title: The Apostles' creed: considered in relation to the wants of the religious sense, and certain errors of the present day.
text: ^^ o'.. fo ^^^9^^ !v ^ o • a • » 1 0* ^^ *7^*\j\ >*\c:^/"^. /.^^^>o >*\.i^.V ■V"\/'^/^Kt %.<^'' .'' '.• .^"^ ■S>^.. ': j?^* ;o ,^*^°- O 4 .^^^- /i-u^u^ jPt- M^yf^c^f^ THE APOSTLES' CREED: CONSIDERED IN RELATION TO THE WANTS OF THE RELIGIOUS SENSE, AND CERTAIN ERRORS OF THE PRESENT DAY. BY THE REV. THOMAS GRIFFITH, A.M. MINISTER OP RAM's EPISCOPAL CHAPEL, HOMERTON, AUTHOR OP " THE SPIRITUAL LIFE," ETC. ETC. _ LONDON: HATCHARD AND SON, 187, PICCADILLY; HAMILTON, ADAMS, & CO, PATERNOSTER ROW. 1842. ^'^^'l V ^^b LONDON : PRINTED BY SAMUEL BENTLEV, Bangor House, Shoe Lane. p^ TO HER MOST GRACIOUS MAJESTY QUEEN ADELAIDE. Madam, It is with feelings of reverent gratitude that I dedicate to your Majesty, by your Majesty's most gracious permission, the following practical Expo- sition of the Apostles' Creed. The value of this permission is greatly enhanced to me, by its being accorded in consequence of your Majesty's approbation of my former work on the Spiritual Life. I earnestly pray that the divine Truths of this Creed may be increasingly blessed to your Majesty's advancement in the experience of that Life. I have the honour to be, Madam, Your Majesty's most grateful and devoted humble Servant, THOMAS GRIFFITH. PREFACE. To the members of my congregation, at whose request this Work is published, I aiFectionately commend it. You will find in it the substance of what, in various ways, both private and public, I have endeavoured to expound to you by word of mouth. And I have been the less reluctant to give to the sentiments which it con- tains the more permanent form which they now assume, because I hope (as I also pray) that they may supply to others, what you profess to have found in them for your- selves, a thread, however slender, to guide the earnest Christian through that tangled labyrinth of multiform error, in which so many minds are now in danger of being lost. Such Works as those of Pearson and Bar- row, on the Creed, are storehouses for all time. I offer these pages as a hand-book for the present times. For it has been my object to treat the several Arti- cles of the Christian Faith, First, with reference to the practical needs and experiences of the religious sense ; exhibiting their bearing and importance in relation to the grand essential work of the spiritual life. And, Secondly, with reference to the manifold exaggerations and per- versions to which a zeal for an ecclesiastical Formalism IV PREFACE. on the one hand, and a disorganizing Spirituahsm on the other, expose us. Hence the extent at which I have dwelt on the topics of the Holy Catholic Church, and the Communion of Saints ; and generally on the entire Avork of the Holy Ghost, as the Vicegerent of Christ, " by whom the whole body of the Church is governed and sanctified." While other fundamental points, such as the Personality of God — the Deity of Christ — the evidence for His Resurrection — the assurance of our own continued being and blessedness after death — and the nature and grounds of that belief to which the Articles of our Creed are entitled, have received an attention proportioned to my deep conviction of their moment- ousness. The occasion, then, and object of the Work, deter- mine the point of view from which it is to be judged of. They will account for its not pretending, in any case, to a frill theological treatment of the various topics which it touches. They will explain why on some it is mea- gre, — on others diffuse — in all, popular and practical. Everything has been subordinated to what appeared to me most demanded by the circumstances of our age, and the necessities of a reflecting mind. May it be sanctified to the ends for which it has been written! May you, dear friends, and many a reader besides, find in it food for thought, and nourishment for piety, unto eternal life! CONTENTS. PART I. GOD THE FATHER. PAGE Chap. I. — God the Ground of all Existence. . . 3 The Knowledge of God's truth, is the one thing needful for us here. .... ... 3 This knowledge is to be obtained only from the inspired Word. 3 And that upon our personal judgment and responsibility. . 4 The essential points of it  pressing questions, as limited — sinful — feeble beings. . . . .7 As LIMITED beings we have revealed to us : 1. In the midst of Multiplicity, a One. . . .9 2. ,, ,, Appearance, a Real One. . . .11 3. „ „ Change, a Permanent One. . . .12 4. „ „ Effects, a Causative One. . . .15 Which One, real, permanent, and all-causative Being stands in close relation to us. . . . . .16 And therefore is to  of all Intelligence, . .19 Our only right conception of God is that formed from analogy with the iV/??z(Z of man. . . . . .19 Such a conception is, 1. Reasonable. Commended to  is the Ground of our Intelli- gent, and Moral, Being, to be Himself Intellective and Holy. . 