power4 ,he
  conquered death itself1 the grave1 and
 the whole powers of humanity4          
,jupiter is represented by an old       
classic writer as saying to the  lesser 
gods that if all of them combined       
together and should  endeavor to throw  
down his throne--if all power was       
arrayed against  him--he1 by his own    
might1 would be able to overcome them   
all4  ,what was fiction with the        
ancients becomes gloriously realized in 
,christ4 ,take all the powers of        
humanity--the ,jewish power1 the  ,roman
 power2 the power of learning1 of art1  
of public opinion2 take  all the powers 
of earth and hell1 death and the grave1 
and combine  them all against the       
,savior and1 without one effort1 without
 one  single apparent movement--the     
,sleeper lies in death1 ,his eyes are   

sealed1 and1 as if all unconscious1 for 
the warning had not been  given         
before--in an instant those eyes were   
opened1 that frame  rises1 the grave    
yields up its prey1 death retires       
conquered1 and  ,christ demonstrates    
,himself to be the ruler of the whole   
universe4  ,he made the earth to        
tremble1 the sun to put on sackcloth1   
the very  air to grow dark1 the graves  
to open1 the dead to come forth1 and    
proclaimed ,himself to be the conqueror 
of death and hell4 ,so we have  proof of
 ,his being the ,son of ,god with power4
    ,in that resurrection from the dead 
we have a pledge of our own             
resurrection4 ,christ has become the    
first-fruits of them that slept4  ,you  
know the figure of the first-fruits as  
understood by the ,jews4  ,their        
religion was connected with the seasons 
of the year--with  the harvest crops2   
one of their feasts was called the feast
 of the  first-fruits1 and was on this  
wise3 ,when the first heads of grain    

began to ripen in the field1 and there  
was thus a pledge of harvest1  they cut 
off those first ripened heads and went  
up to ,jerusalem4    ,before that the   
grain was not crusht1 no bread was baked
 out of  it1 and nothing was done to    
appropriate that crop to man's use      
until those ripened heads of grain were 
brought up to ,jerusalem  and presented 
to the ,lord as a thank-offering4 ,he   
was acknowledged  as ,lord of the       
harvest and they were laid up as a kind 
of  thank-offering before ,god4 ,they   
were the first-fruits4 ,then they  went 
away to the fields and all through      
,judea the sickle was thrust  in1 the   
grain was reaped and gathered into      
sheaves1 and when the  harvest was      
secured they baked the bread for their  
children out of  this first grain4 ,they
 came up to the temple1 where the       
first-fruits  had been laid1 and they   
held a feast of thanksgiving and shouted
  harvest home4 ,the old harvest feast  
seems to be descended from this  ancient

 custom4    ,christ rose as the         
first-fruits1 and there is to be a      
glorious  resurrection4 ,christ came1   
the first man to rise in this respect1  
by ,his own power1 from the grave1      
having snatched the crown from  death1  
having thrown light into the grave1     
having ,himself ascended  up toward     
glory4 ,he goes up in the midst of the  
shouts of angels2  the heavens open     
before ,him2 yonder is the altar2 there 
is the  throne1 and around it stand the 
seraphim and the cherubim2 and  ,christ 
enters1 the victor1 and sits down upon  
the throne1 from  henceforth expecting  
until ,his enemies be made ,his         
footstool4 ,he is  the first-fruits of  
the harvest1 but the angels are to be   
sent out  like the reapers1 and by and  
by humanity is coming4    ,as ,christ1  
the first-fruits1 passed through the    
grave and went up  to glory1 so there   
shall come forth from their sleeping    
dust in  ,asia1 in ,africa1 in ,europe1 
and in ,america1 from every mountain    

top1 from the depths of the sea1 from   
deep ravines1 and from plains           
outspread--oh1 there shall come in the  
time of the glorious  harvest--the      
uprising of humanity1 when all the      
nations1 waking from  their long sleep1 
shall rise and shall shout the harvest  
home6 ,thank  ,god6 ,at that time none  
shall be wanting4    ,oh1 they come1    
they come1 from the nations of the past 
and from the  generations yet unborn6 ,i
 see the crowd gathering there4 ,behold 
the  angels are waiting1 and as the     
hosts rise from the dead they gather    
round the throne4 ,christ invites ,his  
followers to overcome and sit  down with
 ,him on ,his throne1 as ,he overcame   
and sat down with the  ,father on ,his  
throne4 ,in that is the pledge of our   
resurrection from  the dead4 ,can ,i not
 suffer1 since ,christ suffered8 ,can ,i
 not die1  since ,christ died8 ,let the 
grave be my resting-place1 for ,christ  
rested there4 ,is it cold8 ,the warmth  
of ,his animation is in it4 ,he  shall  

be beside me in all ,his spirit's power4
 ,does the load of earth  above me and  
beneath which ,i am placed press upon   
me8 ,christ hath  power to burst the    
tomb1 tho deep it be1 and ,i shall rise 
through  ,his almighty power4    ,yet1  
let the malice of men be directed       
against me2 let me be taken1  if it must
 be1 as a martyr and be bound to the    
stake2 let the fagots  be kindled1 let  
the flame ascend1 let my body be burned2
 gather  my ashes1 grind my bones to    
powder1 scatter them on the ocean's     
surface2 or carry those ashes to the top
 of yonder volcano and throw  them      
within its consuming fire--let them be  
given to the dust--and  yet ,i can sing3
        ,god my ,redeemer lives1        
,and ever from the skies       ,looks   
down and watches all my dust1           
,till ,he shall bid it rise4    ,thank  
,god6 it may be scattered on the wings  
of the wind--,christ is  everywhere     
present2 ,he has marked every particle  
and it shall rise  again by ,his own    

almighty power4 ,and what is it to sleep
 awhile if ,i  am ,christ's8 ,to die1 if
 ,i am like ,christ in dying8 and be    
buried1 if  ,i am like ,christ in being 
buried8 ,i trust ,i shall be like ,him  
when  ,he comes forth in ,his glory4 ,i 
shall be like ,him1 for the apostle     
says1 ,we shall be like him1 for we     
shall see him as he is2 ,we  shall be   
changed from glory into glory1 into the 
same image as by  the ,spirit of ,god4  
,it would be a great change to be       
changed from glory to glory1  from      
saints to angels1 from angels to        
cherubim1 from cherubim to  seraphim1   
from glory to glory2 but1 thank ,god6 we
 shall not stop  being changed2 for the 
change shall go on from glory to glory  
until we shall be transformed into the  
likeness of the ,son of ,god1  brighter 
than angels ever shone1 more glorious   
than were ever  cherubim4    ,we shall  
be near the throne2 we shall sit beside 
,him1 for ,he hath  made room for us    
there4 ,then1 if we can calmly look at  

death and  face him1 because his        
strength has been overcome1 it          
reconciles us  to parting a little while
 with friends4 ,a father or a mother may
 be  taken from us1 but we shall see    
them again2 they shall not sleep        
forever4 ,the little ones that drop from
 our arms1 we can almost see  them this 
morning2 some of us can almost feel them
 in our arms--can  see the glance of    
that beautiful eye and hear the sound of
 that  little prattling lip2 they seem  
to be with us now1 as a little while    
ago they dropt from out of our arms4 ,we
 followed them to the grave  and left   
them there1 where the winter's storm has
 been howling  around them4             
,sometimes loneliness like that terrible
 storm has swept over our  hearts and   
left them almost in despair2 but through
 ,christ's  resurrection we see our     
children yonder in glory1 safe in the   
,savior's arms4 ,their little forms     
shall rise all-glorious from the  tomb  
in the morning of the resurrection2 we  

shall find them1 for  ,jesus is the     
resurrection and the life4    ,all this 
comes to us from the resurrection of    
,christ from the dead4  ,he died once2  
,he dies no more2 the condemnation of   
death is forever  gone2 ,he sits on the 
throne of everlasting dominion2 ,his    
kingdom  is an eternal kingdom2 and as  
,he died once and has risen to die no   
more1 so when we have died once and gone
 to the grave and entered  the dark     
valley and shadow of death1 and we come 
up safely on the  other side1 thank     
,god6 death is passed forever2 we shall 
then put  our feet on the neck of the   
monster and shall be able to say3       
,oh death1 where is thy sting8       ,oh
 grave1 where is thy victory8           
,looking at the resurrection of ,christ 
we exclaim1 ,thanks be unto ,god  who   
hath given us the victory6 ,such is the 
eternity and blessedness  that awaits   
us4 ,thank ,god for a spiritual body6   
,here some of us long  to triumph over  
nature4 ,we would grasp1 if we could1   

angelic wisdom2  but our brows will ache
 with pain1 our frames decay1 our eyes  
grow  dim1 our hearing fail4 ,this flesh
 of ours will not stand hours of        
painful study and seasons of protracted 
labor2 but1 thank ,god6 when  the body  
that now oppresses us is laid in the    
grave a spiritual  body will be given to
 us1 pure1 ethereal1 and holy4 ,oh1 what
 an  extent of knowledge shall flash    
upon us2 what light and glory2 what     
spirituality and power6 ,then we shall  
not need to ask an angel  anything4 ,we 
shall know as we are known4 ,jesus will 
be our teacher2  the ,everlasting ,god1 
the ,man whose name is ,wonderful1 the  
,counselor1  the ,prince of ,peace4 ,he 
,himself shall be our ,leader4 ,we shall
 know  then as also we are known4       
,then rejoice in ,god4 ,dry up those    
tears4 ,cast away that downcast  look4  
,child of the dust1 you are an heir of  
glory4 ,there is a crown  all burnished 
for you2 there is a mansion all ready   
for you2 there  is a white robe prepared

 for you2 there is eternal glory for    
you2  angels are to be your servants and
 you are to reign with the ,king  of    
,kings forever4 ,but while you wait on  
earth1 be witnesses for  ,god2 attest   
the glory of your ,master2 rise in the  
greatness of ,his  strength2 bind sin   
captive to your chariot wheels2 go      
onward in your  heavenly career1 and be 
as pure as your ascended ,head is pure4 
,be  active in works of mercy2 be angels
 of light2 be names of fire2 go  on your
 mission of mercy and convert the world 
unto ,god before you  go up higher4     
,when you go1 not only go forward to    
present yourself1  but may every one of 
you be able to say3 ,here am ,i and     
those which  ,thou hast given me4       
,,theodore ,,parker    ,,the ,,transient
 ,,and ,,permanent ,,in ,,christianity  
,,biographical ,,note      ,,theodore   
,,parker1 ,american divine and reformer1
 was born at  ,lexington1 ,mass41 in    
#ahaj4 ,he was educated at ,harvard and 
graduated  from the ,divinity ,school of

 that ,university in #ahcf4 ,the        
following  year he was ordained pastor  
of ,roxbury ,christian ,church1 and     
first  attracted attention by his sermon
 on the ,transient and ,permanent  in   
,christianity1 preached in #ahda4 ,this 
sermon was ultimately the  cause of his 
practical exclusion from the ,unitarian 
body1 and in  #ahdf he became minister  
to the ,twenty-eighth ,congregational   
,society  in ,boston4    ,in this       
pastorate he became well known to all   
denominations from  the remarkable      
sermons he preached for seven years in  
,music  ,hall4 ,he died of consumption  
at ,florence1 ,italy1 in #ahfj4 ,his    
powerful intellect and vigorous         
eloquence were exhibited in the  many   
controversial sermons he preached1 both 
as a believer in the  nonsupernaturalism
 of present ,christianity and as a      
practical  humanitarian4 ,he figured as 
one of the leading abolitionists of ,new
  ,england4          ,,theodore ,,parker
    #ahaj-ahfj    ,,the ,,transient     

,,and ,,permanent ,,in ,,christianity   
,heaven and earth shall pass away2 but  
my words shall not pass  away4--,luke   
xxi41 #cc4      ,in this sentence we    
have a very clear indication that ,jesus
 of  ,nazareth believed the religion ,he
 taught would be eternal1 that  the     
substance of it would last forever4 ,yet
 there are some who  are affrighted by  
the faintest rustle which a heretic     
makes among  the dry leaves of theology2
 they tremble lest ,christianity itself 
should perish without hope4 ,ever and   
anon the cry is raised1 ,the            
,philistines be upon us1 and            
,christianity is in danger4 ,the least  
doubt respecting the popular theology1  
or the existing machinery  of the       
,church2 the least sign of distrust in  
the religion of the  pulpit1 or the     
religion of the street1 is by some good 
men supposed  to be at enmity with faith
 in ,christ1 and capable of shaking     
,christianity itself4 ,on the other     
hand1 a few bad men1 and a few  pious   

men1 it is said1 on both sides of the   
water1 tell us the day  of ,christianity
 is past4 ,the latter1 it is alleged1   
would persuade  us that hereafter piety 
must take a new form2 the teachings of  
,jesus  are to be passed by2 that       
religion is to wing her way sublime1    
above the flight of ,christianity1 far  
away1 toward heaven1 as the  fledged    
eaglet leaves forever the nest which    
sheltered his callow  youth4 ,let us    
therefore devote a few moments to this  
subject1 and  consider what is transient
 in ,christianity1 and what is permanent
  therein4           99       99        
99       99       99    ,in actual      
,christianity1--that is1 in that portion
 of ,christianity  which is preached and
 believed1--there seems to have been1   
ever  since the time of its earthly     
,founder1 two elements1 the one         
transient1 the other permanent4 ,the one
 is the thought1 the folly1  the        
uncertain wisdom1 the theological       
notions1 the impiety of man2  the other1

 the eternal truth of ,god4 ,these two  
bear1 perhaps1 the  same relation to    
each other that the phenomena of outward
 nature1  such as sunshine and cloud1   
growth1 decay and reproduction1 bear  to
 the great law of nature1 which         
underlies and supports them all4  ,as in
 that case more attention is commonly   
paid to the particular  phenomena than  
to the general law1 so in this case more
 is generally  given to the transient in
 ,christianity than to the permanent    
therein4    ,it must be confest1 tho    
with sorrow1 that transient things form 
a  great part of what is commonly taught
 as religion4 ,an undue place  has often
 been assigned to forms and doctrines1  
while too little  stress has been laid  
on the divine life of the soul1 love to 
,god1  and love to man4 ,religious forms
 may be useful and beautiful4 ,they  are
 so1 whenever they speak to the soul1   
and answer a want thereof4  ,in our     
present state some forms are perhaps    
necessary4 ,but they are  only the      

accident of ,christianity1 not its      
substance4 ,they are the  robe1 not the 
angel1 who may take another robe quite  
as becoming  and useful4 ,one sect has  
many forms2 another1 none4 ,yet both may
 be  equally ,christian1 in spite of the
 redundance or the deficiency4  ,they   
are a part of the language in which     
religion speaks1 and exist1  with few   
exceptions1 wherever man is found4 ,in  
our calculating  nation1 in our         
rationalizing sect1 we have retained but
 two of the  rites so numerous in the   
early ,christian ,church1 and even these
  we have attenuated to the last degree1
 leaving them little more  than a       
specter of the ancient form4 ,another   
age may continue or  forsake both2 may  
revive old forms1 or invent new ones to 
suit the  altered circumstances of the  
times1 and yet be ,christians quite as  
good as we1 or our fathers of the dark  
ages4 ,whether the apostles  designed   
these rites to be perpetual seems a     
question which belongs  to scholars and 

antiquarians1--not to us1 as ,christian 
men and  women4 ,so long as they satisfy
 or help the pious heart1 so long they  
are good4 ,looking behind or around us1 
we see that the forms and  rites of the 
,christians are quite as fluctuating as 
those of the  heathens1 from whom some  
of them have been1 not unwisely1 adopted
 by  the earlier ,church4    ,any one1  
who traces the history of what is called
 ,christianity1 will  see that nothing  
changes more from age to age than the   
doctrines  taught as ,christian1 and    
insisted on as essential to             
,christianity  and personal salvation4  
,what is falsehood in one province      
passes  for truth in another4 ,the      
heresy of one age is the orthodox       
belief and only infallible rule of the  
next4 ,now ,arius1 and now  ,athanasius1
 is lord of the ascendant4 ,both were   
excommunicated  in their turn1 each for 
affirming what the other denied4 ,men   
are  burned for professing what men are 
burned for denying4 ,for centuries  the 

doctrines of the ,christians were no    
better1 to say the least1  than those of
 their contemporary pagans4 ,the        
theological doctrines  derived from our 
fathers seem to have come from ,judaism1
 heathenism1  and the caprice of        
philosophers1 far more than they have   
come  from the principle and sentiment  
of ,christianity4 ,the doctrine of  the 
,trinity1 the very ,achilles of         
theological dogmas1 belongs to          
philosophy and not religion2 its        
subtleties cannot even be expressed  in 
our tongue4 ,as old religions became    
superannuated1 and died out1  they left 
to the rising faith1 as to a residuary  
legatee1 their  forms and their         
doctrines2 or rather1 as the giant in   
the fable left  his poisoned garment to 
work the overthrow of his conqueror4    
,many  tenets that pass current in our  
theology seem to be the refuse of  idol 
temples1 the offscourings of ,jewish and
 heathen cities rather  than the sands  
of virgin gold which the stream of      

