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28 chapters
MR. MARTINEAU'S WRITINGS.
MR. MARTINEAU'S WRITINGS.
The American Unitarian Association in 1835 reprinted from the English edition, among their Tracts, a Sermon on "The Existing State of Theology as an Intellectual Pursuit and of Religion, as a Moral Influence." Its rare merits elicited great praise. Its author was the Rev. James Martineau, then a settled minister in Liverpool. Since that time, his occasional publications from year to year have been winning a wider audience, and awakening a deeper admiration. The history of his mind has been a bro
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RELATION BETWEEN NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION.
RELATION BETWEEN NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION.
The contempt with which it is the frequent practice of divines to treat the grounds of natural religion, betrays an ignorance both of the true office of revelation and of the true wants of the human heart. It cannot be justified, except on the supposition that there is some contradiction between the teachings of creation and those of Christ, with some decided preponderance of proof in favor of the latter. Even if the Gospel furnished a series of perfectly new truths, of which nature had been pro
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NATURE OF DEVOTION.
NATURE OF DEVOTION.
In Devotion there is this great peculiarity,—that it is neither the work nor the play of our nature, but is something higher than either,—more ideal than the one, more real than the other. All human activities besides are one of these two things,—either the mere aim at an external end, or the mere outcome of an inner feeling. On the one hand, we plough and sow, we build and navigate, that we may win the adornments and securities of life; on the other hand, we sing and dance, we carve and paint,
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DEVOTION IS NOT A MISTAKE.
DEVOTION IS NOT A MISTAKE.
Be assured, all visible greatness of mind grows in looking at an invisible that is greater. And since it is inconceivable that what is most sublime in humanity should spring from vision of a thing that is not, that what is most real and commanding with us should come of stretching the soul into the unreal and empty, that historic durability should be the gift of spectral fancies, we must hold these devout natures to be at one with everlasting Fact,—to feel truly that the august forms of Justice
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"THEOLOGY IS NOT A PROGRESSIVE SCIENCE."
"THEOLOGY IS NOT A PROGRESSIVE SCIENCE."
It may, however, be retrogressive; and it is sure to repay flippant neglect by lending its empty space to mean delusions. To its great problems some answer will always be attempted; and there is much to choose between the solutions, however imperfect, found by reverential wisdom, and the degrading falsehoods tendered in reply by the indifferent and superficial. Even in their failures, there is a vast difference between the explorings of the seeing and the blind. We deny, however, that Christian
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THE HEART OF CHRISTIANITY.
THE HEART OF CHRISTIANITY.
To lose sight of this principle in estimating Christianity, and to insist on judging it, not by its matured character in Christendom, not by the unconscious spirit of its founders, but by their personal views and purposes, is to overlook the divine in it in order to fasten on the human; to seek the winged creature of the air in the throbbing chrysalis; and is like judging the place of the Hebrews in history by the court and the proverbs of Solomon, or the value of Puritanism by the sermon of a h
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CHRIST, NATURE, PROVIDENCE, AND GOD.
CHRIST, NATURE, PROVIDENCE, AND GOD.
In conclusion, then, I revert, with freshened persuasion, to the statement with which I commenced. Jesus Christ of Nazareth, God hath presented to us simply in his inspired humanity. Him we accept, not indeed as very God, but as the true image of God, commissioned to show what no written doctrinal record could declare, the entire moral perfections of Deity. We accept, not indeed his body, not the struggles of his sensitive nature, not the travail of his soul, but his purity, his tenderness, his
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THE IDEA OF VICARIOUS JUSTICE.
THE IDEA OF VICARIOUS JUSTICE.
It is only natural that the parable of the Prodigal Son should be no favorite with those who deny the unconditional mercy of God. The place which this divine tale occupies in the Unitarian theology appears to be filled, in the orthodox scheme, by the story of Zaleucus, king of the Locrians; which has been appealed to in the present controversy by both the lecturers on the Atonement, and seems to be the only endurable illustration presented, even by Pagan history, of the execution of vicarious pu
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DIFFERENCE BETWEEN APPREHENSION AND INTERPRETATION.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN APPREHENSION AND INTERPRETATION.
The difference between the ordinary visual gaze upon the external universe, and the interpreting glance of science, is felt by every cultivated understanding to be immeasurable;—and the contrast is not less between that dull sense of what passes within him, which is forced upon a man by mere practical experience, and the exact consciousness, the discriminative perception, the easy comprehension of his own (and, so far as they are expressed by faithful symbols, of others') states and affections,
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NECESSITY OF LEARNING IN PHILOSOPHY.
NECESSITY OF LEARNING IN PHILOSOPHY.