22 2.  our preservation from the deadliest errors concerning God : —  towards God : —  all Good. . . .39 God as " Our Father " exercises All-heneficent Love — ^All-pro- viding Wisdom — All-Controlling Care. . . .40 For, this term " Father," in Scripture, expresses the relation of a parent to his child — a householder  love — gratitude — affiance. . 51 Chap. IV. — God the Lord of all Power. Our conception of Might is twofold ;  divine Will. . . . .58 And as such related to — and to be adored by— us. . . 60 What a caution this suggests to the rebellious ! — and an encourage- ment io the subm\&&\yQ\ . . . . .63 Chap. V. — God the Creator of all Worlds. It is by Faith that we regard God  were made by him— out of nothing— by the simple energy of the Divine will. . . 66 Whence learn — The insignificance of all created things—the Worth of the Creator's favour— The blessedness of the New Creation. . 72 PART II. GOD THE SON. Chap. I — The Office of Christ. , .79 The title " Jesus" expresses the Office of Christ as the Saviour — the Saviour whom God has appointed — the Saviour, himself divine. .SO In which character he affords his people Deliverance from evil — Protection, through their pilgrimage — Introduction to their pro- mised rest. .... 85 CONTENTS, Vll PAGE Chap. IL The Dignity op Christ. •. 90 1. The leading Idea indicated by the title "Christ" is that of God's King — the Sovereign of the world. .90 2. This title is assigned to Jesus as the reality of that idea. 93 This he was foretold' to be, by the prophets— showed himself to be, in his life— was declared to be, by his resurrection— proved him- self to be, by his providential visitations from heaven— and will fully manifest himself to be, when he shall come again. 93 Chap. III. The Nature op Christ. .108 1. The meaning of the title "God's only Son" in the mind of those % whom it was used. • • • .109 They employed it to distinguish him, from all human beings— all superhuman beings — all conceivable forms of created being — as equal in nature to God himself. .110 2. Its meaning in the mind of those to whom it was used. 114 How necessary this truth, to assure us of God's love to us — of our acceptance with God — of our triumph over sin. .117 Chap. IV. — The Authority of Christ. .121 Christ is " Our Lord." 1. As the Teacher of his people. — 2. As their Ruler. — 3. As their Protector. .122 Chap. V. — The Incarnation of Christ. .135 1. The Fact commemorated in the words '' Who was conceived BY the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary.". 135 It is God becoming man !. ] 35 And that in accordance with the inspired predictions concerning the Christ — the place, and the manner, of his birth. , .136 2. The Reasons intimated for this fact. .139 1. In order to the re-union of the Father with his outcast children. 139 2. In order to their restoration to the Father. 143 3. In order to their being sustained in union with the Father. 145 Chap. VI. — The Death of Christ. .... 149 1. Its Historical Certainty. CONTENTS, IX PAGE t's return. " To JUDGE THE QUICK . 210 For Judgment pertains to him as the Christ, the King. . 210 He will come again, to vindicate his royal authority — to punish all ■who resist that authority — to recompense all who have submitted to that authority — to establish that authority over all the earth. 212 PART III. GOD THE HOLY GHOST. Chap. I. — The Nature op the Holy Ghost. . . . 221 Religious truth requires for its right apprehension, religious expe- rience. ....... 221 Our experience of Corruption and Infirmity prepares us for , the Doctrine of God the Holy Ghost. . . . 222 The Nature of the  declared to be similar to our own spirit. ....... 222 Invisible — but yet substantial — the subject of personal acts — and distinguished from those in, or through, or by, or towards whom he exercises those acts. ..... 223 2. As " the Holy Ghost," he is declared to be Divine. . . 226 And there are ascribed to Him divine works — qualities — acts. . 226 This subject, conjoined with what is ascribed equally to the Son, brings us to the Idea of the Trinity in Unity. . . 228 This Doctrine is distinctly revealed in Scripture ; though it cannot be clearly understood by us. . . . . 228 But the God whom it declares to us is intimately connected with ourselves and our well being. .... 