,christianity  has worn off from the    
rock of ages1 and brought in its bosom  
for  us4 ,it is wood1 hay1 and stubble1 
wherewith men have built on the         
corner-stone ,christ laid4 ,what wonder 
the fabric is in peril when  tried by   
fire8 ,the stream of ,christianity1 as  
men receive it1 has  caught a stain from
 every soil it has filtered through1 so 
that now  it is not the pure water from 
the well of life which is offered  to   
our lips1 but streams troubled and      
polluted by man with mire  and dirt4 ,if
 ,paul and ,jesus could read our books  
of theological  doctrines1 would they   
accept as their teaching what men have  
vented  in their name8 ,never1 till the 
letters of ,paul had faded out of  his  
memory1 never1 till the words of ,jesus 
had been torn out from  the book of     
life4 ,it is their notions about        
,christianity men have  taught as the   
only living word of ,god4 ,they have    
piled their own  rubbish against the    
temple of truth where piety comes up to 

worship2  what wonder the pile seems    
unshapely and like to fall8 ,but these  
theological doctrines are fleeting as   
the leaves on the trees4 ,they--        
,are found      ,now green in youth1 now
 withered on the ground2      ,another  
race the following spring supplies2     
,they fall successive1 and successive   
rise4    ,like the clouds of the sky1   
they are here to-day2 to-morrow1 all    
swept off and vanished2 while           
,christianity itself1 like the heaven   
above1 with its sun1 and moon1 and      
uncounted stars1 is always over  our    
head1 tho the cloud sometimes debars us 
of the needed light4 ,it  must of       
necessity be the case that our          
reasonings1 and therefore  our          
theological doctrines1 are imperfect1   
and so perishing4 ,it is  only gradually
 that we approach to the true system of 
nature by  observation and reasoning1   
and work out our philosophy and theology
  by the toil of the brain4 ,but        
meantime1 if we are faithful1 the  great

 truths of mortality and religion1 the  
deep sentiment of love  to man and love 
to ,god1 are perceived intuitively1 and 
by instinct1  as it were1 tho our       
theology be imperfect and miserable4    
,the  theological notions of ,abraham1  
to take the story as it stands1 were    
exceedingly gross1 yet a greater than   
,abraham has told us1 ,abraham  desired 
to see my day1 saw it1 and was glad4    
,since these notions  are so fleeting1  
why need we accept the commandment of   
men as the  doctrine of ,god8    ,this  
transitoriness of doctrines appears in  
many instances1 of which  two may be    
selected for a more attentive           
consideration4 ,first1 the  doctrine    
respecting the origin and authority of  
the ,old and ,new  ,testaments4 ,there  
has been a time when men were burned for
 asserting  doctrines of natural        
philosophy which rested on evidence the 
most  incontestable1 because those      
doctrines conflicted with sentences in  
the ,old ,testament4 ,every word of that

 ,jewish record was regarded  as        
miraculously inspired1 and therefore as 
infallibly true4 ,it was  believed that 
the ,christian religion itself rested   
thereon1 and must  stand or fall with   
the immaculate ,hebrew text4 ,he was    
deemed no  small sinner who found       
mistakes in the manuscripts4 ,on the    
authority  of the written word man was  
taught to believe impossible legends1   
conflicting assertions2 to take fiction 
for fact1 a dream for a  miraculous     
revelation of ,god1 an ,oriental poem   
for a grave history  of miraculous      
events1 a collection of amatory idyls   
for a serious  discourse touching the   
mutual love of ,christ and the ,church2 
they have been taught to accept a       
picture sketched by some glowing        
,eastern imagination1 never intended to 
be taken for a reality1  as a proof that
 the infinite ,god spoke in human words1
 appeared  in the shape of a cloud1 a   
flaming bush1 or a man who ate1 and     
drank1 and vanished into smoke2 that ,he

 gave counsels to-day1 and  the opposite
 to-morrow2 that ,he violated ,his own  
laws1 was angry1  and was only dissuaded
 by a mortal man from destroying at once
 a  whole nation1--millions of men who  
rebelled against their leader  in a     
moment of anguish4 ,questions in        
philosophy1 questions in the  ,christian
 religion1 have been settled by an      
appeal to that book4  ,the inspiration  
of its authors has been assumed as      
infallible4  ,every fact in the early   
,jewish history has been taken as a type
 of  some analogous fact in ,christian  
history4 ,the most distant events1  even
 such as are still in the arms of time1 
were supposed to be  clearly foreseen   
and foretold by pious ,hebrews several  
centuries  before ,christ4 ,it has been 
assumed at the outset1 with no shadow of
  evidence1 that those writers held a   
miraculous communication with  ,god1    
such as ,he has granted to no other man4
 ,what was originally  a presumption of 
bigoted ,jews became an article of      

faith1 which  ,christians were burned   
for not believing4 ,this has been for   
centuries the general opinion of the    
,christian ,church1 both ,catholic  and 
,protestant1 tho the former never       
accepted the ,bible as the  only source 
of religious truth4 ,it has been so4    
,still worse1 it is  now the general    
opinion of religious sects at this day4 
,hence the  attempt1 which always fails1
 to reconcile the philosophy of our     
times with the poems in ,genesis writ a 
thousand years before ,christ4  ,hence  
the attempt to conceal the              
contradictions in the record  itself4   
,matters have come to such a pass that  
even now he is deemed  an infidel1 if   
not by implication an atheist1 whose    
reverence for  the ,most ,high forbids  
him to believe that ,god commanded      
,abraham to  sacrifice his son1--a      
thought at which the flesh creeps with  
horror2  to believe it solely on the    
authority of an ,oriental story1 written
  down nobody knows when or by whom1 or 

for what purpose2 which may  be a poem1 
but can not be the record of a fact1    
unless ,god is the  author of confusion 
and a lie4    ,now1 this idolatry of the
 ,old ,testament has not always existed4
  ,jesus says that none born of a woman 
is greater than ,john the  ,baptist1 yet
 the least in the kingdom of heaven is  
greater than  ,john4 ,paul tells us the 
law--the very crown of the old ,hebrew  
revelation--is a shadow of good things  
which have now come2 only a             
schoolmaster to bring us to ,christ2 and
 when faith has come1 that  we are no   
longer under the schoolmaster2 that it  
was a law of sin  and death1 from which 
we are made free by the law of the      
spirit of  life4 ,christian teachers    
themselves have differed so widely in   
their  notion of the doctrines and      
meaning of those books that it makes one
  weep to think of the follies deduced  
therefrom4 ,but modern criticism  is    
fast breaking to pieces this idol which 
men have made out of the  ,scriptures4  

,it has shown that here are the most    
different works  thrown together2 that  
their authors1 wise as they sometimes   
were1  pious as we feel often their     
spirit to have been1 had only that      
inspiration which is common to other men
 equally pious and wise2  that they were
 by no means infallible1 but were       
mistaken in facts or  in                
reasoning1--uttered predictions which   
time has not fulfilled2 men  who in some
 measure partook of the darkness and    
limited notions of  their age1 and were 
not always above its mistakes or its    
corruptions4    ,the history of opinions
 on the ,new ,testament is quite        
similar4 ,it  has been assumed at the   
outset1 it would seem with no sufficient
  reason1 without the smallest pretense 
on its writers' part1 that  all of its  
authors were infallibly and miraculously
 inspired1 so  that they could commit no
 error of doctrine or fact4 ,men have   
been  bid to close their eyes at the    
obvious difference between ,luke and    

,john1 the serious disagreement between 
,paul and ,peter2 to believe1  on the   
smallest evidence1 accounts which shock 
the moral sense and  revolt the reason1 
and tend to place ,jesus in the same    
series with  the ,hercules and          
,appollonius of ,tyana2 accounts which  
,paul in the  ,epistles never mentions1 
tho he also had a vein of the miraculous
  running quite through him4 ,men have  
been told that all these things  must be
 taken as part of ,christianity1 and if 
they accepted the  religion1 they must  
take all these accessories along with   
it2 that  the living spirit could not be
 had without the killing letter4 ,all   
the books which caprice or accident had 
brought together between  the lids of   
the ,bible were declared to be the      
infallible ,word of  ,god1 the only     
certain rule of religious faith and     
practise4 ,thus the  ,bible was made not
 a single channel1 but the only certain 
rule of  religious faith and practise4  
,to disbelieve any of its statements1   

or even the common interpretation put   
upon those statements by  the particular
 age or church in which the man         
belonged1 was held  to be infidelity1 if
 not atheism4 ,in the name of ,him who  
forbids  us to judge our brother1 good  
men and pious men have applied these    
terms to others1 good and pious as      
themselves4 ,that state of things  has  
by no means passed away4 ,men who cry   
down the absurdities of  paganism in the
 worst spirit of the ,french free       
thinkers call  others infidels and      
atheists1 who point out1 tho reverently1
 other  absurdities which men have piled
 upon ,christianity4 ,so the world      
goes4 ,an idolatrous regard for the     
imperfect scripture of ,god's word  is  
the apple of ,atalanta1 which defeats   
theologians running for the  hand of    
divine truth4    ,but the current       
notions respecting the infallible       
inspiration of  the ,bible have no      
foundation in the ,bible itself4 ,which 
evangelist1  which apostle of the ,new  

,testament1 what prophet or psalmist of 
the  ,old ,testament1 ever claims       
infallible authority for himself or for 
others8 ,which of them does not in his  
own writings show that he was  finite1  
and1 with all his zeal and piety1       
possest but a limited  inspiration1 the 
bound whereof we can sometimes discover8
 ,did ,christ  ever demand that men     
should assent to the doctrines of the   
,old  ,testament1 credit its stories1   
and take its poems for histories1 and   
believe equally two accounts that       
contradict one another8 ,has ,he  ever  
told you that all the truths of ,his    
religion1 all the beauty  of a          
,christian life should be contained in  
the writings of those  men who1 even    
after ,his resurrection1 expected ,him  
to be a ,jewish  king2 of men who were  
sometimes at variance with one another1 
and  misunderstood ,his divine          
teachings8 ,would not those modest      
writers  themselves be confounded at the
 idolatry we pay them8 ,opinions may    

change on these points1 as they have    
often changed--changed greatly  and for 
the worse since the days of ,paul4 ,they
 are changing now1 and  we may hope for 
the better2 for ,god makes man's folly  
as well his  wrath to praise ,him1 and  
continually brings good out of evil4    
,another instance of the transitoriness 
of doctrines taught as  ,christian is   
found in those which relate to the      
nature and authority  of ,christ4 ,one  
ancient party has told us that ,he is   
the infinite  ,god2 another1 that ,he is
 both ,god and man2 a third1 that ,he   
was  a man1 the son of ,joseph and      
,mary1 born as we are2 tempted like     
ourselves2 inspired as we may be1 if we 
will pay the price4 ,each of  the former
 parties believed its doctrine on this  
head was infallibly  true1 and formed   
the very substance of ,christianity1 and
 was one  of the essential conditions of
 salvation1 tho scarce any two          
distinguished teachers1 of ancient or   
modern times1 agree in their  expression

 of this truth4    ,almost every sect   
that has ever been1 makes ,christianity 
rest on  the personal authority of      
,jesus1 and not the immutable truth of  
the  doctrines themselves1 or the       
authority of ,god1 who sent ,him into   
the world4 ,yet it seems difficult to   
conceive any reason why moral  and      
religious truths should rest for their  
support on the personal  authority of   
their revealer1 any more than the truths
 of science on  that of him who makes   
them known first or most clearly4 ,it is
 hard  to see why the great truths of   
,christianity rest on the personal      
authority of ,jesus1 more than the      
axioms of geometry rest on the  personal
 authority of ,euclid or ,archimedes4   
,the authority of ,jesus  as of all     
teachers1 one would naturally think1    
must rest on the  truth of ,his words1  
and not their truth on ,his authority4  
,opinions respecting the nature of      
,christ seem to be constantly  changing4
 ,in the three first centuries after    

,christ1 it appears1  great latitude of 
speculation prevailed4 ,some said ,he   
was ,god1 with  nothing of human nature1
 ,his body only an illusion2 others that
 ,he  was man1 with nothing of the      
divine nature1 ,his miraculous birth    
having no foundation in fact4 ,in a few 
centuries it was decreed by  councils   
that ,he was ,god1 thus honoring the    
divine element2 next1  that ,he was man 
also1 thus admitting the human side4    
,for some ages  the ,catholic ,church   
seems to have dwelt chiefly on the      
divine  nature that was in ,him1 leaving
 the human element to mystics and  other
 heretical persons1 whose bodies served 
to flesh the swords of  orthodox        
believers4 ,the stream of ,christianity 
has come to us in two  channels1--one   
within the ,church1 the other without   
the ,church1--and  it is not hazarding  
too much to say that since the fourth   
century  the true ,christian life has   
been out of the established ,church1    
and not in it1 but rather in the ranks  

of dissenters4 ,from the  ,reformation  
till the latter part of the last        
century1 we are told1  the ,protestant  
,church dwelt chiefly on the human side 
of ,christ1  and since that time many   
works have been written to show how  the
 two--perfect ,deity and perfect        
manhood--were united in ,his  character4
 ,but1 all this time1 scarce any two    
eminent teachers  agree on these points1
 however orthodox they may be called4   
,what a  difference between the ,christ 
of ,john ,gerson and ,john ,calvin1--yet
  were both accepted teachers and pious 
men4 ,what a difference between  the    
,christ of the ,unitarians and the      
,methodists1--yet may men of  both sects
 be true ,christians and acceptable with
 ,god4 ,what a  difference between the  
,christ of ,matthew and ,john1--yet both
 were  disciples1 and their influence is
 wide as ,christendom and deep as  the  
heart of man4 ,but on this there is not 
time to enlarge4    ,now1 it seems clear
 that the notions men form about the    

origin and  nature of the ,scriptures1  
respecting the nature and authority of  
,christ1 have nothing to do with        
,christianity except as its aids or  its
 adversaries2 they are not the          
foundation of its truths4 ,these  are   
theological questions1 not religious    
questions4 ,their connection  with      
,christianity appears accidental2 for if
 ,jesus had taught at  ,athens1 and not 
at ,jerusalem2 if ,he had wrought no    
miracle1 and  none but the human nature 
had ever been ascribed to them2 if the  
,old ,testament had forever perished at 
,his birth1--,christianity  would still 
have been the word of ,god2 it would    
have lost none of  its truths4 ,it would
 be just as true1 just as beautiful1    
just as  lasting1 as now it is2 tho we  
should have lost so many a blessed      
word1 and the work of ,christianity     
itself would have been1 perhaps1  a long
 time retarded4    ,to judge the future 
by the past1 the former authority of the
 ,old  ,testament can never return4 ,its

 present authority can not stand4 ,it   
must be taken for what it is worth4 ,the
 occasional folly and impiety  of its   
authors must pass for no more than their
 value2 while the  religion1 the wisdom1
 the love1 which make fragrant its      
leaves1 will  still speak to the best   
hearts as hitherto1 and in accents even 
more  divine when reason is allowed her 
rights4 ,the ancient belief in the      
infallible inspiration of each sentence 
of the ,new ,testament is fast          
changing1 very fast4 ,one writer1 not a 
skeptic1 but a ,christian of            
unquestioned piety1 sweeps off the      
beginning of ,matthew2 another1  of a   
different church and equally religious1 
the end of ,john4  ,numerous critics    
strike off several epistles4 ,the       
,apocalypse itself  is not spared1      
notwithstanding its concluding curse4   
,who shall  tell us the work of         
retrenchment is to stop here2 that      
others will  not demonstrate what some  
pious hearts have long felt1 that errors

  of doctrine and errors of fact may be 
found in many parts of the  record1 here
 and there1 from the beginning of       
,matthew to the end  of ,acts8 ,we see  
how opinions have changed ever since the
 apostles'  time2 and who shall assure  
us that they were not sometimes mistaken
  in historical as well as doctrinal    
matters2 did not sometimes  confound the
 actual with the imaginary2 and that the
 fancy of these  pious writers never    
stood in the place of their             
recollection8    ,but what if this      
should take place8 ,is ,christianity    
then to perish  out of the heart of the 
nations1 and vanish from the memory of  
the  world1 like the religions that were
 before ,abraham8 ,it must be so1  if it
 rest on a foundation which a scoffer   
may shake1 and a score of  pious critics
 shake down4 ,but this is the foundation
 of a theology1  not of ,christianity4  
,that does not rest on the decision of  
councils4  ,it is not to stand or fall  
with the infallible inspiration of a    

few ,jewish fishermen1 who have writ    
their names in characters of  light all 
over the world4 ,it does not continue to
 stand through  the forbearance of some 
critic1 who can cut when he will the    
thread on which its life depends4       
,christianity does not rest on  the     
infallible authority of the ,new        
,testament4 ,it depends on this         
collection of books for the historical  
statement of its facts4 ,in  this we do 
not require infallible inspiration on   
the part of the  writers1 more than in  
the record of other historical facts4   
,to me it  seems as presumptuous1 on the
 one hand1 for the believer to claim    
this evidence for the truth of          
,christianity1 as it is absurd1 on  the 
other hand1 for the skeptic to demand   
such evidence to support  these         
historical statements4 ,i can not see   
that it depends on the  personal        
authority of ,jesus4 ,he was the organ  
through which the  ,infinite spoke4 ,it 
is ,god that was manifested in the flesh

 by ,him1  on whom rests the truth which
 ,jesus brought to light1 and made clear
  and beautiful in ,his life2 and if    
,christianity be true1 it seems  useless
 to look for any other authority to     
uphold it1 as for some  one to support  
,almighty ,god4 ,so if it could be      
proved--as it can  not--in opposition to
 the greatest amount of historical      
evidence  ever collected on any similar 
point1 that the ,gospels were the       
fabrication of designing and artful men1
 that ,jesus of ,nazareth had  never    
lived1 still ,christianity would stand  
firm1 and fear no evil4  ,none of the   
doctrines of that religion would fall to
 the ground2  for1 if true1 they stand  
by themselves4 ,but we should lose--oh1 
irreparable loss6--the example of that  
character1 so beautiful1 so  divine1    
that no human genius could have         
conceived it1 as none1 after  all the   
progress and refinement of eighteen     
centuries1 seems fully  to have         
comprehended its lustrous life4 ,if     

