The
Christian Father's Present to His Children
by John Angell James, 1825
THE DISPOSITIONS NECESSARY FOR AN
INQUIRY INTO THE NATURE OF TRUE RELIGION
True religion is a subject of a spiritual and moral
nature, and, therefore, requires a different frame of mind to that which we
carry to a topic purely intellectual.
1. The first disposition essentially necessary is a DEEP
SERIOUSNESS.
True religion is the very last thing in the universe with
which we should allow ourselves to trifle. Nothing can be more shocking and
incongruous than that flippancy and inconsiderateness with which some people
treat this dread theme. When Uzzah put forth his hand, in haste, to support
the ark--he paid his life for his recklessness; and if the man, who takes up
his Bible to inquire into the meaning of its contents, with a frivolous and
whimsical temper, does not suffer the same penalty, it is not because the
action is less criminal or less dangerous—but because God has now removed
the punishment to a greater distance from the sin. I cannot conceive of
anything more likely to provoke God to give a person up to the bewildering
influence of his own inherent depravity, and, consequently, to a confused
and erroneous perception of religious truth, than this temper. To see a
person approaching the Book of God with the same levity as a votary of
fashion and folly enters a place of amusement, is, indeed, revolting to
taste, to say nothing of more sacred feelings. True religion, enthroned
behind the veil in the temple of truth, and dwelling amid the brightness
which the merely curious eye cannot bear to look upon, refuses to unfold her
glories or discover her secrets to the frivolous mind; and delivers to every
one who draws near to her abode, the admonition of Jehovah to Moses—"Take
off your shoes, for the place whereon you stand is holy ground."
The subjects treated of by true religion are of the most
exceedingly important nature. Everything about it is serious. The Eternal
God, in every view of His nature and operations; the Lord Jesus Christ, in
His sufferings and death; the soul of man, in its ruin and salvation; the
solemnities of judgment, the mysteries of eternity, the felicities of
heaven, the torments of hell--are all involved in the mighty comprehension
of true religion. Should such themes be ever touched with irreverence? My
dear children, I warn you against the too common practice of reducing, to
the level of mere intellectual theories, and of treating with the same
unconcern as the systems of philosophy, that sacred volume, which, to use
the words of Locke, "has God for its author, salvation for its end, and
truth, without any mixture of error, for its contents!" Do not forget, then,
that the very first requisite, not only in true religion itself—but also in
that frame of mind which enables us to understand its nature, is
SERIOUSNESS.
2. A GREAT SOLICITUDE to be guided aright is the next
disposition, and nearly allied to the former.
Eternal consequences hang upon this question. According
as we mistake it or understand it--we shall travel onward to heaven or to
hell. An inquiry of such importance should, of course, be urged with the
deepest concern. It might be rationally expected that events so awfully
tremendous as death and judgment—a subject so deeply concerning us--as
whether we shall spend eternal ages in torments or in bliss, could in no
possible case, and in no constitution of mind whatever, fail of exciting the
most serious apprehension and concern. And yet there are multitudes who have
talked a thousand times about religion—but yet have never had, in all their,
lives, one hour's real solicitude, to know whether their views of its nature
are correct. Is it to be wondered at, then, that so many remain in
ignorance—or plunge into error?
3. A TEACHABLE DISPOSITION, is of great consequence.
Our Lord laid great emphasis on this, when he
said—"Except you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not
enter into the kingdom of heaven." Children, when they first go to school,
have a sense of their own ignorance; they have neither biases nor
prejudices; they present their unfurnished minds to their teachers, to
receive, with implicit confidence, all that they are taught. A teachable
spirit is essential to improvement in everything; for, if a child goes to
school puffed up with high notions of his own attainments, imagining that he
knows as much as his master can teach him, and with a disposition to cavil
at everything that is communicated—in this case, improvement is out of the
question; the avenues of knowledge are closed. In nothing is a teachable
spirit more necessary, than in true religion, where the subject is
altogether beyond the cognizance of the senses and the discoveries of
reason.
Christianity is purely and exclusively matter of
revelation. Of course, all our knowledge on this topic must be derived from
the Bible; to the right understanding of which, we must carry the same
consciousness of our ignorance, the same destitution of prejudice and bias,
the same implicit submission of the understanding, as the child, on his
first going to school, does to his instructor. We must go to the word of God
with these convictions in our mind—"This is the Master, from whom I, who
know nothing, am most implicitly to receive all things. My Teacher is
infallible, and I am not to cavil at his instructions, however, in some
things, they may transcend my ability to comprehend them."
Yes, the Bible, the Bible alone, is the infallible
teacher of spiritual truth, from whose authority there is no appeal; before
whose solemn truths reason must bow in humble silence, to learn and to obey.