230 Chap. II. — The Office of the Holy Ghost. . . . 233 This Office has reference to the Church  them the presence oftMir Lord. . 233 For the Holy Ghost was promised to be to the disciples invisibly, all that Jesus had been to them visibly. . . . 234 Whence he is called The Spirit of Christ. . . .235 And supplies the presence both of Christ, and of the Father. . 236 See hence the essential Unity of the Godhead. . . 236 2. And this bi/ a real indwelling in their souls. . . . 237 1. This is a fa.ct, not, indeed, perceptible by the senses. . . 237 For the Spirit, by his very name and nature, is super-sensuous . 237 X CONTENTS. PAGE 2. But yet which commends itself to our Reason. . . 238 For this presence of the Spirit cannot but be inferred from its effects : for those effects spring not from ourselves — nor can they be produced in us by our fellow Christians — and must therefore be traced up to the inworking of the Holy Ghost. . .238 3. And is assured to our faith by revelation. . . . 244 Which speaks of it as the special gift of Christ — actually possessed by his people — knowable by their inward consciousness — and manifest to outward observation. . . . 244 How important then to ask, Have I this Spirit ? . .247 For it is promised, not to a body of men, but a class of minds. 248 Chap. III. — The Work op the Holy Ghost. The Church, the Sphere op the Spirit's Operation. 250 The Church is the aggregate of Christ's followers. 250 Through which the Holy Ghost communicates the presence and grace of Christ. .251 1. Jesus designed that his disciples should constitute a distinct, organized community. ,. .253 For he came, not as a Teacher only, but a Ruler. .253 And therefore ordained that his followers should be publicly conse- crated to his service — be manifestly distinguished from the world around them — and act in concert as an organized body. 254 Whence he appointed for them Rulers— who should, however, have no authority but as they acted according to his will. 256 Promised them historical permanency — and constituted solemn or- dinances of admission into, and continuance in, their fellowship. 257 How important then, is social religion !. 258 2. Such a community was accordingly formed by the Apostles, in Jerusalem. ....... 259 A community, definite and organic ;— with sacramental distinc- tions ; — cherishing the inspirations — exhibiting the graces — sub- mitting to the authority— and diffusing abroad the life, of the Spirit of God who dwelt within it. .261 How similar the principles of the English Church. 266 Chap. IV. — The Church, Catholic. .... 268 3. As the Gospel spread throughout Judea, and into other lands, other communities were formed on the same principles, and for the same ends. .268 The personal followers of Jesus formed A Church. 269 But soon they spread abroad, and founded other Churches. 270 Which churches were co-ordinate with the first Church at Jeru- salem. .274 How false therefore the claims of the Church of Rome to jurisdic- tion over other Communities. .... 274 4. And it is the aggregate, or Sum of such particular communi- CONTENTS. XI PAGE ties, contemplated abstractedly, as an ideal whole, under the presidency of Jesus as its Head, which is called in Scripture The Church ; and in the Apostles' Creed " The Catholic," or universal, " Church." ..... 277 This is the sense in which the phrase " The Church " is used in Scripture — and in which its catholicity is defined by ancient writers ... ... 278 Chap. V. — The Church, holy. ..... 282 5. PAGE Sect. II. — Christian Fellowship. .... 325 This results from looking on Christ's people as " holy," and there- fore holding communion with them, for His sake. . . 325 1. Scripture example calls to this. .... 326 For it shows us that the first churches were mixed bodies — and gives no instance of separation from a church because of its alleged impurity, or want of discipline. .... 326 '2, Ecclesiastical practice was ever conformed to this. . . 333 3. Christiati principle and feeling demand this. . . . 333 For these prompt to fellowship with the unconverted, on account of their consecration to Christ— and in order to bring them into likeness to Christ. ..... 334 Sect. III. — Christian Beneficence. .... 338 The Beneficence of the primitive Christians has been misunder- stood. ....... 339 It was not community  ! „ . 346 Sect. IV". — Christian Charity a work of the Holy Ghost. 1. It is no mere natural disposition ; — either of good-heartedness — good-fellowship — affection — friendship — but the divinely in- fused temper of Christ himself. .350 2. It must be fostered in us hy sedulous culture : by cherishing a sacred reverence — patient forbearance — cordial confidence — towards our fellow-Christians. ..... 