,christianity were true1  we should     
still think it was so1 not because its  
record was written  by infallible pens1 
nor because it was lived out by an      
infallible  teacher2 but that it is     
true1 like the axioms of geometry1      
because  it is true and is to be tried1 
by the oracle ,god places in the        
breast4 ,if it rest on the personal     
authority of ,jesus alone1 then  there  
is no certainty of its truth if ,he were
 ever mistaken in  the smallest         
matter1--as some ,christians have       
thought ,he was in  predicting ,his     
second coming4    ,these doctrines      
respecting the ,scriptures have often   
changed1 and  are but fleeting4 ,yet men
 lay much stress on them4 ,some cling to
  these notions as if they were         
,christianity itself4 ,it is about      
these and similar points that           
theological battles are fought from  age
 to age4 ,men sometimes use worst the   
choicest treasure which ,god  bestows4  
,this is especially true of the use men 

make of the ,bible4  ,some men have     
regarded it as the heathen their idol1  
or the savage  his fetish4 ,they have   
subordinated reason1 conscience1 and    
religion  to this4 ,thus have they lost 
half the treasure it bears in its       
bosom4 ,no doubt the time will come when
 its true character shall be  felt4     
,then it will be seen that1 amid all the
 contradictions of the  ,old            
,testament1--its legends1 so beautiful  
as fictions1 so appalling  as facts2    
amid its predictions that have never    
been fulfilled2 amid  the puerile       
conceptions of ,god which sometimes     
occur1 and the cruel  denunciations that
 disfigure both psalm and               
prophecy1--there is a  reverence for    
man's nature1 a sublime trust in ,god1  
and a depth of  piety1 rarely felt in   
these cold northern hearts of ours4     
,then the  devotion of its authors1 the 
loftiness of their aim1 and the majesty 
of their life1 will appear doubly fair1 
and prophet and psalmist  will warm our 

hearts as never before4 ,their voice    
will cheer the  young1 and sanctify the 
gray-headed2 will charm us in the toil  
of  life1 and sweeten the cup death     
gives us when he comes to shake  off    
this mantle of flesh4 ,then will it be  
seen that the words of  ,jesus are the  
music of heaven sung in an earthly      
voice1 and that  the echo of these words
 in ,john and ,paul owe their efficacy  
to  their truth and their depth1 and to 
no accidental matter connected          
therewith4 ,then can the ,word1 which   
was in the beginning and now is1  find  
access to the innermost heart of man1   
and speak there as now  it seldom       
speaks4 ,then shall the ,bible--which is
 a whole library  of the deepest and    
most earnest thoughts and feelings1 and 
piety1  and love1 ever recorded in human
 speech--be read oftener than ever      
before1--not with superstition1 but with
 reason1 conscience1 and  faith1 fully  
active4 ,then shall it sustain men bowed
 down with many  sorrows2 rebuke sin1   

encourage virtue1 sow the world         
broadcast and  quick with the seed of   
love1 that man may reap a harvest for   
life  everlasting4    ,with all the     
obstacles men have thrown in its path1  
how much has  the ,bible done for       
mankind6 ,no abuse has deprived us of   
all its  blessings4 ,you trace its path 
across the world from the day of        
,pentecost to this day4 ,as a river     
springs up in the heart of a  sandy     
continent1 having its father in the     
skies1 and its birthplace  in distant   
unknown mountains2 as the stream rolls  
on1 enlarging  itself1 making in that   
arid waste a belt of verdure wherever it
  turns its way2 creating palm groves   
and fertile plains1 where the  smoke of 
the cottager curls up at eventide1 and  
marble cities send  the gleam of their  
splendor far into the sky1--such has    
been the  course of the ,bible on the   
earth4 ,despite of idolaters bowing to  
the dust before it1 it has made a deeper
 mark on the world than the  rich and   

beautiful literature of all the heathen4
 ,the first book  of the ,old ,testament
 tells man he is made in the image of   
,god2 the  first of the ,new ,testament 
gives us the motto1 ,be perfect as your 
,father in heaven4 ,higher words were   
never spoken4 ,how the truths of  the   
,bible have blest us6 ,there is not a   
boy on all the hills of ,new  ,england2 
not a girl born in the filthiest cellar 
which disgraces a  capital in ,europe1  
and cries to ,god against the barbarism 
of modern  civilization2 not a boy nor a
 girl all ,christendom through1 but     
their lot is made better by that great  
book4    ,doubtless the time will come  
when men shall see ,christ also as ,he  
is4 ,well might ,he still say1 ,have ,i 
been so long with you1 and yet  hast    
thou not known me8 ,no6 we have made    
,him an idol1 have bowed  the knee      
before ,him1 saying1 ,hail1 king of the 
,jews6 called ,him  ,lord1 ,lord6 but   
done not the things which ,he said4 ,the
 history  of the ,christian world might 

well be summed up in one word of the    
evangelist--and there they crucified    
him2 for there has never  been an age   
when the men did not crucify the ,son of
 ,god afresh4  ,but if error prevail for
 a time and grow old in the world1 truth
  will triumph at the last1 and then we 
shall see the ,son of ,god as  ,he is4  
,lifted up1 ,he shall draw all nations  
unto ,him4 ,then will  men understand   
the word of ,jesus1 which shall not pass
 away4 ,then  shall we see and love the 
divine life that ,he lived4 ,how vast   
has  ,his influence been6 ,how ,his     
spirit wrought in the hearts of ,his    
disciples1 rude1 selfish1 bigoted1 as at
 first they were6 ,how it  has wrought  
in the world6 ,his words judge the      
nations4 ,the wisest  son of man has not
 measured their height4 ,they speak to  
what is  deepest in profound men1 what  
is holiest in good men1 what is         
divinest in religious men4 ,they kindle 
anew the flame of devotion  in hearts   
long cold4 ,they are spirit and life4   

,his truth was not  derived from ,moses 
and ,solomon2 but the light of ,god     
shone through  ,him1 not colored1 not   
bent aside4 ,his life is the perpetual  
rebuke  of all time since4 ,it condemns 
ancient civilization2 it condemns       
modern civilization4 ,wise men we have  
since had1 and good men2  but this      
,galilean youth strode before the whole 
world thousands  of years1 so much of   
divinity was in ,him4 ,his words solve  
the  question of this present age4 ,in  
,him the ,godlike and the human  met and
 embraced1 and a divine life was born4  
,measure ,him by the  world's greatest  
sons--how poor they are6 ,try ,him by   
the best of  men--how little and low    
they appear6 ,exalt ,him as much as we  
may1  we shall yet perhaps come short of
 the mark4 ,but still was ,he  not our  
brother2 the son of man1 as we are2 the 
son of ,god1 like  ourselves8 ,his      
excellence--was it not human excellence8
 ,his wisdom1  love1 piety1--sweet and  
celestial as they were1--are they not   

what  we also may attain8 ,in ,him1 as  
in a mirror1 we may see the image of    
,god1 and go on from glory to glory1    
till we are changed into the  same      
image1 led by the spirit which          
enlightens the humble4 ,viewed  in this 
way1 how beautiful is the life of       
,jesus6 ,heaven has come  down to earth1
 or rather1 earth has become heaven4    
,the ,son of ,god1  come of age1 has    
taken possession of ,his birthright4    
,the brightest  revelation is this of   
what is possible for all men1--if not   
now1 at  least hereafter4 ,how pure is  
,his spirit1 and how encouraging its    
words6 ,lowly sufferer1 he seems to say1
 see how ,i bore the cross4  ,patient   
laborer1 be strong2 see how ,i toiled   
for the unthankful and  the merciless4  
,mistaken sinner1 see of what thou art  
capable4 ,rise  up1 and be blest4       
,but if1 as some early ,christians began
 to do1 you take a heathen  view1 and   
make ,him a ,god1 the ,son of ,god in a 
peculiar and exclusive  sense1 much of  

the significance of ,his character is   
gone4 ,his virtue  has no merit1 ,his   
love no feeling1 ,his cross no burthen1 
,his agony  no pain4 ,his death is an   
illusion1 ,his resurrection but a show4 
,for  if ,he were not a man1 but a god1 
what are all these things8 ,what ,his   
words1 ,his life1 ,his excellence of    
achievement8 ,it is all nothing1        
weighed against the illimitable         
greatness of ,him who created the       
worlds and fills up all time and space6 
,then ,his resignation is no  lesson1   
,his life no model1 ,his death no       
triumph to you or me1 who  are not gods1
 but mortal men1 that know not what a   
day shall bring  forth1 and walk by     
faith dim sounding on our perilous way4 
,alas6  we have despaired of man1 and so
 cut off his brightest hope4    ,in     
respect of doctrines as well as forms1  
we see all is transitory4  ,everywhere  
is instability and insecurity4 ,opinions
 have changed  most on points deemed    
most vital4 ,could we bring up a        

,christian  teacher of any age1 from the
 sixth to the fourteenth century1 for   
example1 tho a teacher of undoubted     
soundness of faith1 whose word  filled  
the churches of ,christendom1 clergymen 
would scarce allow  him to kneel at     
their altar1 or sit down with them at   
the ,lord's  table4 ,his notions of     
,christianity could not be exprest in   
our  forms1 nor could our notions be    
made intelligible to his ears4  ,the    
questions of his age1 those on which    
,christianity was thought  to           
depend1--questions which perplexed and  
divided the subtle  doctors1--are no    
questions to us4 ,the quarrels which    
then drove  wise men mad now only excite
 a smile or a tear1 as we are disposed  
to laugh or weep at the frailty of man4 
,we have other straws of our  own to    
quarrel for4 ,their ancient books of    
devotion do not speak  to us2 their     
theology is a vain word4 ,to look back  
but a short  period1--the theological   
speculations of our fathers during the  

last  two centuries1 their practical    
divinity1 even the sermons written  by  
genius and piety are1 with rare         
exceptions1 found unreadable2  such a   
change is there in the doctrines4       
,now who shall tell us that the change  
is to stop here2 that this  sect or     
that1 or even all sects united1 have    
exhausted the river of  life1 and       
received it all in their canonized urns1
 so that we need  draw no more out of   
the eternal well1 but get refreshment   
nearer  at hand8 ,who shall tell us that
 another age will not smile at our      
doctrines1 disputes1 and unchristian    
quarrels about ,christianity1  and make 
wide the mouth at men who walked brave  
in orthodox raiment1  delighting to     
blacken the names of heretics1 and      
repeat again the  old charge1 ,he hath  
blasphemed8 ,who shall tell us they will
 not  weep at the folly of all such as  
fancied truth shone only into the       
contracted nook of their school1 or     
sect1 or coterie8 ,men of other  times  

may look down equally on the            
heresy-hunters1 and men hunted  for     
heresy1 and wonder at both4 ,the men of 
all ages before us  were quite as       
confident as we1 that their opinion was 
truth1 that  their notion was           
,christianity and the whole thereof4    
,the men who  lit the fires of          
persecution1 from the first martyr to   
,christian  bigotry down to the last    
murder of the innocents1 had no doubt   
their  opinion was divine4 ,the contest 
about transubstantiation and the        
immaculate purity of the ,hebrew and    
,greek texts of the ,scriptures  was    
waged with bitterness unequaled in these
 days4 ,the ,protestant  smiles at one1 
the ,catholic at the other1 and men of  
sense wonder  at both4 ,it might teach  
us all a lesson1 at least of            
forbearance4  ,no doubt an age will come
 in which ours shall be reckoned a      
period  of darkness1 like the sixth     
century1--when men groped for the wall1 
but stumbled and fell1 because they     

trusted a transient notion1  not an     
eternal truth2 an age when temples were 
full of idols1  set up by human folly2  
an age in which ,christian light had    
scarce  begun to shine into men's       
hearts4 ,but while this change goes on1 
while one generation of opinions passes 
away1 and another rises up1             
,christianity itself1 that pure         
religion1 which exists eternal in the   
constitution of the soul and the mind of
 ,god1 is always the same4  ,the ,word  
that was before ,abraham1 in the very   
beginning1 will not  change1 for that   
,word is truth4 ,from this ,jesus       
subtracted nothing2  to this ,he added  
nothing4 ,but ,he came to reveal it as  
the secret of  ,god1 that cunning men   
could not understand1 but which filled  
the  souls of men meek and lowly of     
heart4 ,this truth we owe to ,god2 the  
revelation thereof to ,jesus1 our elder 
brother1 ,god's chosen son4    ,to turn 
away from the disputes of the ,catholics
 and the ,protestants1  of the          

,unitarian and the ,trinitarian1 of old 
school and new school1  and come to the 
plain words of ,jesus of                
,nazareth1--,christianity is a  simple  
thing1 very simple4 ,it is absolute1    
pure morality2 absolute1  pure          
religion1--the love of man2 the love of 
,god acting without let  or hindrance4  
,the only creed it lays down is the     
great truth which  springs up           
spontaneous in the holy heart1--there is
 a ,god4 ,its  watchword is1 ,be perfect
 as your ,father in heaven4 ,the only   
form it  demands is a divine            
life1--doing the best thing in the best 
way1  from the highest motives2 perfect 
obedience to the great law of  ,god4    
,its sanction is the voice of ,god in   
your heart2 the perpetual  presence of  
,him who made us and the stars over our 
head2 ,christ and  the ,father abiding  
within us4 ,all this is very simple--a  
little  child can understand it2 very   
beautiful--the loftiest mind can find   
nothing so lovely4 ,try it by reason1   

conscience1 and faith1--things  highest 
in man's nature1--we see no redundance1 
we feel no  deficiency4 ,examine the    
particular duties it enjoins1--humility1
  reverence1 sobriety1 gentleness1      
charity1 forgiveness1 fortitude1        
resignation1 faith1 and active love2 try
 the whole extent of  ,christianity1 so 
well summed up in the command1 ,thou    
shalt love  the ,lord thy ,god with all 
thy heart1 and with all thy soul1 and   
with all thy mind2 thou shalt love thy  
neighbor as thyself2 and is  there      
anything therein that can perish8 ,no1  
the very opponents of  ,christianity    
have rarely found fault with the        
teachings of ,jesus4  ,the end of       
,christianity seems to be to make all   
men one with ,god as  ,christ was one   
with ,him2 to bring them to such a state
 of obedience  and goodness that we     
shall think divine thoughts and feel    
divine  sentiments1 and so keep the law 
of ,god by living a life of truth  and  
love4 ,its means are purity and prayer2 

getting strength from  ,god1 and using  
it for our fellow-men as well as        
ourselves4 ,it allows  perfect freedom4 
,it does not demand all men to think    
alike1 but to  think uprightly1 and get 
as near as possible at truth2 not all   
men  to live alike1 but to live holy1   
and get as near as possible to a  life  
perfectly divine4 ,christ set up no     
,pillars of ,hercules1 beyond  which men
 must not sail the sea in quest of      
truth4 ,he says1 ,i have  many things to
 say unto you1 but ye cannot bear them  
now4444 ,greater  works than these shall
 ye do4 ,christianity lays no rude hand 
on the  sacred peculiarity of individual
 genius and character4 ,but there is  no
 ,christian sect which does not fetter a
 man4 ,it would make all  men think     
alike1 or smother their conviction in   
silence4 ,were all  men ,quakers or     
,catholics1 ,unitarians or ,baptists1   
there would be  much less diversity of  
thought1 character1 and life1 less of   
truth  active in the world1 than now4   

