THE

CHURCH MAGAZINE.

No. 2.]

FEBRUARY, 1839.

[VOL. I.

THE CHURCH-THE PILLAR AND GROUND OF THE TRUTH.

MANY persons seem to think that if we cannot obtain admission into the ranks of our enemies for publications containing arguments in defence of the Church, we might as well not go to the trouble and expense of publishing them. But this we think a very great error, and calculated to work much mischief to the cause of truth, by damping the zeal and repressing the activity of those who might, and otherwise would, render essential service to the Church of Christ. The conversion and bringing home to the fold of Christ those who are wandering in the crooked paths and by-ways of error and sin, is certainly highly desirable; and the very thought of it is pleasing to the contemplation of the pious Christian; but we do not consider it under present circumstances by any means the primary object which Churchmen should keep in view. Our first and grand aim should at present be to look well to our own household; and endeavour to instil into the minds of all our brethren the great principles of the Church to which they nominally belong, and build them firmly up in a thorough understanding and belief of those matters of faith and Church government which are requisite to make them sound and conscientious Churchmen,-able to give a reason for their being so to every one who may ask them. It must be lamented, for it cannot be denied, that there are thousands and tens of thousands of our brethren who can give nothing like a reason for preferring the Church to any sect of dissenters; and who consequently become easy prey to the numberless false teachers and other enemies who everywhere abound, and are most diligent in their attempts to make. proselytes from the Church. Christian charity, therefore, and brotherly regard to the spiritual welfare of those of the fold of Christ who are ever ready to be led astray into forbidden paths, demand that we should begin our charity at home; and make it our first and principal business to instruct our more ignorant brethren, and give them to know and thoroughly to understand the why and the wherefore of their being members of the Church. If this great work be accomplished, what a united, strong, firm, and impenetrable phalanx we may present to our motley foes? United in principle, and strong in faith, we should indeed be powerful; and with well-tempered zeal, directed by prudence, be able in our turn to make a mighty impression on our enemies. If Churchmen were all influenced by that holy zeal for the honour and glory of God, which ought to animate all our hearts; and all understood and used their earnest endeavours as Christians to propagate the truths which they believe, what a comparatively happy country would this be! Let each one then, without neglecting to benefit our dissenting fellow countrymen, make it

NO. II. VOL. I.

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his first business by the circulation of sound publications, by conversation, and by all other legitimate means, to ground Churchmen in the truths of our most holy religion. This being done, the labour of converting our enemies will be the work of many, and thus very easy. In activity and zeal we shall do well to copy the examples of our indefatigable enemies.

With these few preliminary remarks, which we hope are neither out of time nor place, we proceed to the consideration of our subject, the discussion of which is not without difficulty, on account of the brevity and the consequent imperfection with which we must treat it.

In the discussion of any theological subject which is disputed, the first duty of the disputants is to appeal to the Word of God, the standard of our faith and practice. But this by no means decides the question, for about the interpretation or meaning of that word there is as much difference of opinion as on the very point for the settlement of which it is appealed to. In truth, if the meaning of the passages of Scripture appealed to, could be settled to the satisfaction of all parties, there would be no further disputing. All appeal to the Bible as the ground, and for the confirmation, of their widely different or contradictory notions. Under these circumstances, what is to be done to arrive at the truth? It is quite certain that the Word of God does not contradict itself by giving support or countenance to the contradictory opinions which men say they have derived from it. To suppose that the holy and blessed Spirit would say one thing in one place, and something quite different in another place, would amount to blasphemy. Nor would it be less so to suppose that any of the language of Scripture has two different meanings either equally correct or comparatively so. The Scriptures are all of a piece, and every single part of them in the most perfect harmony with all the others; nor have they or any single portion of them, nor can they possibly have, more than one meaning; and all meanings besides that one, however plausible or correct they may appear, are, and must inevitably be, false and dangerous. How then can we, amidst the numerous clashing interpretations of Scripture, ascertain which is the true one? We are anxious, many will say, to know the truth, to believe it, and to act according to it; but we have hitherto had neither time, opportunity, nor inclination, to find out the truth, and now that we are desirous of embracing it, we see so many professors and teachers of Christianity differing about it, that we feel a disinclination to enter upon the inquiry, because we may, after all, be as far off as many who have pursued that course before us. These and similar questions, which persons have in thousands of instances seriously put to themselves, have, we fear, driven numbers to reckless indifference, popery, and infidelity.