356 Chap. VII.— Christian Faith. .363 Christian Faith respects our relation to God through the " For- giveness OF Sins." ..... 364 1. The Christian stands before God as relieved from condemnation. 365 2. Such a relation to the Father, he owes to that purification by the Son, of which his baptism is the symbol. 375 3. And a practical sense of this relation is a work of the Holy Ghost ; — illuminating the mind to perceive the glory of Christ — reconciling the heart to appropriate the work of Christ — and sub- duing the will into union with Christ. .... 376 Chap. VIII.— Christian Hope. .381 Christian Hope respects our relation to the world to come, and " THE resurrection OF THE BODY AND THE LIFE EVER- LASTING." ....... 382 Sect. I. — The Permanency of the Soul, probable. 383 This truth resi^ects onv personal continuance in being,. .383 CONTENTS. Xlll PAGE Which is assured to us by the anticipations of our human instinct — the conclusions of our intellect — the demands of our moral sense — the convictions of our religious belief. 383 Sect. II. — The Permanency of the Soul, certain. 396 1. Death produces no interruption of what we at present enjoy ; — either of life — consciousness — or social sympathy. .396 2. It affords the introduction to what we at present are wanting in. 408 Immunity from trial — Deliverance from sin — Complete enjoyment of the presence of our Lord. .... 408 How essential is Christian experience to the very understanding — and still more the lively Hope — of the future blessedness. 412 Sect. III. — The Resurrection of the Body. .414 This truth respects om future relation to the world of which we form apart. ...... 414 i. What is my body ? — What my relation to it ? — What the pur- pose for which it is given me ?. .415 2. BELIEF OF THE TRUTH. Chap. I. — Belief, an intelligent Conviction of Truth. The very title of our Confession of Faith, " the Creed," calls on us to consider the nature  direct Perception — and indi- rect Conclusion, ..... 438 Of this latter there is 1 . A Faith in the deductions of Reason ; on which rest the truths of the first division of our Creed. .... 440 XIV CONTENTS. PAGE 2. In the depositions of Testimony ; on which rest the Facts of the Second Division. . . . • , • 441 3. In the Assertions of Authority, on  is Faith ! . . 447 Chap. II. — Belief, an hearty Affection for Truth. . . 451 We are accountable for our belief, because Faith includes in it the affections of the heart. ..... 452 On the state of the heart depend our attention to truth — under- standing of truth — appreciation of truth. . . . 452 Chap. III. — Belief, a practical Submission to Truth. . 459 As the Relation to God into which the disclosures of the Creed bring us, so are the Duties which we owe to him. . . 459 The Belief of God as our Father demands that we imitate him — hold communion with him — exercise a filial zeal for him. , 461 That of God as our Redeemer involves a hearty closing with his grace— an adoring gratitude — a dutiful devotedness. . 463 That of God as our Sanctifier requires that we count religion a spiritual work — confide in the Spirit as able to produce it in us— and diligently cherish his inspirations. . . . 466 Page 165, last line, ybr and, readoxij. 209, line four from bottom,/br thirty, read forty. THE APOSTLES' CREED. PART I. GOD THE FATHER. Credo ut intelligam. — Anselm. Une des principales sources de la corruption des hommes, c'est qu'ils ne se forment point d'assez nobles ideas de la Divinite. L'idee de la morale que Ton suit, et I'idee du Dieu qu'on adore, sont deux choses etroitement jointes ensemble. — S a urin. Religion does not demand new affections, but only claims the direction of those you already have, those affections you daily feel. — We only represent to you the higher, the adequate objects of those A^ery faculties and affections. — Almighty God is the natural object of the several affections, love, reverence, fear, desire of approbation. For though he is simply One, yet we cannot but consider him in partial and different views. He is himself One uniform Being, and for ever the same, without variableness or shadow of turning ; but his infinite Greatness, his Goodness, his Wisdom, are different objects to our mind. Hence must arise various movements of mind, different kinds of affections. And this variety is just and reasonable in such creatures as we are, though it respects a Being simply One, Good, and Perfect. Bishop