,but ,christianity gives us the largest 
liberty of the sons of ,god2 and were   
all men ,christians after the  fashion  
of ,jesus1 this variety would be a      
thousand times greater  than now2 for   
,christianity is not a system of        
doctrines1 but rather  a method of      
attaining oneness with ,god4 ,it        
demands1 therefore1 a  good life of     
piety within1 of purity without1 and    
gives the promise  that whoso does      
,god's will shall know of ,god's        
doctrine4          ,,macleod    ,,the   
,,true ,,christian ,,ministry           
,,biographical ,,note      ,,norman     
,,macleod1 the eminent ,scotch preacher1
 was born at  ,campbeltown1 in          
,argyleshire1 in #ahab4 ,in his         
preaching he departed  from the rigid   
conventionality of the ,scottish        
,church4 ,his  large vision and broad   
culture gave unusual distinction both to
  his writings and to his pulpit        
oratory4 ,he was conspicuous for        
philanthropic efforts1 and frequently   

held evening services for  workingmen4  
,he distinguished himself by his popular
 ,christian  writing and by his pulpit  
oratory4 ,he was practical and manly1 of
  godly nature1 with extreme            
adaptability1 and greatly esteemed by   
,queen ,victoria1 who made him her      
chaplain in #aheg4 ,he died in #ahgb4   
,,macleod    #ahab-ahgb    ,,the ,,true 
,,christian ,,ministry#b      #b        
,printed here by permission of the      
publishers1 ,messrs4 ,wm4    ,blackwood 
,sons4    ,neither pray ,i for these    
alone1 but for them also which shall    
believe on me through their word2       
,that they all may be one2 as thou1     
,father1 art in me1 and ,i in thee1     
that they also may be one in us2 that   
the world may believe that  thou hast   
sent me4--,john xvii41 #bj1 #ba4        
,these words spake ,jesus1 and lifted up
 his eyes to heaven1 and  said1 ,father1
 the hour is come6 ,the hour was indeed 
come for which  the whole world had been
 in travail since creation1 and which   

was  for ever to mark a new era in the  
history of the universe4 ,the hour  was 
come when1 having finished the work     
given ,him to do1 ,he was to  return to 
,his ,father1 but only after ending ,his
 earthly journey  along the awful path  
on which ,he was now entering1 and which
 led  through ,gethsemane1 the cross1   
and the grave4 ,at such a moment in     
,his life ,he lifted up ,his eyes in    
perfect peace1 from the sinful  and     
sorrowful world1 to the heavens glorious
 in their harmony and  soothing in their
 silence1 and said1 ,father6 ,one feels 
a solemn  awe1 as if entering the holy  
of holies1 in seeking to enter into  the
 mind of ,christ as exprest in this     
prayer4 ,never were such words  spoken  
on earth1 never were such words heard in
 heaven4 ,i ask no  other evidence to   
satisfy my spirit that they are the     
truth of ,god  than the evidence of     
their own light1 revealing as it does   
the  speaker as being ,himself light and
 life1 who verily came from ,god  and   

went to ,god4    ,but let me in all     
reverence endeavor to express a few     
thoughts1  as to the general meaning of 
this prayer1 with reference more        
especially to that portion of it which  
,i have selected as the  subject of my  
discourse4    ,the one all-absorbing    
desire of our ,lord1 as here            
exprest--the  ultimate end sought to be 
realized by ,him--is that ,god might be 
glorified as a ,father1 and that by the 
world seeing ,his love  revealed in     
sending ,his ,son into the world to save
 sinners4 ,god  is love1 but ,in this   
was manifested the love of ,god toward  
us1  because that ,god sent his         
only-begotten ,son into the world that  
we  might live through him--a love      
which1 when spiritually seen and        
possest by us1 is itself life eternal2  
for ,this is life eternal  that they    
might know thee1 the only true ,god1 and
 ,jesus ,christ1 whom  thou hast sent2  
but ,he that loveth not1 knoweth not    
,god2 for ,god  is love4    ,all        

religion accordingly1 all good1 all     
righteousness1 peace1  joy1 glory1 to   
man and to the universe1 are bound up in
 this one  thing1 knowing ,god as a     
,father4 ,out of this right condition of
 love  to ,god1 must necessarily come   
our right condition towards man1  that  
of love to man as a brother with special
 love1 the love of  character1 to       
,christian brethren4 ,such a religion as
 this was never  possest as an idea even
 by the greatest thinkers among the     
civilized  heathen nations2 far less was
 it realized by any4 ,whatever knowledge
  many had about ,god1 they knew ,him   
not as a ,father to be loved and        
trusted1 and therefore obeyed4 ,when    
,st4 ,paul addrest the ,athenians1  he  
could find such a thought exprest by a  
poet only1 who had said1  ,we are also  
,his offspring4 ,it is only in the line 
of supernatural  revelation of ,god to  
man1 as given to and received by        
,abraham1 the  friend1 and perfected by 
,christ the ,son1 that this knowledge of

  ,god has been possest by man4 ,but    
even among those to whom this true      
revelation was given about ,god1 how few
 truly knew ,him6    ,the want of this  
religion1 whatever else might exist that
 was called  by that name1 was the      
complaint made by ,god against ,his     
people of  old1 ,they do not know me6   
,they proceed from evil to evil1 ,he    
cries1 for they know not me1 saith the  
,lord4 ,through deceit they  refuse to  
know me1 saith the ,lord2 and again3    
,thus saith the ,lord1  ,let not the    
wise man glory in his wisdom1 neither   
let the mighty  man glory in his might1 
let not the rich man glory in his       
riches2  but let him that glorieth glory
 in this1 that he understandeth and     
knoweth me1 that ,i am the ,lord which  
exercise loving-kindness1  judgment1 and
 righteousness1 in the earth3 for in    
these things ,i  delight1 saith the     
,lord4 7,jer4 ix41 #bc1 #bd47    ,this  
was the sorrowing cry of ,christ1 ,o    
righteous ,father1 the world  hath not  

known thee6 ,this was ,his joy1 ,i have 
known thee1 and  these have known that  
thou hast sent me6    ,but if ,christ   
desired that ,his ,father's name should 
be glorified1  how was this to be       
accomplished8 ,by what medium1 or means8
 ,now ,i  would here observe that ,god's
 method of revealing ,himself to man has
  ever been to do so by living men2 and 
the ,bible is a true record of  such    
revelations in the past4 ,christianity  
is not the philosophy of  life1 but life
 itself2 and is a revelation1 not of    
abstract truth1  but of the living      
personal ,god to living persons as ,his 
children1  whom ,he hath created to     
glorify and enjoy ,him for ever4 ,the   
first  grand medium of this revelation  
is the eternal ,son of ,god4 ,the very  
essence of ,god's character being love1 
,he did not exist from all  eternity    
with a mere capacity of loving1 but     
without an object to  love2 like an eye 
capable of seeing light1 but with no    
light to  see4 ,the object of ,his love 

was ,his ,son1 who from all eternity    
responded to that love and rejoiced in  
,his ,father4 ,this eternal  ,son1 when 
manifested in the flesh1 revealed ,his  
,father directly1  so that ,he could    
say1 in all ,he was1 and in all ,he did1
 and1 in a  true sense1 in all ,he      
suffered1 ,he that hath seen me1 hath   
seen the  ,father2 and men could say of 
,him1 ,we beheld ,his glory1 the glory  
as of the only-begotten of the ,father1 
full of grace and truth2  ,the glory of 
,god was in the face of ,jesus ,christ4 
,again1 ,he had  also1 as the ,son of   
,man1 glorified ,his ,father2 and1 by   
,his reverence  for1 confidence in1 and 
obedience to1 ,him1 and by ,his joy in  
,him1  had indirectly revealed what he  
knew ,god to be to ,him and to all  as a
 ,father4 ,i have glorified ,thee on the
 earth3 ,i have finished  the work which
 ,thou gavest me to do4 ,such was ,his  
finished work4  ,but something more was 
yet to be accomplished4 ,ere ,he        
descends to  ,gethsemane1 ,he desires   

anew to have the joy of revealing a     
,father's  heart by revealing to the    
world ,his own heart of love as a ,son  
to  that ,father4 ,hence ,his prayer1   
,glorify thy ,son1 that thy ,son also   
may glorify thee4 ,he does not prescribe
 the new circumstances in  which ,his   
long-tried and perfect filial confidence
 and love as a  ,son were to be         
manifested4 ,with the absolute          
consecration of true  sonship ,he leaves
 these circumstances to be determined by
 ,his  ,father4 ,now1 as on the cross1  
,he commits ,his spirit1 as a little    
child1 into ,his ,father's hands4 ,he   
desires only that in any way1 by  any   
means1 ,he may have the joy of showing  
forth the reality1 the  endurance1 and  
the triumph of ,his ,sonship4 ,his      
,father may fill ,his  cup according to 
,his own will1 the ,son will drink it4  
,the ,father  may permit a crown of     
thorns to be placed on ,his brow1 and   
every  conceivable horror of great      
darkness from the hate of men and devils

  to be cast over ,him like a           
funeral-pall2 ,he may be rejected by all
  ,his brethren and by the ,church and  
by the ,state--,amen6 ,he cries4  ,let  
,his body be broken and ,his blood shed1
 ,he will give thanks6 ,one  thing only 
,he prays for1 ,glorify thy ,son1 that  
thy ,son also may  glorify thee6 ,as a  
further end to be accomplished1 ,he     
prays that  ,he may have the joy of     
making others share the same divine love
 and  joy1 and therefore adds1 ,as thou 
hast given him power over all  flesh1   
that he should give eternal life to as  
many as thou hast  given him4 ,and this 
is life eternal1 that they might know   
thee1 the  only true ,god1 and ,jesus   
,christ1 whom thou hast sent4    ,but   
while ,he as the ,son was to be the     
first revealer of ,god the  ,father1 ,he
 was not1 therefore1 to be the only     
revealer4 ,he was  the firstborn of many
 brethren in whom the same love was to  
be  reproduced1 and by whom the same    
high duty was to be performed4 ,if  the 

light of the glory of ,god shone        
directly in the face of ,jesus  ,christ1
 that light was to be transmitted to    
those who were to shine  as lights in   
the world1 that others seeing them might
 glorify the  same ,god4 ,for now1 as   
ever1 ,god in a real sense manifests    
,himself  in the flesh4 ,hence our      
,lord's desire that ,his brethren       
should1 as  sons1 reveal the ,father1   
like ,himself the ,son4 ,he says        
accordingly1  ,as thou hast sent me into
 the world1 even so have ,i also sent   
them  into the world4 ,sent whom8 ,not  
apostles only1 but those also who       
should believe through their word2 not  
ministers of the ,church only1  but     
members also2 all1 in short1 who were   
qualified to convince the  world that   
,god was a ,father1 by convincing it of 
this truth1 that  ,god had sent ,his    
,son to save sinners--the faithful      
saying1 worthy  of all acceptation4     
,but the question is further suggested1 
,what is this qualification8  ,what is  

this which men must possess in order to 
accomplish ,christ's  purpose of        
inducing the world to believe8 ,what is 
this evidence of  ,christianity which   
they are to present to the eyes of      
unbelieving  men1 by seeing which these 
are to know and glorify ,god as their   
,father in ,christ8 ,we reply1 it is the
 oneness of those who are to  be        
ambassadors from ,god and fellow-workers
 with ,christ4 ,i pray for  them1 ,he   
says1 and not for them only1 but for    
them also who shall  believe on me      
through their word2 that they all may be
 one2 as thou1  ,father1 art in me1 and 
,i in thee1 that they may be one in us2 
that  the world may believe that thou   
hast sent me4    ,now this leads me to  
consider more particularly the nature of
 this  oneness which is essential for   
such a successful mission as will       
convince the world of the truth of      
,christ's mission from the ,father4     
,what is meant by this oneness1 or this 
union8    ,we are guided in our inquiry 

by three features which characterize    
it4 ,first1 ,it is a oneness such as    
subsists between ,christ and ,god2      
secondly1 ,it is a oneness which can be 
seen or appreciated2 thirdly1  ,it is a 
oneness which is calculated from its    
nature to convince the  world of the    
truth of ,christ's mission4    ,now     
there are many kinds of union among men1
 which1 however  wonderful or excellent1
 may be set aside as obviously not      
fulfilling  these conditions1 and not   
such1 therefore1 as ,christ prayed for4 
,there is1 e4 g41 the unity of an army  
which marches as one man1  implicitly   
obeying its commander even unto death   
and without a  question4 ,yet1 however  
grand this is1 and however illustrative 
of  the character of good soldiers of   
,jesus ,christ1 it does not fulfil  the 
conditions specified4 ,nor does the     
wonderful unity of a ,state1  which     
makes and imposes laws1 proclaims war or
 peace1 administers  justice1 and       
executes its judgments4 ,in neither case

 is there any  union such as subsists   
betwixt ,god and ,christ2 nor such as is
  in any sense adapted to convince the  
world that ,god has sent ,his  ,son to  
save sinners4 ,the same may be alleged  
of any outward and  visible unity of a  
body of men which might be called a     
,church4 ,its  organization might be as 
wonderful1 and its members as           
disciplined1  and its power as          
remarkable1 as those of an army2 it     
might be held  together like a state by 
its laws and its enactments1 its rewards
  and punishments1 and might            
energetically advance until it possest  
the dominion of the world1 and attracted
 such attention as that all  men might  
marvel at it2 its members might assent  
to all the details  of a creed however  
large2 the same rights and ceremonies   
and modes  of worship might be repeated 
throughout all its parts2 and it might  
be able to continue its organized       
existence from age to age1--yet it      
would by no means follow that any such  

system1 however remarkable1  possest    
that inward spiritual unity desired in  
,christ's prayer1 no  more than the     
compact unity of ,brahminism does1 nor  
the still more  extraordinary unity of  
,buddhism1 with its temples1 its        
priesthood1  its creed1 its rites and   
ceremonies1 continuing unchanged during 
teeming centuries1 and dominating over  
hundreds of millions of the  human race4
 ,may not all these and many similar    
unities be fully  and satisfactorily    
accounted for by principles in human    
nature1  altogether irrespective of the 
fact of a supernatural power having     
come into the world to which their      
origin or continuance is owing8  ,for   
there is a oneness in the churchyard as 
well as in the church4  ,there might be 
a oneness of assent amongst a deaf      
multitude with  regard to the beauty of 
music1 because determined by the fiat of
  authority1 but not as the result of   
hearing and of taste2 and the  same kind
 of oneness of judgment as to the beauty

 of pictures1 on  the part of those who 
were blind4 ,unity alone proves nothing1
 apart  from its nature and its origin4 
,there is but one kind of unity or      
oneness which fulfils the  specified    
conditions1 and that is1 oneness of     
character or of  spiritual life--in one 
word1 the oneness of love2--for this is 
the  highest condition of a personal    
spirit4 ,it is such love as ,god had    
and has to ,christ2 ,that the love      
wherewith thou has loved me may  be in  
them2 such love as the ,son has to the  
,father1 and such as ,he  manifested to 
,his disciples that very evening when1  
conscious of  ,his divine glory1 and    
knowing that he was come from ,god1 and 
went  to ,god1 ,he girded ,himself with 
a towel and washed ,his disciples'      
feet4 ,hence the declaration1 ,the      
glory1 that is1 of character1  which    
thou gavest me ,i have given them1 that 
they1 through its  possession1 may be   
one1 even as we are one3 ,i in them1 and
 thou in  me4 ,hence again ,his saying1 