This is a teachable spirit, by which I mean, not a supple disposition to
believe what others believe, or to adopt the creed which they would impose
upon us. No—this is the surrendering our understanding to be enslaved by
human authority. But teachableness means going direct to the heavenly
Master, with this determination—whatever he teaches I will believe; be it so
sublime, so humiliating, so novel, and, to my present limited capacities, so
incomprehensible as it may.
Are we, then, to exclude reason from the business of true
religion? By no means. It would be as absurd to attempt it, as it would be
impossible to accomplish it. The whole affair of piety is a process of
reason; but then it is reason submitting itself to the guidance of
revelation. Reason bears the same relation to true religion, and performs
the same office, as it does in the system of jurisprudence; it examines the
evidence by which a law is proved to be an enactment of the legislature;
interprets, according to the known use of terms and phrases, its right
meaning, and then submits to its authority. Thus, in matters of true
religion, its province is to examine the evidences by which the Bible is
proved to be a revelation from God; having done this, it is to ascertain,
according to the fixed use of language, its true meaning, and then to submit
to its authority, by believing whatever it reveals, and obeying whatever it
enjoins. This is what we mean by prostrating our reason before the tribunal
of revelation.
But, suppose that reason should meet with palpable
contradictions in the word of God, is she to believe them? This is putting a
case which cannot happen, since it is supposing that God will give His
sanction to a lie. There can be no contradictions in the word of God; the
thing is impossible. But still, it will be replied—Is not one kind of
evidence for the divine authority of revelation derived from its contents?
and, if so, may not reason make the nature of a doctrine a test of its
truth? At best, this is but a secondary species of evidence, and cannot
oppose the primary kind of proof. If it cannot be proved that a doctrine is
really an interpolation, and if there be, at the same time, all the evidence
that the case admits of that it is a part of divine revelation, no
difficulty in the way of understanding its meaning, no seeming mystery in
its nature, should lead us to reject it—we must receive it, and wait for
further light to understand it.
Revelation is the sun, reason the eye which receives its
beams, and applies them to all the purposes of life, for which, in ceaseless
succession, they flow in upon us; and it can no more be said that revelation
destroys or degrades reason, by guiding it, than it can be said the solar
orb renders the faculty of vision useless, by directing its efforts.
A teachable spirit, then, my dear children—by which I
mean a submission of the human understanding, in matters of true religion,
to the word of God—is essential to all true piety. I insist upon this with
more earnestness, because it is easy to perceive the tendency of the present
age is in an opposite direction. A haughty and flippant spirit has arisen,
which, under the pretext of freedom of inquiry, has discovered a restless
propensity to throw off the authority of divine truth; a spirit more
disposed to teach the Bible than to be taught by it; to speculate upon what
it should be, than to receive it as it is; a spirit which would receive the
morality of the word of God as it finds it—but which is perpetually employed
in mending its theology; which, in fact, would subvert the true order of
things, and, instead of subjecting reason to revelation, would make reason
the teacher and revelation the pupil. Beware, my children, of this dangerous
spirit, which, while it pays flattering compliments to your understanding,
is injecting the deadliest poison into your soul!
4. A PRAYERFUL SPIRIT is essential to a right disposition
for inquiring into the nature of true piety.
True religion is an affair so spiritual in its nature,
so tremendously important in its consequences, and so frequently
misunderstood; and, on the other hand, we ourselves are so liable to be
misled in our judgments by the bewildering influence of internal depravity
and external temptation--that it betrays the most criminal indifference, or
the most absurd self-confidence--to enter on this subject without constant,
earnest supplication for direction, to the Father and Fountain of lights.
The 'religious world' is like an immense forest, through
which lies the right road to truth and happiness; but besides this, there
are innumerable paths running in all directions—every way has its travelers,
each traveler thinks he is right, and attempts to prove it by referring to
the map which he carries in his hand. In such circumstances, who that values
his soul or her eternal salvation, would not seek for guidance to Him who
has promised to disclose to us, by His Spirit, the path of life? When young
people trust to the efforts of their own unaided reason, and neglect to ask
for the guiding influence of the eternal God--it is matter of little
surprise that they are found walking in the paths of error. There is a
degree of pride and independence in this, which God often punishes by
leaving them to the seductions of worldly philosophy and falsehood.
In addition, then, to the greatest seriousness of mind
and the most intense desire after truth, and the most unprejudiced approach
to the oracle of scripture--pray constantly to God to reveal to you the
nature of true piety, and to dispose you to embrace it. This is the way
appointed by God to obtain it. "If any man lacks wisdom, let him ask of God,
who gives to all men liberally, and upbraids not; and it shall be given
him." "If you, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto those who are
your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give His Holy Spirit
to those who ask Him." "I will instruct you, and teach you in the way you
shall go; I will guide you with my eye."
These, surely, with a thousand other passages of similar
import, are sufficient to enjoin and encourage the temper I now recommend. I
have no hope of those who neglect habitual prayer for divine illumination. I
expect to see them left to embrace error, or to content themselves with the
mere forms of godliness, instead of its power.
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