Butler. PART I. GOD THE FATHER. CHAPTER I. GOD, THE GROUND OF ALL EXISTENCE. There are but two things, in the judgment of St. Chrysos- torn, which deserve to be the subject of the Christian's un- conditional prayer. For other blessings he may ask, indeed, with copious outpouring of his heart before the throne of grace ; though always with the limitation, ^' as they may be most expedient for me." But the sum of all that he can pray for with unhesitating faith, as at the same time indispensable, and sufficient, is comprised in those two final petitions which wind up our Liturgy, " in this world knowledge of Thy truth ; and in the world to come life everlasting." Knowledge of God's Truth, then, forms the one thing- needful for us in this present world. And this because it is the only method and path of transit to the glory of the world to come. For thus says our blessed Lord : " This is life eternal to know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou has sent." And consequently this he goes on to intreat for his disciples : '' Sanctify them tJirough thy truth ! Thy word is truth !" Now it is just as being the depository of this Truth, that the Bible is of such infinite worth to us ; — that it is called The Word of God. In those historical records which are B 2 4 GODj THE GROUND OF ALL EXISTENCE. collected in that sacred book, we have preserved to us all that we can possibly know concerning the Truth of God. What he has breathed forth through his prophets — what he has embodied in the manifestation of his Son — what he has proclaimed throughout the world by his Apostles — this forms the whole of what the Christian can safely put his trust in, and resign his judgment to, as the infallible expression of the mind of God. No other declaration of doctrine or of duty can bind the conscience, because of no other can we positively affirm. Thus saith the Lord ! The opinions of holy men, the practices of early Christians, may be more or less in accord- ance with this primitive — this only primitive — record ; they may more or less develope the ideas of truth and holiness which in the word of God have been revealed ; but it is only just so far as, in our judgment, they do accord with that primitive record, only just so far as, to our honest conviction, they do develope the ideas of the Word of God, that they can regulate our faith or duty. They may afford us help for the understanding of Scripture ; they may show us the gradual expansion of the seeds of things embosomed in Scripture ; they may exhibit the more settled form of the Institutions shadowed out in Scripture ; but they can have for us no independent authority, they can claim from us no sepai'ate homage. No one, indeed, will undervalue the testimony of contemporary witnesses to the authenticity of a deed. No one would neglect the information which they may be able, from extrinsic sources, to furnish concerning the mind and purpose of the Author of that Deed. But still, the mere opinion of those witnesses what Judge will suffer to be put in as evidence ? And the decision of the cause must always turn at last upon the wording of the deed itself, so far as, on the best consideration of all the probabilities of the evidence, it shall commeLd its meaning to the deliberate GOD, THE GROUND OF ALL EXISTENCE. O judgment of the Court. But with the Christian, who must account to God, in person^ and on his sole responsibility, for his beliefs, as for his acts — this court must be set up within the sanctuary of his own heart, this judgment must be pro- nounced by his own conscience, with no concession of appeal but to the supreme tribunal of the Lord of all. " Holy Scrip- ture," says our Sixth Article, " containeth all things neces- sary to salvation : so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as an article of the Faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation." And what is true of the more diffusive writings of ancient fathers, who represent to us, — or seem to represent to us — the sentiments and practice of the Church of ages subsequent to the Apostles — is equally true of those more concentrated Summaries of doctrine which, from those ages, have come down to us. These are of use to us as showing what was then considered the essence of Christian truth. They are specially important as proving how few and practical were the earlier articles of Christian communion. But the autho- rity of those Articles, as regards our submission to them; the justification of the view they take of the essence of Chris- tianity ; all still depends on the degree in which those sum- maries