,they are not of the world1 even as ,i  
am not of the world2 and ,his prayer1 ,i
 pray not that thou shouldst  take them 
out of the world1 but that thou shouldst
 keep them from  the evil4 ,such love as
 this1 when in the soul of ordinary men1
 does  not originate in their own       
hearts1 however naturally benevolent or 
affectionate these may be4 ,our ,lord in
 this prayer recognizes it  as          
inseparable from faith in ,his own      
teaching1 and from personal  conviction 
of the truth which they themselves were 
to preach2 for  they had received ,his  
words1 and had known surely that ,i came
 out  from thee1 and they have believed 
that thou didst send me2 and so  ,he    
prays1 ,sanctify them through thy truth2
 thy word is truth4    ,now1 if we would
 divide1 as with a prism1 this pure     
light of love1  we might discern it as  
being composed1 as it were1 of at least 
two  colors1 or features--first1 love to
 ,god1 exprest in the desire that  ,he  
should be known2 secondly1 love to man1 

exprest in self-sacrifice  that all     
should share this true love4 ,but these 
very features we  discern as first      
existing in ,god the ,father and in     
,christ the ,son2  for ,god desires1    
from the necessity of ,his own nature1  
that ,he  should be known1 and that all 
,his rational creatures should see  the 
glory of ,his character1 and1 in seeing 
it1 should live4 ,god  has also         
manifested ,his love1 according to the  
law of love1 by  giving and by          
self-sacrifice1 inasmuch as ,he spared  
not his own  ,son1 but delivered him up 
for us all4 ,in like manner1 the ,son   
desired that ,his ,father might be      
known1 and to accomplish this ,he       
became incarnate4 ,he has manifested    
,his love also in the form of           
self-sacrifice1 in that ,his whole life 
and death were an offering  up of       
,himself as a sacrifice unto ,god1 and  
as an atonement for the  sins of the    
world1 in order that all men might be   
made partakers  of ,his own eternal life

 in ,god4 ,this1 too1 is the mind of the
  ,holy ,spirit1 for ,he glorifies the  
,son1 that the ,son may glorify the     
,father1 and glorifies ,him in and by   
,his true ,church4 ,hence1 wherever     
true love exists in man1 it will        
manifest itself in these two forms2  it 
will ever desire that ,god may be known1
 and will never seek its  own1 but      
sacrifice itself that this end may be   
attained4 ,in such  oneness as this of  
mind1 spirit1 character--in one word1   
love--there  is realized the first      
condition of that oneness for which our 
,lord  prayed4    ,secondly1 ,this unity
 of character fulfils the second        
condition in  its being such as the     
world can in some degree see and        
appreciate4  ,blind as the world is1 it 
can see love in the form of             
self-sacrifice  at least1 seeking its   
good1 even tho it may not at once see in
  this a revelation of such love as has 
its origin in the love of  ,god to man4 
,the world's heart can perceive more    

things and greater  things than can its 
intellect4 ,the child of the statesman  
or man  of science may not be able to   
comprehend the world-politics of the    
one or the scientific discoveries of the
 other2 but it can see and  feel the    
love revealed in the glance of the eye1 
in the smile on  the lips1 or in the    
arms that clasp it to the bosom2 and in 
seeing  this1 it sees an infinitely     
greater thing than the politics of the  
one or the scientific discoveries of the
 other4 ,it sees1 too1 in  this1 tho    
unconsciously1 the love of the ,father's
 heart which fills  the universe with   
glory1 even as its eye1 when opened to a
 little  light1 sees the same light     
which illumines a thousand worlds4 ,and 
thus can the world see the light of     
love4 ,those who are in prison1  in     
nakedness1 or in thirst1 are quite able 
to see and to appreciate  the love that1
 for ,christ's sake1 visits them1       
clothes them1 and  gives them drink4    
,the wretched lepers in the lazar-house1

 into which  no one could enter and ever
 return to the world1 could see and     
appreciate the love of the ,moravian    
missionary who visited them1  and who   
shut the door for ever between him and  
all he knew and  loved1 that he might   
share and alleviate the horrors of his  
wretched  brethren whom he loved more   
than all4 ,blind as the world is1 it can
  see this or nothing2 bad as it is1 it 
can appreciate this goodness  or none4  
,thirdly1 ,such a character is          
calculated also to convince the world   
that ,god has sent ,christ to save      
sinners4 ,observe again what is  our    
,lord's idea of the mission which was to
 convert the world2 it  is this1 that   
those whom ,he sends1 even as ,god had  
sent ,himself1  whether as apostles or  
as disciples1 should give to their      
fellow men  what they have first        
received from their living ,head1 ,jesus
 ,christ4  ,they were to give the words 
which they received from ,him1 and      
which ,he had received from ,god--they  

were to give the truth which  they      
received from ,him1 and which ,he       
,himself had glorified in ,his  life and
 death1 that ,god had sent ,him to be   
the ,savior of the world4  ,they were   
also to manifest that life which they   
had received from  ,him1 and which ,he  
had received from ,god1 and which in    
them was the  necessary result of their 
faith4 ,now1 it is in the seeing of this
  life in those who proclaim the truth  
that the truth itself appears  worthy of
 all acceptation1 and that ,god verily1 
who has sent ,his ,son  to save sinners1
 is love4 ,it is thus1 you perceive1    
that the mission  of the ,church1       
whether of its ministers or its members1
 is not only  to preach glad tidings1   
but to show their reality in their      
actual  results2 not only to preach     
salvation1 but to preach it by saved    
men2 not only to preach eternal life1   
but to preach it by those who  possess  
it2 not only to preach about a ,father1 
but to reveal also  that ,father through

 ,his regenerated sons1 who themselves  
know and  love ,him4 ,further1 the idea 
of a ,church is that of a society whose 
members are united through faith in the 
same truth1 and are in  possession of   
the same life4 ,such a society          
necessarily springs out  of faith and   
love1 and its members cannot choose but 
unite outwardly  because united         
inwardly4 ,our ,lord assumes its future 
existence and  provides for its         
continuance4 ,a ,church realizing       
,christ's ideal  would1 therefore1      
possess1 as its creed this1 at least1 of
 believing  ,christ's words1 and the    
truth that ,god had sent his ,son to be 
the  ,savior of the world4 ,for every   
spirit that confesseth not that  ,christ
 hath come in the flesh is not of ,god4 
,and whosoever shall  confess that      
,jesus is the ,son of ,god1 ,god        
dwelleth in him1 and he in  ,god4 ,its  
initiatory sacrament1 that of baptism1  
does but express  the nature of this    
society--viz41 that its members are the 

children  of ,god the ,father through   
,christ the ,son1 and by the indwelling 
of  the ,holy ,spirit--their character  
being a spiritual baptism into the      
possession of ,god's name1 which is     
love4    ,another characteristic of it  
is their possession of that eternal     
life which is exprest as well as        
maintained by the communion in  which   
its members meet together as brethren1  
their bond of union  being a common     
union with ,god in ,christ and one      
another1 through  the constant partaking
 of ,him1 the living bread2 eating ,his 
flesh  and drinking ,his blood--that is1
 ,his whole life of self-sacrifice  and 
love becoming a part of their very      
being4 ,worship in spirit  and in truth 
is also necessarily involved in the idea
 of such a  society2 and ,i might add1  
worship1 not from a command merely1 but 
as a necessary result of spiritual      
character1 becoming in a true  sense    
infallible as to religion2 but religion 
in this sense1--that  of knowing ,god   

because of its members being able to    
say1 ,we know  that he dwelleth in us1  
and we in him1 because he hath given us 
his ,spirit1 and we know and testify    
that he sent his ,son to be  the ,savior
 of the world4 ,such a ,church would    
likewise1 in a true  sense1 have an     
apostolical succession--that is1 a      
succession of  teachers and members who 
had the apostolic spirit1 or the oneness
 as  described by our ,lord2 for it     
would be able1 from its possessing the  
,spirit of ,god1 to discern those who   
were like-minded1 and to select  such as
 were specially fitted for the work of  
the ministry4 ,this is  the ideal of the
 ,church4    ,but has such a ,church    
been realized8 ,has there ever been a   
visible  organized body of men who      
carried out this sublime purpose8 ,once1
  indeed1 there was4 ,for we perceive1  
more or less clearly1 all these         
features in the early ,church when it   
had received the ,spirit on the  day of 
,pentecost1 and when its members met    

together and had all  things in common1 
and manifested such sonship towards     
,god1 and  brotherhood towards each     
other2 and sent forth everywhere its    
public  minister and its members also to
 bring men into the same blessed  unity4
 ,but supposing the ideal had no more   
been realized since that  time than     
,god's ideal as described by ,moses had 
been fully realized  in the ,jewish     
,church2--yet must the ideal1           
nevertheless1 be ever  kept before the  
spiritual eye4 ,for we do not produce   
high art by  keeping a low rather than a
 high standard before the artist2       
neither  can we reach to great things in
 the ,church unless we keep a high      
standard before its members4 ,it is     
unnecessary here to inquire how  it came
 to pass that the ,church1 to such a    
great extent1 lost this  ideal as one   
visible society1 and became so corrupt  
as to substitute  innumerable vain      
appearances of spiritual realities for  
that which  alone could satisfy a true  

and righteous ,god4 ,but as things now  
are1  the ,church is broken up into     
various churches or societies1  striving
 more or less to realize the ideal4     
,each society does so  just in          
proportion as it is able to carry out   
our ,lord's purpose  as to its ministry 
being one in faith1 believing ,christ's 
words1  in its knowing truly that ,he   
came from ,god to save sinners1 and in  
its seeking1 from love to ,god and man1 
to make all men know their  ,father1 in 
the knowledge of whom is salvation4     
,but to confine myself to our own       
particular duties1 let me remind  you1  
fathers and brethren1 of our high       
calling as profest ministers  of        
,christ's ,church4 ,the cry of earnest  
souls1 weary of their many  burthens1   
unsatisfied with their husks1 conscious 
of being in a  distant land1 and finding
 nothing which men can give to allay    
their hungering and thirsting1 is this3 
,show us the ,father1 and it  sufficeth 
us6 ,now supposing an earnest spirit1   

seeking after the  ,father1 comes to us 
as ,his profest ministers in order to   
discover  the truth of what we preach1  
he might very naturally say1 ,you       
preach to me a ,savior who came a long  
time ago into the world  professing to  
save sinners1 and you tell me that ,he  
is coming again  at some future period  
to judge the world and to bestow        
salvation  upon many2 but ,i want to    
know whether there is a ,savior now2 or 
is it all empty space between that past 
and that future8 ,you tell  me about    
salvation from the suffering of sin2 ,i 
ask1 ',is there  salvation from sin     
itself1 without which ,i feel there can 
be no  deliverance from suffering'8 ,you
 tell me about a medicine that is an    
infallible cure for 'this ineradicable  
taint of sin1' and describe  the        
terrible consequences of the disease to 
me if ,i be not cured1  and the blessed 
results of joyous spiritual health and  
peace2 but  ',can you show me any person
 who has actually been restored from    

disease to health by this divine        
medicine'8 ,is all this preaching a     
mere idle theory of life8 ,or if not1   
where is the life itself8 ,art  thou    
thyself saved8 ,if not--'physician1 heal
 thyself'2 for until  then thou canst   
not cure me4 ,but suppose1 further1 that
 this same  person comes into close     
contact with the mind of the preacher1  
and  that the more he sees and knows it 
the more he discerns in the man  such   
thoughts regarding ,god1 such a         
knowledge of ,him1 such a love  to ,him1
 as convince him that here at least is a
 reality and not a  pretense2 suppose   
that the more he discerns his whole     
inner life1  the things which give him  
pain and joy1 the things which he       
desires  and loves1 with his whole      
feelings towards his                    
fellow-men--feelings  expressed in a    
life of action1 which1 in spite of      
infirmities and  shortcomings belonging 
to all human beings1 the questioner     
cannot  but recognize as a kind of life 

he never saw before--a life1 too1  which
 commends itself1 from what it is1 as   
being the most real  and the most       
satisfactory to reason1 conscience1 and 
heart3 can  anything1 ,i ask1 be more   
calculated to convince him of the       
account  which its possessor gives him  
as to its origin1 when he says1 ,the    
life ,i now live in the flesh1 ,i live  
by faith in the ,son of ,god1  who loved
 me1 and gave himself for me4 ,it is a  
faithful saying1  and worthy of all     
acceptation1 that ,christ came into the 
world to  save sinners1 of whom ,i am   
the chief4 ,what then8 ,what else must  
be the result of such a vision of true  
life than the conviction  that ,god is  
our ,father and that ,god is love1      
because it is evident  from observation 
as well as from testimony that ,he hath 
sent ,his  ,son to save men1 not in the 
past only1 but to save them now--not  to
 save only those who are called good1   
but to save those who  are the chief of 
sinners8 ,if a man truly believes all   

this1 then  does he know ,god1 and in so
 doing possesses eternal life4 ,but more
  than this1 how will his convictions be
 deepened if1 in searching  for others  
who may have the same life1 and if1 tho 
failing to  discover any one visible    
body of ,christians that show it forth  
in  the unity of the ,spirit and in the 
bond of peace1 he is yet able  to       
satisfy himself that there have been1   
during the last eighteen  centuries1 and
 that there are now1 in every church1 in
 every land1  among all races of men1   
among those of different temperaments1  
different culture1 and amidst a variety 
of all possible outward  circumstances1 
men with like passions as himself1 who  
have faith in  the same ,lord1 and are  
thereby possest of a true love of ,god  
and  of one another--how will this1 ,i  
say1 deepen in him the conviction  that 
,god is a ,father1 because a ,savior1   
who gave his ,son1 not that  any should 
perish1 but that all should possess     
everlasting life8  ,will he not be thus 

led to believe the record that ,god has 
given  us eternal life1 and that this   
life is in his ,son8 ,i am persuaded    
that a man of the highest intellectual  
culture and the greatest  learning1     
earnestly searching after ,god and      
,christ1 and the truth  of              
,christianity1 would be more convinced  
of the love of the one  as manifested in
 the truth of the other1 by coming into 
contact  with one true soul which1      
without perhaps intellectual culture or 
learning1 yet truly loved ,god and man1 
than he would be by all the  volumes on 
the evidence of ,christianity ever      
written1 without such a  spiritual      
vision of a holy life4    ,on the other 
hand1 supposing that no such evidence of
 the truth of  ,christianity could be   
discovered in the preacher of           
,christianity2  nay1 if his character   
contradicted his preaching2 if1 while   
he preached love to ,god and man1 he    
manifested neither1 but  indifference1  
to say the least of it1 to both2 if1    

while he preached  the necessity and the
 excellence of the ,christian life1 he  
himself  revealed its very              
opposite--what effect would this have   
upon an  earnest spirit1 but that       
,christianity was a mere ideal system   
unsuited to the world1 a philosophy of  
life that might be believed  in1 but not
 a life itself that might be possest8   
,this want of personal character1       
however imperfect1 yet real1 may        
account for the want of success in the  
mission of the ,church to  convince the 
world1 whether at home or abroad4 ,we   
may give religion  but not godliness2   
the means of grace1 as they are called1 
but not  the grace seen and exprest in  
the living man4 ,we would thus hear of  
,christianity without seeing it2 hear   
about the love of ,god1 and the  love of
 ,christ as a ,savior1 without being    
convinced even by those  who send       
missionaries to ,india1 who1 altho they 
may individually  reveal this life1 yet 
how often are looked upon as mere       

official  teachers2 while the           
,christians from ,christendom may1 in   
coming  into contact with the heathen1  
show by their denial of ,christianity   
that it is a matter for the priesthood1 
not for all men2 a book  theology1 but  
not an actual power working in humanity3
 and of such  persons it may be said    
that they have profaned ,god's great    
name  among the heathen4    ,and this1  
too1 may also account for the secret of 
success by many  a minister of whom the 
world knows nothing3 ,for greatest minds
  are those of whom the noisy world     
hears least4 ,they may not be  great in 
the ordinary sense of the word--great as
 thinkers1 great  as orators1 or great  
in the possession of any remarkable     
gifts2 but  they are nevertheless great 
in the kingdom of heaven2 great because 
little children--great in meekness1 in  
patience1 in humility1 in  love of ,god 
and man1 and who carry this music in    
their heart1  through dusky land and    
wrangling mart4 ,what is the secret of  

their  power8 ,what but an eternal      
reality6 the reality of a godly1 godlike
  life obtained from ,god1 and sustained
 by ,god1 and seen in the eye1  felt in 
the hand1 heard in the words--a light of
 life which shines  beside many a dying 
bed in many a home of sorrow1 as well as
 in the  pulpit4 ,this is a kind of life
 whose biography will be written with   
the tears of the grateful orphan and    
widow1 and of many a saved  soul which  
remembers its possessor as its spiritual
 father4 ,such a  ministry as this can  
no more fail than the love of ,god which
 gives  it birth4 ,let us thank ,god1   
therefore1 that such a secret power as  
this is within the reach of us all4 ,we 
may not be men of talent1  and for that 
we are not responsible2 but we may be   
good men because  little children       
towards ,god1 and for that we are       
responsible3 ,i  thank thee1 heavenly   
,father1 that thou hast hid these things
 from  the wise and prudent1 and        
revealed them unto babes4    ,and now1  

fathers and brethren1 such is our high  
calling1 to proclaim  the glad tidings  
that ,god has sent ,christ into the     
world to save  sinners4 ,our chief      
authority for doing this is that we know
 it to be  true2 and if so1 no one can  
deprive us of the high privilege and joy
  of proclaiming it4 ,a glorious work is
 thus given us to do2 we are            
ambassadors for ,god1 beseeching men to 
be reconciled to ,him1 and we  are      
fellow-workers with our ,lord ,himself4 
,but this involves a great              
responsibility1 corresponding to the    
greatness of our calling4 ,for  it is at
 once a glorious and a tremendous       
thought that ,christ perils  the chief  
evidence of the truth of ,christianity1 
not upon what we  say1 but more upon    
what we are2 and what we are is neither 
more nor  less than what ,god knows us  
to be4 ,our preaching may1 nevertheless1
  fail in some cases to convince the    
world1 as it has done before2 for  the  
glory of ,christ ,himself was not seen  

by ,judas4 ,indeed the light  of life1  
when it shines1 requires the single eye 
to see it4 ,but in  so far as the       
ministry of men1 as an instrumentality1 
can convince  the world1 let our        
ministry be such as is calculated       
according to  ,christ's purpose to      
produce this result4 ,let it consist of 
those who  can say1 ,we know whom we    
have believed4 ,we know and believe the 
love that ,god hath to us4 ,we testify  
that he sent his ,son to be  the ,savior
 of the world4    ,but ,i must bring my 
sermon to a close4    ,pardon me1 my    
brethren1 if ,i have appeared to address
 you in any  other spirit than that of  
one who would with you confess his sins 
and shortcomings1 and lament with shame 
and sorrow how much time and  power have
 been lost never to be regained2 how    
many gifts and noble  opportunities have
 been neglected and perverted through   
unbelief and  sloth1 which might have   
been used for our own good and that of  
our  fellow-men4 ,verily the day is far 

spent with many of us1 and the  night is
 near in which no man can work4         
,whatever our hands find to  do must be 
done now or never4 ,let us pray that the
 living ,spirit of  ,god1 given to all  
who seek ,him1 and whose work it is to  
glorify the  ,son1 may take of ,his     
things and show them to our souls1 and  
open  our spiritual eye to see the glory
 of ,god in the face of ,christ1 so     
that we may be changed into the same    
glory4 ,may we strive to keep  the unity
 of the ,spirit in the bond of peace1   
and be enabled so  to preach and so to  
live that the world may be convinced1 by
 what  it sees and hears1 of the reality
 of the love of ,god the ,father in     
giving us and all men eternal life      
through ,jesus ,christ ,his ,son6 ,may  
,he who makes us sons of ,god enable us1
 as sons1 to be glorified in  the       
perfection and revelation of our        
characters1 so that with our  elder     
,brother we may glorify ,his ,father and
 our ,father6    ,and now1 to ,father1  