If there is one department of knowledge more than another in which a contemptuous disregard of the meditations and theories of distant periods and nations is misplaced, it is in the philosophy of man,—which can have no adequate breadth of basis till it reposes on the consciousness and covers the mental experience of the universal race; and to construct which out of purely personal materials, is like attempting to lay down the curves and finish the theory of terrestrial magnetism on the strength
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PHYSICAL SCIENCE AND RELIGION.
PHYSICAL SCIENCE AND RELIGION.
An accomplished and thoughtful observer of nature—Hugh Miller, the geologist—has somewhere remarked, that religion has lost its dependence on metaphysical theories, and must henceforth maintain itself upon the domain of physical science. He accordingly exhorts the guardians of sacred truth to prepare themselves for the approaching crisis in its history, by exchanging the study of thoughts for the apprehension of things, and carefully cultivating the habit of inductive research. The advice is exc
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LESSING'S THEOLOGICAL CONCLUSIONS.
LESSING'S THEOLOGICAL CONCLUSIONS.
Lessing refused to surrender Christianity, on proof of error in its first teachers, uncertainty in its reported miracles, contradictions in its early literature, misapplication of Messianic prophecies. All these he regards as but the external accidents, the transitory media, of the religion, constituting, it may be, its support in one age and its weakness in another. They do not belong to its inner essence, in which alone the real evidence of spiritual truth is found; and he who detects anything
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THE REDEEMING LAW OF SYMPATHY.
THE REDEEMING LAW OF SYMPATHY.
It is quite true, that self-cure is of all things the most arduous; but that which is impossible to the man within us , may be altogether possible to the God . In truth, the denial of such changes, under the affectation of great knowledge of man, shows an incredible ignorance of men. Why, the history of every great religious revolution, such as the spread of Methodism, is made up of nothing else; the instances occurring in such number and variety, as to transform the character of whole districts
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THE CHRISTIAN VIEW OF MORAL EVIL.
THE CHRISTIAN VIEW OF MORAL EVIL.
The Divine sentiments towards right and wrong every man naturally believes to be a reflection of whatever is most pure and solemn in his own. We cannot be sincerely persuaded, that God looks with aversion on dispositions which we revere as good and noble; or that he regards with lax indifference the selfish and criminal passions which awaken our own disgust. We may well suppose, indeed, his scrutiny more searching, his estimate more severely true, his rebuking look more awful, than our self-exam
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THE TRANSMISSION OF SUPERIOR THOUGHTS.
THE TRANSMISSION OF SUPERIOR THOUGHTS.
It is a law of Providence in communities, that ideas shall be propagated downwards through the several gradations of minds. They have their origin in the suggestions of genius, and the meditations of philosophy; they are assimilated by those who can admire what is great and true, but cannot originate; and thence they are slowly infused into the popular mind. The rapidity of the process may vary in different times, with the facilities for the transmission of thought, but its order is constant. Te
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CHRISTIANITY AND SECTARIAN THEOLOGY.
CHRISTIANITY AND SECTARIAN THEOLOGY.
The sectarian state of theology in this country cannot but be regarded as eminently unnatural. Its cold and hard ministrations are entirely alien to the wants of the popular mind, which, except under the discipline of artificial influences, is always most awake to generous impressions. Its malignant exclusiveness is a perversion of the natural veneration of the human heart, which, except where it is interfered with by narrow and selfish systems, pours itself out, not in hatred towards anything t
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STUDIES OF CHRISTIANITY. DISTINCTIVE TYPES OF CHRISTIANITY.
STUDIES OF CHRISTIANITY. DISTINCTIVE TYPES OF CHRISTIANITY.
If unity be the character of truth, no generation was ever so far gone in errors as our own: nor is the weariness surprising, with which statesmen and philosophers turn away from the Babel of Divinity, and, in despair of scaling the heavens, apply themselves to found and adorn the politics of this world. But the confusion of tongues is too positive and obtrusive a fact to be escaped by mere retreat: it bids defiance to polite evasion: it pursues life into every public place and private haunt; in
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CHRISTIANITY WITHOUT PRIEST AND WITHOUT RITUAL.
CHRISTIANITY WITHOUT PRIEST AND WITHOUT RITUAL.
"To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious; ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ."—1 Peter ii. 4, 5. The formation of human society, and the institution of priesthood, must be referred to the same causes and the same date. The earliest communities of the world appear to have had their origin and their cement, not in any gregarious in
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INCONSISTENCY OF THE SCHEME OF VICARIOUS REDEMPTION.
INCONSISTENCY OF THE SCHEME OF VICARIOUS REDEMPTION.
"Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."—Acts iv. 12. The scene which we have this evening to visit and explore, is separated from us by the space of eighteen centuries; yet of nothing on this earth has Providence left, within the shadows of the past, so vivid and divine an image. Gently rising above the mighty "field of the world," Calvary's mournful hill appears, covered with silence now, but distinctly show
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MEDIATORIAL RELIGION.
MEDIATORIAL RELIGION.