Now, if men's minds were not bewildered by the numberless sects and errors, schisms and heresies, which abound on every hand, they would have comparatively but little difficulty in discovering the truth. For how much soever that witness and guide may be obscured by the wiles of the devil, (ràs μelodejas Toũ diaßónou, Ephe. vi. 11), and the selfishness and arts of designing men, it is nevertheless true that God has in mercy to lost and erring men planted upon earth a witness for the truth, and a guide to direct their wandering steps, and to lead them into the paths of truth and righteousness. That witness and guide is the Church-that Christian society, connexion, congregation, corporation, or body of disciples which our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ united, instituted, incorporated, and founded, when he tabernacled here on earth. This society or corporation he bound together on certain fixed principles, and by certain laws; and when he said, on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it," he pledged his word that the society, corporation, or Church which he founded,

should exist till the end of time.

And to strengthen the faith of his disciples who constituted the Church in its infancy, he said, Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world;" to protect, and bless, and preserve you, so that the gates of hell may not prevail against you. From this we learn that the Church of Christ is at present in existence in the world. And as St. Paul tells us that the Church of the living God is the pillar and ground of the truth," 1 Tim. iii. 15, it is of the utmost importance for us to find out the Church that we may find out the truth, of which it is the pillar and ground.

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Now, as the gates of hell are never to prevail against the Church, and as the grand purpose for which it was founded and for which it exists, and ever must exist, will not be accomplished till the very end of the world, we may rest perfectly sure that the Church will hold the truth till the end of time. Without the truth the Church would be utterly useless, and her existence unnecessary; and as Christ would certainly not have pledged himself to preserve a useless and unnecessary thing, and that too with great trouble, as the mention of the gates of hell evidently imply, we may most safely conclude that the Church does now hold the truth, and that she ever will hold it. Besides Christ promised that he would be with her even unto the end of the world; and if she has Christ with her she has TRUTH with her, for he is the way, the TRUTH, and the life.

It is, therefore, very clear, that the Church of Christ is at present in existence in the world; it is also quite as clear that with the Church is the truth; and from these undeniable positions it follows, as a legitimate and necessary consequence, that the surest and easiest way of finding the truth amidst the confusion of tongues which prevails in "the Religious World," is to find " the Church which is the pillar and ground of the truth."

The chief difficulty consists in distinguishing the Church of Christ from the churches or societies of men; for the false churches are made to resemble the true Church so nearly, that to outward appearance many perceive little or no difference. This is an old trick of the great deceiver of mankind, who knows that if his false churches, false teachers, and false doctrines were presented to mankind in their native and naked falseness, they would not answer his purpose of deceiving men half so well. As the true Church is a pillar, having inscribed upon it the truth of God, which it holds forth, and to which it calls the attention of the world, so the false teachers have erected false churches or pillars all around it, and made them so much like the true pillar, that at first sight they appear to be the same. They bear upon them inscriptions as nearly as possible like that on the true pillar, varying only in such an artful way, that the difference is scarcely perceptible to the eye, while the meaning very materially altered. Many of them, indeed, bear the same inscription as the true pillar itself, but certain parts, which, militating against the systems of the false teachers, are explained away, and their true meaning perverted by a note or comment appended, or by the immediate wresting of the false teachers themselves-who, like their master, are remarkable for diligence and activity in their attempts to beguile the unstable, and to make merchandise of their souls.

That these false teachers and false churches do succeed to a considerable extent in beguiling Church people, there is every reason to believe. We were ourselves not long since conversing with an elderly servant on the subject of religion, and on asking her where she went on the Sunday, she said, to Orange-street chapel [not far from Charing-cross]. Why," we replied, "that is a dissenting meeting-house, and you have always been a Churchwoman, have Yes, certainly," she said, "and that is the No," we rejoined, it is not; it is only a dissenting

Church there."

you not?"