commend themselves to us, as accurately collected from the Word of God, and rightly exhibiting the most es- sential elements of Christian truth. Creed." The use of such summaries of Christian faith is manifestly of very early date. To some confession of the kind the assent of Catechumens was required, before their admis- sion by Baptism into the Christian Church ; and hence such a Summary was called the Mathesis, or Lesson which formed the study of the pupils of the Church ; the Symbolum, or Token of fellowship with the Christian Community ; and the Canon, or Rule according to which the future sentiments of the baptized were to be regulated. The number of Summaries preserved to us, in different writers, shows that no universal form prevailed throughout the various Christian Communities, and that the title " Apostles' Creed" must refer, not to the origination of this Creed by the Apostles themselves (for this would have made all others unnecessary, nay presumptuous) but to its believed accordance with the facts and truths which they proclaimed.* We find this Creed, however, in the form in which we now possess it, in the works of Ambrose, as early as the Third Century after Christ. But its use in public worship was originally limited to the two seasons of Baptism, Easter and Whitsuntide; its recital at every celebration of divine service having been first enjoined by Gnaphius, Bishop '"" " There is found in the New Testament itself (1 Pet. iii. 21 : 1 Tim. vi. 12), some trace of a confession of faith being made at baptism ; and such confessions were afterwards enlarged so as to take in the main points in which Christianity stands opposed to Jews, heathens, and heretics. The object was to sum up in them those essentials of Christianity in which aU the churches were agreed. Men assured themselves that the doctrine expressed in those confessions descended from the tradition of the Apostles, that it was the doc- trine which those Apostles tJiemselves had preached with their own lips, and in their writings ; but no one imagined that the Apostles had composed such a confession Avord for word. It is in the first sense " (of agreement with the Apostolic doctrine) " that such a confession was called by them x'/i^vy/ua uTocrroXtfcov, and Tec^a^offts aToiTToXixyi. And it was the misapprehension of these terms which gave birth to the subsequent fiction that the Apostles themselves had literally set forth such a document." — Neander, Geschichte derChrht. Rd. 2. 535. I GOD, THE GROUND OF ALL EXISTENCE. 7 of Antioch, towards the close of the Fifth Century after Christ. But it is the substance of this Creed which renders it so deserving- of our attentive study. It sums up for us just those particular Facts and Revelations, recorded in the word of God, which are of the highest moment to our Spiritual welfare. It contains answers to questions which spring up unavoidably in the mind of every man who looks outward on the world in which he lives, or inward on the facts of his immediate con- sciousness""; and it propounds to us those answers as matter not of speculation but belief — not as intended to satisfy all the cravings of the understanding, but as sufficient to still the yearnings of the conscience and the heart. And who can ade- quately tell the pressing nature of such yearnings ? Who can adequately estimate the worth of answers, on divine Authority, to enquiries which affect our mental, moral, and spiritual, peace ? We are in the condition of children surrounded by objects of wonder, struck every moment by things whose nature, connexion, and bearing on ourselves we cannot under- stand, and therefore asking earnestly. What means all this ? The Facts of our position in the world we cannot shut our eyes to, yet we cannot understand. The necessities of our Nature cry out for relief. The instincts of our rational being press out towards something, which they know not, but which they " feel after if haply they may find it." Every thing be- fore us is imperfect, confused, fragmentary, mutilated. We want the completion of the design, the solution of the pro- blem, the putting together of the parts, the restoration of the ruin I And all this is just what the propositions of the Creed, as summing up the R.evelations of the word of God, respond to. Do we feel that we are limited beings ? hemmed in in space, in duration, in power ; with all things round us, also, fluctuating, unsubstantial, dependent ? The Creed declares to S GOD, THE GROUND OF ALL EXISTENCE. US a Being Unlimited, from whom we sprang, by whom we are sustained, and for whose use and glory