The Nature of the Atonement, and its Relation to Remission of Sins and Eternal Life. By John M'Leod Campbell . Cambridge: Macmillan & Co. 1856. This is a strange book. A Greek would have hated it. A Puritan would have found it savory, even where it was unsound. Rosenkranz, who has written on the Æsthetik des Hässlichen , would have been thankful for such a fund of illustration. Cumbrous, tiresome, monotonous, it has few attractions for the natural man, who may have a weakness in favor of
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FIVE POINTS OF CHRISTIAN FAITH.
FIVE POINTS OF CHRISTIAN FAITH.
It is at all times difficult, even for the wisest, to describe aright the tendencies of the age in which they live, and lay down its bearings on the great chart of human affairs. Our own sensations can give us no notice whither we are going; and the infinite life-stream on which we ride, restless as it is with the surface-waves of innumerable events, reports nothing of the mighty current that sweeps us on, except by faint and silent intimations legible only to the skilled interpreter of heaven.
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CREED AND HERESIES OF EARLY CHRISTIANITY.
CREED AND HERESIES OF EARLY CHRISTIANITY.
1. Ωριγενους Φιλοσοφουμενα η κατα πασων αιρεσεων ελεγχος. Origenis Philosophumena sive omnium hæresium refutatio. E codice Parisino nunc primum edidit Emmanuel Miller. Oxonii: e Typographeo Academico. 1851. 2. Hippolytus and his Age; or the Doctrine and Practice of the Church of Rome under Commodus and Alexander Severus; and Ancient and Modern Christianity and Divinity compared. By Christian Charles Josias Bunsen , D.C.L. In Four Volumes. London. 1852. When a stranger knocks at the gate of the C
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THE CREED OF CHRISTENDOM.
THE CREED OF CHRISTENDOM.
1. The Creed of Christendom; its Foundations and Superstructure. By William Rathbone Greg . London: Chapman. 1851. 2. St. Paul's Epistles to the Corinthians; an Attempt to convey their Spirit and Significance. By John Hamilton Thom . London: Chapman. 1851. These two books are placed together without the least intention to intimate a resemblance between them, or to represent either author as sharing in the conclusions of the other. They are, indeed, concerned with opposite sides of the same subje
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THE ETHICS OF CHRISTENDOM.
THE ETHICS OF CHRISTENDOM.
The Temporal Benefits of Christianity exemplified in its Influence on the Social, Intellectual, Civil, and Political Condition of Mankind, from its first Promulgation to the present Day. By Robert Blakey . London. 1849. Small Books on Great Subjects. Edited by a few Well-Wishers to Knowledge. No. 19. On the State of Man subsequent to the Promulgation of Christianity. London. 1851. The Connection of Morality with Religion; a Sermon, preached in the Cathedral of St. Patrick, at an Ordination held
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THE RESTORATION OF BELIEF.
THE RESTORATION OF BELIEF.
The Restoration of Belief . No. I. Christianity in Relation to its Ancient and Modern Antagonists . Cambridge: Macmillan & Co. 1852. We have heard it quoted as the remark of a distinguished foreigner, conversant with the choicest society in several of the capitals of Europe, that nowhere is the alienation of the higher and professional classes from all religious faith so widespread and complete as in England. That the masses at the other end of the social scale are indifferent or disaffe
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ONE GOSPEL IN MANY DIALECTS.
ONE GOSPEL IN MANY DIALECTS.
"And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in other tongues, according as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were sojourning at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together; and they were confounded because every one heard them speaking in his own language."—Acts ii. 4-6. In that marvellous scene, the anniversary of which coincides on this Whitsunday with our Centenary, a question long pe
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ST. PAUL AND HIS MODERN STUDENTS.
ST. PAUL AND HIS MODERN STUDENTS.
The Life and Epistles of St. Paul. By the Rev. W. J. Conybeare , M.A., late Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge; and the Rev. J. S. Howson , M.A., Principal of the Collegiate Institution, Liverpool. 2 vols. 4to. Longmans. 1852. The Epistles of St. Paul to the Corinthians: with Critical Notes and Dissertations. By Arthur Penrhyn Stanley , M.A., Canon of Canterbury, late Fellow and Tutor of University College, Oxford, &c. 2 vols. 8vo. Murray. 1855. The Epistles of St. Paul to the Thessalo
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SIN: WHAT IT IS, WHAT IT IS NOT.
SIN: WHAT IT IS, WHAT IT IS NOT.
"Now the end of the commandment is Charity, out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned."—1 Timothy i. 5. The Apostle gives us here a very simple formula of Christian perfection. He was not fond of long lists of the virtues, such as the moral philosophers draw up; and though he does sometimes pass through a series, it is with a peculiar result. Look at any book upon human ethics, and you are astonished at the number of qualities that go to make up a good man: the ramifi
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