,son and ,holy ,ghost1 one ,god1 be     
glory1 dominion1  and praise for        
evermore4 ,amen6          ,,mozley      
,,the ,,reversal ,,of ,,human ,,judgment
          ,,biographical ,,note         
,,james ,b4 ,,mozley1 ,english divine   
and philosopher1 was born at            
,gainsborough1 ,lincolnshire1 in #ahac4 
,he was educated at ,oxford1  and is    
particularly known for his discourses on
 ,baptism and  ,predestination4         
,gladstone appointed him as professor of
 divinity at  ,oxford4 ,his ,bampton    
,lectures on ,miracles 7#ahfc7 are still
 considered  of classical authority4    
,dr4 ,brastow1 in speaking of his clear 
and  well-ordered thought1 says3 ,he was
 intent upon getting at the heart  of   
all subjects investigated1 and his      
slowness in clearing up a  subject and  
his deliberation and fastidiousness with
 respect to his  diction embarrassed    
him4 ,the result was a mastery of       
thought and an  exactness and clearness 
and strength of speech that are more    

than an  offset for the difficulties he 
encountered2 and one can hardly fail  to
 see that this patient1 self-poised     
mental habit saved him from             
one-sidedness and kept the balance of   
his judgement and made him  the safer   
guide4 ,we see here the immense value of
 thorough mental  training4 ,he died in 
#ahgh4          ,,mozley    #ahac-ahgh  
,,the ,,reversal ,,of ,,human           
,,judgment#c      #c ,by permission of  
the publishers1 ,messrs4 ,longmans1     
,green  ,co4    ,many that are first    
shall be last2 and the last shall be    
first4--,matthew xix41 #cj4             
,perhaps there is hardly any person of  
reflection to whom the thought  has not 
occurred at times1 of the final judgment
 turning out to  be a great subversion  
of human estimates of men4 ,society     
forms  its opinions of men1 and places  
some on a high pinnacle2 they are       
favorites with it1 religious and moral  
favorites4 ,such judgments are  a       
necessary and proper part of the present

 state of things2 they  are so1 quite   
independently of the question whether   
they are true  or not2 it is proper that
 there should be this sort of expression
  of the voice of the day2 the world is 
not nothing1 because it is  transient2  
it must judge and speak upon such       
evidence as it has1  and is capable of  
seeing4 ,therefore those characters of  
men are by  all means to be respected by
 us1 as members of this world2 they     
have their place1 they are a part of the
 system4 ,but does the idea  strike us  
of some enormous subversion of human    
judgments in the next  world1 some vast 
rectification1 to realize which now1    
even if we  could1 would not be good for
 us8 ,such an idea would not be without 
support from some of those              
characteristic prophetic sayings of our 
,lord1 which1 like the slanting strokes 
of the sun's rays across  the clouds1   
throw forward a tract of mysterious     
light athwart the  darkness of the      
future4 ,such is that saying in which a 

shadow of the  ,eternal ,judgment seems 
to come over us--,many that are first   
shall  be last2 and the last shall be   
first4 ,it is impossible to read this   
saying without an understanding that it 
was intended to throw an  element of    
wholesome scepticism into the present   
estimate of human  character1 and to    
check the idolatry of the human heart   
which lifts  up its favorites with as   
much of self-complacency as of          
enthusiasm1  and in its worship of      
others flatters itself4    ,indeed1 this
 language of ,scripture1 which speaks of
 the subversion  of human judgments in  
another world1 comes in connection with 
another language with which it most     
remarkably fits in1 language  which     
speaks very decidedly of a great        
deception of human judgments  in this   
world4 ,it is observable that the gospel
 prophecy of the  earthly future of     
,christianity is hardly what we should  
have  expected it beforehand to be2     
there is a great absence of brightness  

in it2 the sky is overcast with clouds1 
and birds of evil omen fly  to and fro2 
there is an agitation of the air1 as if 
dark elements  were at work in it2 or it
 is as if a fog rose up before our eyes1
  and treacherous lights were moving to 
and fro in it1 which we could  not      
trust4 ,prophecy would fain presage     
auspiciously1 but as soon as  she casts 
her eye forward1 her note saddens1 and  
the chords issue  in melancholy and     
sinister cadences which depress the     
hearer's  mind4 ,and what is the burden 
of her strain8 ,it is this4 ,as soon as 
ever ,christianity is cast into the     
world to begin its history1 that  moment
 there begins a great deception4 ,it is 
a pervading thought  in gospel          
prophecy--the extraordinary capacity for
 deceiving and  being deceived that     
would arise under the gospel2 it is     
spoken of  as something peculiar in the 
world4 ,there are to be false ,christs  
and false prophets1 false signs and     
wonders2 many that will come in         

,christ's name1 saying1 ,i am ,christ1  
and deceive many2 so that it  is the    
parting admonition of ,christ to ,his   
disciples--,take heed1  lest any man    
deceive you--as if that would be the    
greater danger4  ,and this great        
quantity of deception was to culminate  
in that one  in whom all power of signs 
and lying wonders should reside1 even   
that ,antichrist1 who as ,god should sit
 in the temple of ,god1 showing  himself
 that he is ,god4 ,thus before the true 
,christ was known to the  world1 the    
prophecy of the false one was implanted 
deep in the heart  of ,christianity4    
,when we come to the explanation of this
 mass of deception as it  applies to the
 ,christian society1 and the conduct of 
,christians1  we find that it consists  
of a great growth of specious and showy 
effects1 which will in fact issue out of
 ,christianity1 not implying  sterling  
goodness4 ,christianity will act as a   
great excitement to  human nature1 it   
will communicate a great impulse1 it    

will move  and stir man's feelings and  
intellect2 this impulse will issue in  a
 great variety of high gifts and        
activities1 much zeal and ardor4  ,but  
this brilliant manifestation will be to 
a large extent lacking  in the substance
 of the ,christian character4 ,it will  
be a great  show4 ,that is to say1 there
 will be underneath it the deceitful    
human heart--the natura callida1 as     
,thomas  ,kempis calls it1  qu se semper
 pro fine habet4 ,we have even in the   
early ,christian  ,church that specious 
display of gifts which put aside as     
secondary  the more solid part of       
religion1 and which ,st4 ,paul had so   
strongly  to check4 ,gospel prophecy    
goes remarkably in this direction1 as to
  what ,christianity would do in the    
world2 that it would not only  bring out
 the truth of human nature1 but would1  
like some powerful  alchemy1 elicit and 
extract the falsehood of it2 that it    
would not  only develop what was sincere
 and sterling in man1 but what was      

counterfeit in him too4 ,not that       
,christianity favors falsehood1 any     
more than the law favored sin because it
 brought out sin4 ,the law1  as ,st4    
,paul says1 brought out sin because it  
was spiritual1 and  forced sin to be sin
 against light4 ,so in the case of      
,christianity4  ,if a very high1 pure1  
and heart-searching religion is brought 
into  contact with a corrupt nature1 the
 nature grasps at the greatness  of the 
religion1 but will not give up itself2  
yet to unite the two  requires a        
self-deception the more subtle and      
potent in proportion  to the purity of  
the religion4 ,and certainly1 comparing 
the  hypocrisy of the ,christian with   
that of the old world1 we see that  the 
one was a weak production in comparison 
with the other1 which is  indeed a very 
powerful creation2 throwing itself into 
feeling and  language with an           
astonishing freedom and elasticity1 and 
possessing  wonderful spring and        
largeness4    ,there is1 however1 one   

very remarkable utterance of our ,lord  
,himself  upon this subject1 which      
deserves special attention4 ,many will  
say  to me in that day1 ,lord1 ,lord1   
have we not prophesied in thy name1  and
 in thy name cast out devils1 and in thy
 name done many wonderful  works8 ,and  
then ,i will profess unto them1 ,i never
 knew you4 ,now  this is a very         
remarkable prophecy1 for one reason1    
that in the  very first start of        
,christianity1 upon the very threshold  
of its  entrance into the world1 it     
looks through its success and universal 
reception1 into an ulterior result of   
that victory--a counterfeit  profession 
of it4 ,it sees1 before the first       
nakedness of its birth  is over1 a      
prosperous and flourishing religion1    
which it is worth  while for others to  
pay homage to1 because it reflects      
credit on  its champions4 ,our ,lord    
anticipates the time when active zeal   
for  ,himself will be no guaranty4 ,and 
we may observe the difference  between  

,christ and human founders4 ,the latter 
are too glad of any  zeal in their      
favor1 to examine very strictly the tone
 and quality  of it4 ,they grasp at it  
at once2 not so our ,lord4 ,he does not 
want  it even for ,himself1 unless it is
 pure in the individual4 ,but  this     
statement of our ,lord's is principally 
important1 as being  a prophecy relating
 to the earthly future of ,christianity4
 ,it  places before us public religious 
leaders1 men of influence in the        
religious world1 who spread and push    
forward by gifts of eloquence  and      
powers of mind1 the truths of ,his      
religion1 whom yet ,he will  not accept1
 because of a secret corruptness in the 
aim and spirit  with which they did     
their work4 ,the prophecy puts forth    
before us  the fact of a great deal of  
work being done in the ,church1 and     
outwardly good zealous work1 upon the   
same motive in substance1 upon  which   
worldly men do their work in the world1 
and stamps it as the  activity of       

corrupt nature4 ,the rejection of this  
class of religious  workers is complete1
 altho they have been1 as the language  
itself  declares1 forward and active for
 spiritual objects1 and not only had    
them on their lips4    ,here then we    
have a remarkable subversion of human   
judgments in the  next world foretold by
 our ,lord ,himself2 for those men      
certainly  come forward with established
 religious characters to which they     
appeal2 they have no doubt of their     
position in ,god's kingdom1 and  they   
speak with the air of men whose claims  
have been acquiesced  in by others1 and 
by numbers4 ,and thus a false ,christian
 growth is  looked to in gospel         
prophecy1 which will be able to meet    
even the  religious tests of the current
 day1 and sustain its pretensions1 but  
which will not satisfy the tests of the 
last day4    ,we are then perhaps at    
first surprized at the sternness of     
their  sentence1 and are ready to say   
with the trembling disciple1 ,who  then 

shall be saved8 ,but when we reflect    
upon it1 we shall see  that it is not   
more than what meets the case2 i4 e41   
that we know  of sources of error in the
 estimate of human character which will 
account for great mistakes being made2  
which mistakes will have to  be         
rectified4    ,one source of mistakes   
then is1 that while the gospel keeps to 
one  point of its classification of     
men1--viz41 the motive1 by which  alone 
it decides their character1 the mass of 
men in fact find it  difficult to do so4
 ,they have not that firm hold of the   
moral idea  which prevents them from    
wandering from it1 and being diverted by
  irrelevant considerations1 they think 
of the spirituality of a  man as        
belonging to the department to which he 
is attached1 the  profession he makes1  
the subject matter he works upon1 the   
habitual  language he has to use4 ,the  
sphere of these men1 of whom the        
estimate was to be finally reversed1 was
 a religious one1--viz41 the  ,church1  

and this was a remarkable prop to them4 
,now1 with respect  to this1 it must be 
observed that the ,church is undoubtedly
 in its  design a spiritual society1 but
 it is also a society of this world  as 
well2 and it depends upon the inward    
motive of a man whether it  is to him a 
spiritual society or a worldly one4 ,the
 ,church1 as soon  as ever it is        
embodied in a visible collection or     
society of men1  who bring into it human
 nature1 with human influences1 regards1
  points of view1 estimates1 aims1 and  
objects--,i say the ,church1  from the  
moment it thus embodies itself in a     
human society1 is  the world4           
,individual souls in it convert into    
reality the high  profest principles of 
the body1 but the active stock of       
motives in  it are the motives of human 
nature4 ,can the visible ,church indeed 
afford to do without these motives8 ,of 
course it cannot4 ,it must  do its work 
by means of these to a great extent1    
just as the world  does its work4       

,religion itself is beautiful and       
heavenly1 but the  machinery for it is  
very like the machinery for anything    
else4 ,i  speak of the apparatus for    
conducting and administering the visible
  system of it4 ,is not the machinery   
for all causes and objects  much the    
same1 communication with others1        
management1 contrivance1  combination1  
adaptation of means to end8 ,religion   
then is itself a  painful struggle1 but 
religious machinery provides as pleasant
 a  form of activity as any other       
machinery possesses2 and it counts  for 
and exercises much the same kind of     
talents and gifts that  the machinery of
 any other department does1 that of a   
government  office1 or a public         
institution1 or a large business4 ,the  
,church1  as a part of the work1 must   
have active-minded persons to conduct   
its policy and affairs2 which persons   
must1 by their very situation1  connect 
themselves with spiritual subjects1 as  
being the subjects  of the society2 they

 must express spiritual joys1 hopes1 and
  fears1 apprehensions1 troubles1       
trials1 aims1 and wishes4 ,these  are   
topics which belong to the ,church as a 
department4 ,a religious  society1 then1
 or religious sphere of action1 or      
religious sphere  of subjects1 is       
irrelevant as regards the spirituality  
of the  individual person1 which is a   
matter of inward motive4    ,one would  
not of course exclude from the sphere of
 religion the  motive of esprit de      
corps3 it is undoubtedly a great        
stimulus1 and  in its measure is        
consistent with all simplicity and      
singleness of  heart2 but in an intense 
form1 when the individual is absorbed in
  a blind obedience to a body1 it       
corrupts the quality of religion2  it   
ensnares the man in a kind of           
self-interest2 and he sees in  the      
success of the body the reflection of   
himself4 ,it becomes an  egotistic      
motive4 ,there has been certainly an    
immense produce from  it2 but the type  

of religion it has produced is a        
deflection from  simplicity2 it may     
possess striking and powerful qualities1
 but  it is not like the free religion  
of the heart2 and there is that         
difference between the two1 which there 
is between what comes from  a           
second-hand source and from the fountain
 head4 ,it has not that  naturalness 7in
 the highest sense7 which alone gives   
beauty to  religion4    ,again1 those   
who feel that they have a mission may   
convert it into a  snare to themselves4 
,doubtless1 if1 according to ,st4 ,paul1
 he who  desireth the office of a bishop
 desireth a good work1 so one who  has a
 mission to do some particular work has 
a good office given  him4 ,still1 where 
life is too prominently regarded in this
 light1  the view of life as a mission  
tends to supersede the view of it as    
trial and probation4 ,the mission       
becomes the final cause of life4  ,the  
generality may be born to do their duty 
in that station of life  in which it has

 pleased ,god to call them2 but in their
 own case the  mission overtops and puts
 into the shade the general purpose of  
life as probation2 the generality are   
sent into the world for their  own moral
 benefit1 but they are rather sent into 
the world for the  benefit of that world
 itself4 ,the outward object with its   
display  and machinery is apt to reduce 
to a kind of insignificance the  inward 
individual end of life4 ,it appears     
small and commonplace4 ,the  success of 
their own individual probation is       
assumed in embarking  upon the larger   
work1 as the less is included in the    
greater2 it  figures as a preliminary in
 their eyes1 which may be taken for     
granted2 it appears an easy thing to    
them to save their own souls1 a  thing1 
so to speak1 for anybody to do4    ,what
 has been dwelt upon hitherto as a      
source of false magnifying  and         
exaltation of human character1 has been 
the invisibility of  men's motives4 ,but
 let us take another source of mistake  

in human  judgment4    ,nothing is      
easier1 when we take gifts of the       
intellect and  imagination in the       
abstract1 than to see that these do not 
constitute moral goodness4 ,this is     
indeed a mere truism2 and yet1  in the  
concrete1 it is impossible not to see   
how nearly they border  upon counting as
 such2 to what advantage they set off   
any moral  good there may be in a man2  
sometimes even supplying the absence of 
real good with what looks extremely like
 it4 ,on paper these mental  gifts are a
 mere string of terms2 we see exactly   
what these terms  denote1 and we cannot 
mistake it for something else4 ,it is   
plain  that eloquence1 imagination1     
poetical talent1 are no more moral      
goodness than riches are1 or than health
 and strength are1 or than  noble birth 
is4 ,we know that bad men have possest  
them just as much  as good men4         
,nevertheless1 take them in actual life1
 in the actual  effect and impression   
they make1 as they express a man's best 