we were formed. Do we feel that we are sinful beings — who cannot satisfy others or even ourselves, self- contradictory, self- con demned ? The Creed declares to us a Being Holy and Divine, who came into the world to save us from this state of Sin. And do we, equally, feel that we are /'eeZ'/e beings, — in understanding weak, in will uncertain, so that even our best desires, our holiest pur- poses, fail of execution ? The Creed declares to us a Being Wise and Powerful who can infuse new life into the mind, and heart and soul. God the Father, who made us and all the world — God the Son, who redeemed us and all mankind — God the Holy Ghost, who sanctifieth us and all the elect peo- ple of God, — these are the glorious Objects set before our faith, in these most practical Articles of our Belief! And now then let us fix our attention on the First set of Facts presented to us by the world without us and within us, to the enquiries rising out of which the First division of the Apostle's Creed affords an answer, drawn from the authorita- tive word of God. We are limited beings. Ourselves, and all the world in which we live, are manifestly bounded, and hemmed in on every side. And yet amidst this limitation of things we find ourselves so constituted that we can assign no limit to our thoughts. The very finiteness of the world awakens in us, by the force of contrast, the idea of infinity. The current of thought, which has been set in motion by the objects of time and sense, cannot be restrained within the bounds of time and sense : it flows on irresistibly towards the ocean of the spiritual and eternal ; and, dark as is that vast expanse before the men- tal eye, so that in vain we try to image to ourselves its Nature, we still are not the less convinced, — with a moral conviction — GOD, THE GROUND OF ALL EXISTENCE. 9 concerning its Existence. We are sure that in the very exist- ence of a world of sense there is implied the being of a world which is not of sense. The seen becomes to us the symbol of the Unseen — the imperfect of the Perfect — the finite of the Infinite — the restricted of the Absolute. In the midst of Multiplicity we are led to the Idea of Unity. In the midst of Appearances we learn to believe in Reality. In the midst of Change we recognize Permanence. In the midst of things acted on, each by each, we are obliged to travel up to the Idea of One original, universal, Agent and First Cause. Look only at the Multiplicity which this world presents to us. On every side, at every moment, particulars innumer- able are brought before us ; yet those particulars so connected with each other, so arranged in space and linked together in time, that we are forced to conceive of them as parts of one great whole. Looked at, indeed, in the detail, we count each object as itself a whole, possessed of individual being. Yet looked at in the aggregate, these manifold particulars go to make up in our mind the notion of an universal, for which universal the Reason supplies the Idea of a distinct and indi- vidual Life, a centralizing Unity, pervading, moulding, or- ganizing all. And this Idea it is which is embodied in the speculations of the earliest Philosophers when they dream of an impersonation of the Universe — or of a Soul of the world — or of a central essence spreading itself out in infinite expansion — an inward life evolving itself in endless outward manifestations. This Idea it is which has maintained a secret influence even where the sense of Unity has been broken into fragments by the individualizing puerilities of Polytheism.* *■ To No>?rav '^I'/ipyjx.a.fftv us n'oXXuv &i&iv t^iorvrus : they broke up the one Intelligence into many and several individualities. — Damascenus. Sophocles (as quoted from Clement in Pol. Syn. on Deut. vi. 4.) attrihutes b5 ]0 GOD, THE GROUND OF ALL EXISTENCE. For even where the deifying of the parts has gone to its fullest extent, and men have bowed down to gods many, and lords many, their very forms of speech betray a latent sense of an interior something, a Fate, a diviner nature, in the unity of which all gods, as well as men and things, are comprehended. " I hear the multitude," says an ancient Christian writer living in the midst of heathens, " when they stretch forth their hands to heaven, invoking the name not of gods, but God, and in their commonest forms of speech exclaiming * God is great I'— and, * God is true,' — and, ' If God vouchsafe this to me/ What is this natural language of the crowd but a confession of the Christian truth, there is One God ? " * And this Idea, then, it is, of which the full and clear enun- this depravation of the primitive trutli to the avaricious cunning of interested men: E/Ji TOUi OiX'/ldtiaifflV, iig IffT^V 6iO?, "Os ov^avov r 'iriv^i xu) youav fiux^av, Tlovrov ri ^a^oTov oi^f4,oi, xa) avif&uv Qla,?. QvYiTo) 01 ToXvxi^ita. TXa,VM[/,ivoi ©sojv ccyaXf^' Ix XtSlvuv, h ^vXuv, h ^etXxtuv ' H ^^uffortvxruv « \Xs.