the divine government, they are as boundless, and endless in their influence as space and eternity; they are possessed of infinite variety, and allow of endless discovery. Since the truths by which each believer is saved are for ever the same, this identity of religious views dissuades us from cherishing any peculiar notions of our own, and urges us to maintain the same leading doctrines, and to hold fast the form of sound words which are common to all good men, whether alive or dead, whether intimately connected with us, or removed far from us in all other views and sentiments, except those which relate to eternal life. Our belief is, indeed, not to rest upon the opinions of fallible men, but upon the sure word of God. Yet, in casting off human authority, a great and absurd mistake is too frequently made. An independent seeker after truth judges rightly that all men are fallible. Unfortunately, without perceiving it, he makes an exception in favour of himself. He thinks his opinions must be right, because he took them wholly from the Bible; and because he despises all human authority, he forgets that there is the same cause for his seeing the truths of the Bible through a discoloured medium, as for other men; his understanding is naturally as dark, and his heart as corrupt, as that of the divines and commentators whose interpretation he rejects. One great use of consulting commentators is this, that all minds are liable to error, but not equally to the same errors. Thus, the ray of truth is refracted as it enters through the dusky medium of the mind of man; but different minds have different refractive powers: we can so adjust them as to countervail the defects of our own peculiar vision, and behold correctly the distant objects which revelation discovers, and form a correct outline of the remote, though rapidly approaching realities of eternity. XIII. But to unite with all good men, we must join with them in heart as well as understanding; and for this we need the Spirit of life and love to be poured out abundantly upon us. None are so richly furnished with Christian gifts and graces as to be able to stand alone, and unconnected with others, without much loss both to their usefulness, and to their advancement in the spiritual life. The Holy Spirit does not merely impart his gifts to the children of men: he divides them severally to whom he will; and it is only by the united exercise of these divided gifts, that all the mighty advantages to be derived from them can be reaped. It is a harvest which must be collected for the public benefit, before it can be individually appropriated. Without the teaching of the Spirit, not only will Christian gifts languish, because cultivated in the case of each individual only by himself, and for himself, but the clearest understanding, even when put in possession of the truth, will retain but a cold and moonlight view of it. Distinct it may be in its dark outlines, but not represented in all its diversity and life, unless the Divine Teacher, who first discovered it to the mind, keep up its fading impression on the soul, by continually renewing it; and, brooding over the ruins of our nature, as over the chaos of a former world, bring back all into order, and separate the light of truth from that darkness, which, in the mind of man, is so continually mingling with it. PART EIGHTH. UNIVERSAL CHRISTIANITY. I. Christianity, like every other system, has its essential doctrines. II. The reception or rejection of these divides the world into two Classes. III. The folly of divisions amongst those who are united in Essentials. IV. All who receive the Bible in sincerity have one Faith. V. Variety of Views without diversity of Faith. VII. Sects will cease when no longer useful. X. The union of all by the bond of Charity. XII. Inductive Philosophy. XIII. General and Religious Education. XIV. Pure Study of the Word of God. XV. Study with Prayer of the Works of God. XVI. Promises with respect to the Prevalence of Truth. XVII. Glory of the Latter Days. |