moods  and highest perceptions and      
feelings1 and what a wonderful likeness 
and image of what is moral do they      
produce4 ,think of the effect of        
refined power of expression1 of a keen  
and vivid imagination as  applied to the
 illustration and enrichment of moral   
subjects1--to  bringing out1 e4 g41 with
 the whole force of intellectual        
sympathy1  the delicate and high regions
 of character1--does not one who can  do
 this seem to have all the goodness     
which he expresses8 ,and it is  quite   
possible he may have2 but this does not 
prove it4 ,there is  nothing more in    
this than the faculty of imagination and
 intelligent  appreciation of moral     
things4 ,there enters thus unavoidably  
often  into a great religious reputation
 a good deal which is not religion1  but
 power4    ,let us take the character   
which ,st4 ,paul draws4 ,it is difficult
 to  believe that one who had the tongue
 of men and of angels would not  be able
 to persuade the world that he himself  

was extraordinarily  good4 ,rather it is
 part of the fascination of the gift1   
that the  grace of it is reflected in   
the possessor4 ,but ,st4 ,paul gives    
him1  besides thrilling speech which    
masters men's spirits and carries  them 
away1 those profound depths of          
imagination which still and  solemnize  
them2 which lead them to the edge of the
 unseen world1  and excite the sense of 
the awful and supernatural2 he has the  
understanding of all mysteries4 ,and    
again1 knowledge unfolds all its  stores
 to him with which to illustrate and    
enrich spiritual truths4  ,let one then1
 so wonderful in mental gifts1 combine  
them with the  utmost fervor1 with      
boundless faith1 before which everything
 gives  way2 boundless zeal1 ready to   
make even splendid sacrifices2 has      
there been any age in which such a man  
would have been set down as  sounding   
and empty8 ,st4 ,paul could see that    
such a man might yet be  without the    
true substance--goodness2 and that all  

his gifts could  not guarantee it to    
him2 but to the mass his own eloquence  
would  interpret him1 the gifts would   
carry the day1 and the brilliant        
partial virtues would disguise the      
absence of the general grace of  love4  
,gifts of intellect and imagination1    
poetical power1 and the like1  are      
indeed in themselves a department of    
worldly prosperity4 ,it  is a very      
narrow view of prosperity that it       
consists only in  having property2 a    
certain kind of gifts are just as much  
worldly  prosperity as riches2 nor are  
they less so if they belong to a        
religious man1 any more than riches are 
less prosperity because  a religious man
 is rich4 ,we call these gifts worldly  
prosperity1  because they are in        
themselves a great advantage1 and create
  success1 influence1 credit1 and all   
which man so much values2 and  at the   
same time they are not moral goodness1  
because the most  corrupt men may have  
them4    ,but even the gifts of outward 

fortune themselves have much of the     
effect of gifts of mind in having the   
semblance of something moral4  ,they set
 off what goodness a man has to such    
immense advantage1  and heighten the    
effect of it4 ,take some well-disposed  
person1  and suppose him suddenly to be 
left an enormous fortune1 he would  feel
 himself immediately so much better a   
man4 ,he would seem to  himself to      
become suddenly endowed with a new      
large-heartedness and  benevolence4 ,he 
would picture himself the generous      
patron1 the large  dispenser of charity1
 the promoter of all good in the world4 
,the  power to become such would look   
like a new disposition4 ,and in the     
eyes of the others1 too1 his goodness   
would appear to have taken a  fresh     
start4 ,even serious piety is recognized
 more as such2 it is  brought out and   
placed in high relief1 when connected   
with outward  advantages2 and so the    
gifts of fortune become a kind of moral 
addition to a man4    ,action1 then1 on 

a large scale1 and the overpowering     
effect of  great gifts1 are what        
produce1 in a great degree1 what we call
  the canonization of men--the popular  
judgment which sets them up  morally and
 spiritually upon the pinnacle of the   
temple1 and which  professes to be a    
forestalment1 through the mouth of the  
,church  or of religious society1 of the
 final judgment4 ,how decisive is  the  
world's1 and1 not less confident1 the   
visible ,church's note of  praise4 ,it  
is just that trumpet note which does not
 bear a doubt4  ,how it is trusted6     
,with what certainty it speaks6 ,how    
large a part  of the world's and        
,church's voice is praise6 ,it is an    
immense and  ceaseless volume of        
utterance4 ,and by all means let man    
praise  man1 and not do it grudgingly   
either2 let there be an echo of that    
vast action which goes on in the world1 
provided we only speak of  what we know4
 ,but if we begin to speak of what we do
 not know1  and which only a higher     

judgment can decide1 we are going beyond
  our province4 ,on this question we are
 like men who are deciding  irreversibly
 on some matter in which everything     
depends upon one  element in the case1  
which element they cannot get at4 ,we   
appear  to know a great deal of one     
another1 and yet1 if we reflect1 what  a
 vast system of secrecy the moral world 
is4 ,how low down in a man  sometimes   
7not always7 lies the fundamental motive
 which sways his  life8 ,but this is    
what everything depends on4 ,is it an   
unspiritual  motive8 ,is there some keen
 passion connected with this world at   
the bottom8 ,then it corrupts the whole 
body of action4 ,there is a  good deal  
of prominent religion then1 which keeps 
up its character1  even when this motive
 betrays itself2 great gifts fortify it1
 and  people do not see because they    
will not4 ,but at any rate there is a   
vast quantity of religious position     
which has this one great point          
undecided beneath it2 and we know of    

tremendous dangers to which it  is      
exposed4 ,action upon a theater may     
doubtless be as simple-minded  action as
 any other2 it has often been2 it has   
been often even  childlike action2 the  
apostles acted on a theater2 they were a
  spectacle to men and to angels4       
,still1 what dangers in a spiritual     
point of view does it ordinarily        
include--dangers to simplicity1  inward 
probity1 sincerity6 ,how does action on 
this scale and of  this kind seem1      
notwithstanding its religious object1 to
 pass over  people1 not touching one of 
their faults1 leaving--more than their  
infirmities--the dark veins of evil in  
their character as fixed  as ever4 ,how 
will persons sacrifice themselves to    
their objects8  ,they would benefit the 
world1 it would appear1 at their own    
moral  expense2 but this is a kind of   
generosity which is perilous policy  for
 the soul1 and is indeed the very mint  
in which the great mass of  false       
spiritual coinage is made4    ,on the   

other hand1 while the open theater of   
spiritual power and  energy is so       
accessible to corrupt motives1 which1   
tho undermining  its truthfulness1 leave
 standing all the brilliance of the     
outer  manifestation2 let it be         
considered what a strength and power of 
goodness may be accumulating in unseen  
quarters4 ,the way in which  man bears  
temptation is what decides his          
character2 yet how secret  is the system
 of temptation8 ,who knows what is going
 on8 ,what the  real ordeal has been8   
,what its issue was8 ,so with respect to
 the  trial of griefs and sorrows1 the  
world is again a system of secrecy4     
,there is something particularly        
penetrating1 and which strikes home1  in
 those disappointments which are        
especially not extraordinary1 and  make 
no show4 ,what comes naturally and as a 
part of our situation  has a probing    
force grander strokes have not2 there is
 a solemnity  and stateliness in these1 
but the blow which is nearest to common 

life gets the stronger hold4 ,is there  
any particular event which  seems to    
have1 if we may say so1 a kind of malice
 in it which  provokes the ,manichean   
feeling in our nature1 it is something  
which  we should have a difficulty in   
making appear to any one else any       
special trial4 ,compared with this inner
 grasp of some stroke of  providence1   
voluntary sacrifice stands outside of   
us4 ,after all1 the  self-made trial is 
a poor disciplinarian weapon2 there is a
 subtle  masterly irritant and provoking
 point in the genuine natural trial1    
and in the natural crossness of events1 
which the artificial thing  cannot      
manage2 we can no more make our trials  
than we can make our  feelings4 ,in this
 way moderate deprivations are in some  
cases more  difficult to bear than      
extreme ones4 ,i can bear total         
obscurity1  says ,pascal1 well enough2  
what disgusts me is semi-obscurity2 ,i  
can make an idol of the whole1 but no   
great merit of the half4 ,and  so it is 

often the case that what we must do as  
simply right1 and  which would not      
strike even ourselves1 and still less   
anybody else1  is just the hardest thing
 to do4 ,a work of supererogation would 
be  much easier4 ,all this points in the
 direction of great work going  on under
 common outsides where it is not        
noticed2 it hints at a  secret sphere of
 growth and progress2 and as such it is 
an augury  and presage of a harvest     
which may come some day suddenly to     
light1  which human judgments had not   
counted on4    ,it is upon such a train 
of thought as this which has been       
passing  through our minds that we raise
 ourselves to the reception of that     
solemn sentence which ,scripture has    
inscribed on the curtain which  hangs   
down before the judgment-seat--,the     
first shall be last1 and  the last shall
 be first4 ,the secrets of the tribunal 
are guarded1  and yet a finger points   
which seems to say--,beyond1 in this    
direction1 behind this veil1 things are 

different from what you will  have      
looked for4    ,suppose1 e4 g41 any     
supernatural judge should appear in the 
world  now1 and it is evident that the  
scene he would create would be one  to  
startle us2 we should not soon be used  
to it2 it would look  strange2 it would 
shock and appal2 and that from no other 
cause  than simply its reductions2 that 
it presented characters stripped  bare1 
denuded of what was irrelevant to       
goodness1 and only with  their moral    
substance left4 ,the judge would take no
 cognizance of a  rich imagination1     
power of language1 poetical gifts and   
the like1  in themselves1 as parts of   
goodness1 any more than he would of     
riches and prosperity2 and the moral    
residuum would appear perhaps  a bare   
result4 ,the first look of divine       
justice would strike us  as injustice2  
it would be too pure a justice for us2  
we should  be long in reconciling       
ourselves to it4 ,justice would appear1 
like the painter's gaunt skeleton of    

emblematic meaning1 to be  stalking     
through the world1 smiting with         
attenuation luxuriating  forms of       
virtue4 ,forms1 changed from what we    
knew1 would meet  us1 strange           
unaccustomed forms1 and we should have  
to ask them  who they are--,you were    
flourishing but a short while ago1 what 
has happened to you now8 ,and the       
answer1 if it spoke the truth1  would   
be--,nothing1 except that now1 much     
which lately counted as  goodness1      
counts as such no longer2 we are tried  
by a new moral  measure1 out of which we
 issue different men2 gifts which have  
figured as goodness remain as gifts1 but
 cease to be goodness4 ,thus  would the 
large sweep made of human canonizations 
act like blight or  volcanic fire upon  
some rich landscape1 converting the     
luxury of  nature into a dried-up scene 
of bare stems and scorched vegetation4  
,so may the scrutiny of the last day1 by
 discovering the irrelevant  material in
 men's goodness1 reduce to a shadow much

 exalted earthly  character4 ,men are   
made up of professions1 gifts1 and      
talents1  and also of themselves1 but   
all so mixed together that we cannot    
separate one element from another2 but  
another day must show what  the moral   
substance is1 and what is only the      
brightness and setting  off of gifts4   
,on the other hand1 the same day may    
show where1 tho  the setting off of     
gifts is less1 the substance is more4   
,if there  will be reversal of human    
judgment for evil1 there will be        
reversal  of it for good too4 ,the solid
 work which has gone on in secret1      
under common exteriors1 will then spring
 into light1 and come out  in a glorious
 aspect4 ,do we not meet with surprizes 
of this kind  here1 which look like     
auguries of a greater surprize in the   
next  world1 a surprize on a vast scale4
 ,those who have lived under an         
exterior of rule1 when they come to a   
trying moment sometimes  disappoint us2 
they are not equal to the act required  

from them2  because their forms of duty1
 whatever they are1 have not touched  in
 reality their deeper fault of          
character1 meanness1 or jealousy1  or   
the like1 but have left them where they 
were2 they have gone  on thinking       
themselves good because they did        
particular things1  and used certain    
language1 and adopted certain ways of   
thought1  and have been utterly         
unconscious all the time of a corroding 
sin  within them4 ,on the other hand1   
some one who did not promise much1      
comes out at a moment of trial          
strikingly and favorably4 ,this is  a   
surprize1 then1 which sometimes happens1
 nay1 and sometimes a  greater surprize 
still1 when out of the eater comes forth
 meat1 and  out of a state of sin there 
springs the soul of virtue4 ,the act of 
the thief on the cross is a surprize4   
,up to the time when he was  judged he  
was a thief1 and from a thief he became 
a saint4 ,for even  in the dark         
labyrinth of evil there are unexpected  

outlets2 sin is  established by the     
habit in the man1 but the good principle
 which  is in him also1 but kept down   
and supprest1 may be secretly growing   
too2 it may be undermining it1 and      
extracting the life and force  from it4 
,in this man1 then1 sin becomes more and
 more1 tho holding  its place by custom1
 an outside and a coating1 just as      
virtue does  in the deteriorating man1  
till at last1 by a sudden effort and the
  inspiration of an opportunity1 the    
strong good casts off the weak  crust of
 evil and comes out free4 ,we witness a 
conversion4    ,but this is a large and 
mysterious subject--the foundation for  
high  virtue to become apparent in a    
future world1 which hardly rises up     
above the ground here4 ,we cannot think 
of the enormous trial which  is         
undergone in this world by vast masses  
without the thought  also of some       
sublime fruit to come of it some day4   
,true1 it may  not emerge from the      
struggle of bare endurance here1 but has

 not  the seed been sown8 ,think of the 
burden of toil and sorrow borne  by the 
crowds of poor3 we know that pain does  
not of itself make  people good2 but    
what we observe is1 that even in those  
in whom  the trial seems to do          
something1 it yet seems such a failure4 
,what  inconstancy1 violence1 untruths6 
,the pathos in it all moves you4  ,what 
a tempest of character it is6 ,and yet  
when such trial has been  passed we     
involuntarily say--has not a foundation 
been laid8 ,and so  in the life of a    
soldier1 what agonies must nature pass  
through in  it6 ,while the present      
result of such a trial is so            
disappointing1  so little seems to come 
of it6 ,yet we cannot think of what has 
been  gone through by countless         
multitudes in war1 of the dreadful altar
  of sacrifice1 and the lingering       
victims1 without the involuntary  idea  
arising that in some1 even of the       
irregular and undisciplined1  the       
foundation of some great purification   

has been laid4 ,we hear  sometimes of   
single remarkable acts of virtue1 which 
spring from  minds in which there is not
 the habit of virtue4 ,such acts point  
to  a foundation1 a root of virtue in   
man1 deeper than habit2 they are  sudden
 leaps which show an unseen spring1     
which are able to compress  in a moment 
the growth of years4    ,to conclude4   
,the gospel language throws doubt upon  
the final  stability of much that passes
 current here with respect to           
character1 upon established judgments1  
and the elevations of the  outward      
sanctuary4 ,it lays down a wholesome    
scepticism4 ,we do not  do justice to   
the spirit of the gospel by making it   
enthusiastic  simply1 or even benevolent
 simply4 ,it is sagacious1 too4 ,it is a
  book of judgment4 ,man is judged in   
it4 ,our ,lord is ,judge4 ,we cannot    
separate our ,lord's divinity from ,his 
humanity2 and yet we must be  blind if  
we do not see a great judicial side of  
our ,lord's human  character2--that     

severe type of understanding1 in        
relation to the  worldly man1 which has 
had its imperfect representation in     
great  human minds4 ,he was unspeakably 
benevolent1 kind1 compassionate2  true1 
but ,he was a ,judge4 ,it was indeed of 
,his very completeness  as man that ,he 
should know man2 and to know is to      
judge4 ,he must  be blind who1 in the   
significant acts and sayings of our     
,lord as  they unroll themselves in the 
pregnant page of the gospel1 does  not  
thus read ,his character2 he sees it in 
that insight into  pretensions1 exposure
 of motives1 laying bare of disguises2  
in the  sayings--,believe it not2 ,take 
heed that no man deceive you2  ,behold1 
,i have told you2 in all that           
profoundness of reflection  in regard to
 man1 which great observing minds among 
mankind have  shown1 tho accompanied by 
much of frailty1 anger1 impatience1 or  
melancholy4 ,his human character is not 
benevolence only2 there  is in it wise  
distrust--that moral sagacity which     

belongs to the  perfection of man4      
,now then1 as has been said1 this       
scepticism with regard to human         
character has had1 as a line of thought1
 certain well-known  representatives in 
great minds1 who have discovered a root 
of  selfishness in men's actions1 have  
probed motives1 extracted aims1  and    
placed man before himself denuded and   
exposed2 they judged  him1 and in the   
frigid sententiousness or the wild force
 of their  utterances1 we hear that of  
which we cannot but say1 how true6 ,but 
knowledge is a goad to those who have   
it2 a disturbing power2 a  keenness     
which distorts2 and in the sight it     
gives it partly blinds  also4 ,the fault
 of these minds was that in exposing    
evil they did  not really believe in    
goodness2 goodness was to them but an   
airy  ideal1 the dispirited echo of     
perplexed hearts1--returned to them     
from the rocks of the desert1 without   
bearing hope with it4 ,they  had no     
genuine belief in any world which was   