(poe.vTivu'i rvTTovs Qvo-ias 01 TovTots xec) xivoc; Tavnyv^Hi " One, assuredljr, only One, is God, who made the heavens, and the wide- extended earth ; the azure swell of ocean, and the mighty winds. But we mortals, deceived by greedy craftiness,t have made for ourselves images of gods, the solace in our afflictions, in stone, and wood, and brass, and gold, and ivory ; appointing to them offerings, and empty festivals, and fancying that such a work is piety ! " * And so the abstract terms ro hlov, 'h duorm, fo v-4"o-rov, numen, all indi- cate this latent conviction of one and the same divine essence pervading all. t " By the sleight of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive." Eph. iv. 14. " Teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake." Tit. i. 11. " By this craft we have our Avealth." Acts xix. 24. GOD, THE GROUND OF ALL EXISTENCE. 11 ciation is given in the inspired word of God, when it declares the existence, amidst all the diversities of place and time and people, the multiplicity of men and things, not indeed of a generalized impersonation, or of a mundane Soul, or of a self- evolving essence, or of an universal, all-compelling Fate, but of a One, distinct from the universe, apart from the universe, of different essence from the universe, and over all the powers of the universe supreme. *' Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is One Lord.'' Deut. vi. 4. " Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the Lord he is God, in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath : there is none else." Deut. iv. 39. " O Lord God of Israel, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth." 2 Kings xix. 1 5. " Thou art great, O Lord God ; there is none like thee, neither is there any God beside thee." 2 Sam. vii. 22. " Thou, whose name alone is Jehovah, art the Most High over all the earth !" Ps. Ixxxiii. 19. But look next at the Ajopearances — the ever-varying pheno- mena — which the world presents to us. All is mere outside surface. We find no substance ; nothing which we can come at as the ultimate ground of any visible thing, the real substra- tum of the accidents with which our senses are familiar. One surface after another is penetrated by the sharp-eyed zeal of philosophical experiment — one fold after another is removed from the face of Nature ; but all is surface still. " We do not know," says Newton, " the substance of anything. We see only the figures and colours of bodies, hear only sounds, touch only the outward surfaces, smell only odours, and taste tastes : we do not, cannot, by any sense or any reflex act, know their inward substances." And yet inward substance we are sure there must be ! As the base of all appearance we assume it by a law of our mental constitution. Our consciousness of per- 12 GOD, THE GROUND OF ALL EXISTENCE. sonal reality obliges us to recognize such reality in other beings. And thus in the midst of a world of mere Appear- ances — yea, because we find every thing to be but Appearance — we are led to believe in an unapproachable Reality, as the ground and the support of all. And from this conviction springs the second element of the Idea of God. Of The One as at the same time Real, Sub- stantial, Living : not a notion, but a Being — The Being of all beings — the Life of all life. Hence, on the temple of Apollo at Delphos, that single word of deepest import, el, " Thou art!" Hence, on the temple of Minerva, at Sais, that sub- lime inscription, " I am all that ever was, that is, that ever will be ; and no mortal has yet lifted up the veil which shrouds me." And hence the inspired declarations of the word of God, " In Him we live and move and have our being.' Acts xvii. 28. "In his hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind." Job xii. 1 0. " He is the living and true God." I Thess. i. 9. " I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come." Rev. i. 8. " I am that I am/' " I AM hath sent thee : this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial to all generations." Exod. iii. 14, 15. O the mysterious reality disclosed to us in that one single term " Jehovah !" — the self-subsisting Being, who hath life in him- self — who simply is — does not appear to be, but IS. 