different from theirs2  they availed    
themselves of an ideal indeed to judge  
this world1 and  they could not have    
judged it without2 for anything1        
whatever it  is1 is good1 if we have no 
idea of anything better2 and therefore  
the conception of a good world was      
necessary to judge the bad  one4 ,but   
the ideal held loose to their minds--not
 anything to be  substantiated1 not as a
 type in which a real world was to be   
cast1  not as anything of structural    
power1 able to gather into it1 form     
round it1 and build up upon itself2 not1
 in short1 as anything of  power at all1
 able to make anything1 or do anything1 
but only like  some fragrant scent in   
the air1 which comes and goes1 loses    
itself1  returns again in faint breaths1
 and rises and falls in imperceptive    
waves4 ,such was goodness to these      
minds2 it was a dream4 ,but the  gospel 
distrust is not disbelief in goodness4  
,it raises a great  suspense1 indeed1 it
 shows a curtain not yet drawn up1 it   

checks  weak enthusiasm1 it appends a   
warning note to the pomp and flattery   
of human judgments1 to the erection of  
idols2 and points to a day of  great    
reversal2 a day of the ,lord of ,hosts2 
the day of pulling down  and plucking   
up1 of planting and building4 ,but1     
together with the  law of sin1 the root 
of evil in the world1 and the false     
goodness in  it1 it announces a fount of
 true natures2 it tells us of a breath  
of  ,heaven of which we know not whence 
it cometh and whither it goeth2  which  
inspires single individual hearts1 that 
spring up here and  there1 and          
everywhere1 like broken gleams of the   
supreme goodness4  ,and it recognizes in
 the renewed heart of man an instinct   
which  can discern true goodness and    
distinguish it from false2 a secret     
discrimination in the good by which they
 know the good4 ,it does not  therefore 
stand in the way of that natural and    
quiet reliance which  we are designed by
 ,god to have in one another1 and that  

trust in  those whose hearts we know4   
,wisdom is justified of her children2   
,my sheep hear my voice1 but a stranger 
will they not follow1 for  they know not
 the voice of strangers4                
,illustration3 ad page #a      ,from the
 ,pen of    ,,alphonso ,a4 ,,hopkins1   
,ph4,d41    ,professor of ,political    
,economy and ,prohibition in the        
,american  ,temperance ,university4     
,wealth and ,waste         ,the         
,principles of ,political ,economy ,in  
their ,application to the       ,present
 ,problems of ,labor1 ,law1 and the     
,liquor ,traffic4         ,in a broad1  
philosophic1 and patriotic spirit the   
author seeks       to apply1 in this    
volume1 the accepted principles of      
,political       ,economy1 as to        
,production and ,wealth1 ,consumption   
and ,waste4         ,a book which       
contains very much of great             
value4--,herald and       ,presbyter1   
,cincinnati4         ,the argument is   
impressive1 and well buttressed with    

statistics       and apt                
citations4--,the ,watchman1 ,boston4    
,dr4 ,hopkins contributes to the        
literature of political       economy a 
volume worth the attention of students  
and       thinkers4--,christian ,herald4
         ,dr4 ,hopkins brings thorough  
preparation to this work on the         
particular line of reform in which he   
has labored4--,christian                
,observer1 ,louisville4                 
,unquestionably the ablest book upon    
,political ,economy in its       various
 relations which has been put upon the  
market4--,herald       of the ,coming   
,one1 ,boston4         ,dr4 ,a4 ,a4     
,hopkins's ',wealth and ,waste' will    
prove itself       one of the most      
effective contributions to the          
literature of       reform4--,western   
,christian ,advocate4         ,it is a  
book both for scholars and students and 
plain laboring       men1 with clear1   
concise definitions and practical       
illustrations       for all these       

classes4--,the ,religious ,herald1      
,hartford1 ,conn4         ,unique1      
fascinating1 and suggestive4444 ,no one 
assuming the       attitude of a        
reformer can fail of being quickened in 
his great       work by an earnest      
review of the book4--,baltimore         
,methodist4         ,the incisive mind  
and rare culture of ,professor ,hopkins 
have       never been more signally set 
forth than in his new book entitled     
',wealth and ,waste4' ,it comes as a    
much needed reinforcement       to the  
literature of the temperance            
propaganda4--,frances ,e4               
,willard4    #abmo1 ,cloth1 #bhf        
pp4----,price1 #a4jj4    ,,funk         
,,wagnalls ,,company1 ,publishers1      
,,new ,,york and ,,london               
,illustration3 ad page #b    ,ranks     
,next to a ,concordance4--,,spurgeon4   
,biblical ,lights and ,side ,lights     
,a cyclopedia of ten thousand           
illustrations and thirty thousand       
cross-references1 consisting of fact1   

incident1 and remarkable  declarations  
taken from the ,bible2 for the use of   
those in every  profession who1 for     
illustrative purpose1 desire ready      
access to the  numerous incidents and   
striking statements contained in the    
,bible1  students1 teachers1 public     
speakers1 lawyers1 ministers1 and       
others1  as also for the family library4
 ,prepared by ,rev4 ,charles ,e4 ,little
  7author of ,historical ,lights1 etc474
    ,royal #hvo1 #fbj pp4 ,price1       
,cloth1 #d4jj2 ,library ,sheep1 #e4ej4  
',biblical ,lights and ,side ,lights' is
 a specially useful       book4444 ,it  
ranks next to a concordance4444 ,mr4    
,little's work is       a great         
success4--,rev4 ,c4 ,h4 ,spurgeon4      
,we have never seen a work on ,bible    
reference so thoroughly                 
systematized4444 ,admirably arranged4444
 ,topics are taken from       the       
demands of religion1 philosophy1        
science1 art1 social life1       and    
politics4444 ,has great value for       

educated persons in every               
calling4--,national ,baptist1 ,phila4   
',biblical ,lights' may be welcomed to a
 place among the very       useful books
 which few can afford to put            
aside4--,presbyterian       ,review4    
,will unquestionably prove a mine of    
information and of                      
illustration4--,observer1 ,n4 ,y4       
,a work of great solidity and           
merit4--,lutheran ,church ,review1      
,philadelphia4    ,,funk  ,,wagnalls    
,,company1  ,,new ,,york and ,,london   
,illustration3 ad page #c         ,the  
,outlook 7,edited by ,lyman ,abbott41   
,d4,d41 successor       to ,henry ,ward 
,beecher as pastor of ,plymouth ,church1
 ,brooklyn1       ,new ,york73 ,it is   
with the aspect of ,mr4 ,beecher as a   
reformer1       rather than as a        
theologian1 author1 or preacher1 that   
,mr4       ,barrows deals4444 ,it gives 
the story of ,mr4 ,beecher's life in    
less space and in handier form than any 
other volume with which       we are    

acquainted4      ,henry ,ward ,beecher  
,,the ,,shakespeare ,,of ,,the ,,pulpit 
,by ,,john ,,henry ,,barrows4    #abmo1 
,cloth2 #eeg pp42 ,with ,portrait4      
,price1 #a4ej4 ,post-free4    ,the      
certified points of merits of this work 
conclusively place it  foremost as the  
standard popular biography of ,henry    
,ward ,beecher4         ,altogether it  
is a valued contribution to ,beecher    
literature4--,new ,york ,herald4        
,it will give to many a far better and  
truer conception       of ,mr4 ,beecher 
than they before possessed4--,christian 
,inquirer1 ,new ,york4         ,all in  
all it is the best summing up of the    
life and       character of this great  
preacher and orator that ,i have ever   
read4--,hon4 ,nelson ,dingley1          
,washington1 ,d4 ,c4         ,i am      
especially pleased with the chapters    
relating to       the famous trial4 ,the
 subject is handled very delicately1 and
       at the same time thoroughly      
vindicates the pastor of ,plymouth      

,church from all intentional wrong      
doing4--,francis ,m4 ,clark1            
,d4,d41 ,pres4 ,soc4 of ,christian      
,endeavor1 ,boston4    ,,funk           
,,wagnalls ,,company1 ,publishers1      
,,new ,,york and ,,london               
,illustration3 ad page #d         ,a    
well written biography4--,new ,york     
,sun4         ,lucid and                
sympathetic4--,new ,york ,tribune4      
,william ,e4 ,dodge    ,,the ,,christian
 ,,merchant    ,by ,,carlos ,,martyn    
#abmo1 ,cloth2 #cdi pp42 ,with          
,portrait4 ,price1 #a4ej4 ,post-free4   
,this biography of one of ,new ,york's  
most successful merchants1 whose  public
 acts gave him a national reputation1 is
 largely interspersed  with the history 
of events happening in the stirring     
times of his  greatest activity4        
,such books as these are of incalculable
 value to the       young1 and an       
inspiration to all who are seeking to do
 good as       well as get gain in this 
world4--,the ,gospel ,banner1           

,augusta1 ,me4         ,the ,editor has 
handled his subject in so able a manner 
that the reader is entranced1 and is    
carried on and on until       with a    
sigh of regret the book is laid         
down4--,the ,chicago       ,herald4     
,many of the passages are taken from the
 lectures and       speeches delivered  
by him in his lifetime which give a     
vivid       impression of the home1     
business1 and public life of the great  
merchant and philanthropist4--,the      
,plaindealer1       ,cleveland1 ,ohio4  
,,funk  ,,wagnalls ,,company1           
,publishers1  ,,new ,,york and ,,london 
,illustration3 ad page #e         ,the  
,commercial ,gazette1 ,cincinnati1 says3
 ,this volume       contains            
considerable matter never before        
published1 is full of       fascinating 
reading1 and is of inestimable historic 
value4      ,john ,brown ,and ,his ,men 
,,with ,,some ,,account ,,of ,,the      
,,roads ,,they ,,traveled ,,to ,,reach  
,,harper',s ,,ferry4    ,by ,,col4      

,,richard ,j4 ,,hinton1    ,a           
,contemporary of ,john ,brown4    #abmo1
 ,cloth2 #geb pp42 #bb ,portraits4      
,price1  #a4ej4 ,post-free4    ,in an   
,appendix are given the principal and   
more important documents  prepared by   
,john ,brown1 or relating directly to   
the enterprises  against ,american      
slavery in which he was actively        
engaged2 also a  copious ,index to the  
volume4    ,,extracts ,,from ,a ,,couple
 ,,of ,,letters4      ,,anacostia1 ,d4  
,c41 ,,cedar ,,hill1 ,feb4 #aa1 #ahie4  
,,my ,,dear ,,colonel ,,hinton3         
,your ,history of the raid upon         
,harper's ,ferry1 by ,john ,brown       
and his men1 leaves nothing in that line
 to be desired4444 ,you       were in   
the center of the circle1 and hence have
 had an inside       view of the whole  
transaction4 ,you have done for ,john   
,brown and       his men1 and for the   
truth of history1 a magnificent service4
       ,frederick ,douglass4            
99       99       99       99       99  

,feb4 #ad1 #ahie4         ,,my ,,dear   
,,colonel ,,hinton3         ,your work  
on ',john ,brown and ,his ,men' is most 
strongly and       vividly done4 ,in    
fact1 wherever ,i open the book1 ,i find
 it alive       with the undying        
interest of the greatest hour of our    
history4       ,perhaps mankind must yet
 make another struggle2 but so far      
,brown       remains the hero of the    
supreme endeavor for freedom1 and this  
is what you make your readers feel1     
without weakening any fact              
concerning him4         ,william ,dean  
,howells4    ,,funk  ,,wagnalls         
,,company1 ,publishers1  ,,new ,,york   
and ,,london      ,illustration3 ad page
 #f    ,who ,wrote the ,hymns we ,love  
so ,well8    ,,consult    ,,english     
,,hymns2    ,,their    ,,authors and    
,,history    ,by ,,rev4 ,,samuel ,w4    
,,duffield4    #hvo1 #fge pp41 ,cloth1  
,price1 #c4jj1 ,postpaid4    ,it cites  
in alphabetical order the first lines of
 over #a1ejj  hymns4 ,under each is     

given a brief biographical sketch of the
  author1 circumstances attending its   
composition1 and incidents in           
connection with its use4 ,exhaustive    
indexes to authors1 to first  lines1 and
 to topics1 are appended4 ,to ,leaders  
of ,praise-meetings1  ,sunday-school    
,teachers1 ,parents1 ,pastors1 and the  
general  hymn-loving public1 it will be 
found invaluable4 ,the selection of     
hymns has been made with great care1 and
 only well-authenticated  incidents are 
given4 ,american as well as ,english    
hymnology has been  drawn upon4 ,honey  
has been gathered from the choicest     
flowers of the  garden4                 
,,representative ,,opinions4         ,it
 pleases me altogether4 ,it is full of  
information1 ranging       from positive
 erudition down to racy                 
anecdote4--,charles ,s4       ,robinson1
 ,d4,d4         ,this is by far the most
 complete1 accurate1 and thorough work  
of its kind on either side of the       
,atlantic4--,theodore ,l4       ,cuyler1

 ,d4,d4         ,bears evidence of      
immense research and years of labor4444 
,the       full and admirable sketch of 
the author of ',lead1 ,kindly ,light1'  
is worth the cost of the book4--,hon4   
,edwards ,pierrepont4         ,a noble  
volume2 a monument to the author's tact1
 learning1 and       faithful           
industry4--,e4 ,c4 ,stedman4    ,,funk  
,,wagnalls ,,company1  ,,new ,,york and 
,,london      ,illustration3 ad page #g 
,should reach its hundred-thousandth    
edition4--,chicago       ,journal4      
,ethics of ,marriage    ,a ,most        
,valuable ,book    ,by ,h4 ,s4 ,pomeroy1
 ,m4,d4 ,prefatory note by ,thos4 ,addis
 ,emmet1 ,m4,s41  ,,ll4,d41 and         
introduction by ,rev4 ,j4 ,t4 ,duryea1  
,d4,d41 ,boston4 ,with  an ,appendix    
showing the laws of most of the ,states 
and ,territories  regarding certain     
forms of crime4    #abmo1 ,cloth1 #aig  
pp41 ,price1 #a4jj1    ,,postage ,,free4
         ,to the earnest man and woman  
everywhere1 who has watched the         

reckless manner in which marriages are  
contracted1 the wicked       way in     
which responsibilities are shifted and  
ignored1 and the       slow and sure    
defilement of society because the       
criminal classes       are allowed to   
propagate their vile species1 while     
,christian       households and moral   
parents ignore their duty to this and to
       the next world1 this book is     
almost like a voice from ,heaven4       
,should reach its hundred-thousandth    
edition4--,chicago ,journal4         ,it
 deserves to lie alongside the ,bible in
 the foundation of       each           
home4--,rev4 ,o4 ,p4 ,gifford1 ,boston4 
,i have read your book with deep        
interest and heartily concur in         
it4444 ,may ,god bless your             
words4--,elizabeth ,a4 ,tobey1 ,pres4   
,mass4 ,w4 ,c4 ,t4 ,u4         ,a       
subject of great delicacy and yet       
commanding present       importance is  
treated with the utmost propriety of    
tone and       expression2 with adequate

 knowledge1 both theoretical and        
practical2 with unflinching thoroughness
 and courage in the       exposure of   
the evil1 and with a reformatory purpose
 worthy of       both the man of science
 and the ,christian4--,rev4 ,joseph     
,cook4    ,,funk  ,,wagnalls ,,company1 
,publishers1  ,,new ,,york and ,,london 
,illustration3 ad page #h    ,a ,,unique
 ,,cyclopedia4      ,historical ,lights2
    ,or1 ,six ,thousand ,historical     
,articles1 illustrating ,thirty         
,thousand  ,topics4 ,especially arranged
 for the ,family ,library1 as also for  
,conversationalists1 ,lecturers1 ,public
 ,speakers1 ,writers for  the ,press1   
,lawyers1 ,students1 and all who have   
occasion to use  illustrations drawn    
from ,history4 ,compiled by ,,rev4      
,,charles ,e4  ,,little1 author of      
,biblical ,lights and ,side-lights4     
,these ',lights' are a galaxy taken     
exclusively from standard               
,histories and ,biographies4 ,they      
consist of ,facts1 ,incidents1          

,examples and ,precedents1 selected for 
illustrative purposes1 and       chiefly
 from the ,civilized ,races of          
,antiquity and the ,american       and  
,english people4 ,the ,subjects relate  
to ,religious1 ,social1       and       
,political ,life1 to ,moral and ,civil  
,government1 etc4 ,the       historian's
 name is appended to every quotation4   
,there are no       fugitive anecdotes  
in the work4    ,complete in one volume1
 #hvo1 #ijj pages4    ,prices1 ,cloth1  
#e2 ,sheep1 #f4ej2 transportation free4 
,peculiar ,value of the ,work3          
,it is unique in design--no other       
publication occupying this       field  
in literature4 ,it meets a want common  
to the large class       who desire     
ready access to historical precedents1  
examples and       incidents4 ,it       
furnishes a mass of choice illustrations
 drawn       from ,history1 which are   
immensely more valuable than statements1
       anecdotes or incidents which     
cannot be vouched for4    ,,funk        

,,wagnalls ,,company1  ,,new ,,york and 
,,london             99       99        
99       99       99    ,transcriber's  
note3    ,minor typographical errors    
have been corrected without note4       
,irregularities and inconsistencies in  
the text have been retained as  printed4
    ,missing page numbers are page      
numbers that were not shown in the      
original text4    ,page #aaf3 ,the      
transcriber has supplied the missing    
closing  bracket--and ,him crucified    
7when ,i was among the pupils of        
,gamaliel1 all of whom despised my      
chosen theme74