with the world. It is diverting its talents to false issues-issues aside from its own definite line of action. It is guilty of partisanship. It is pandering to unhealthy passions, and stirring up wicked strife among brethren. We repeat, that, in many cases, it is obnoxious to this charge. Its own acts have awakened a sentiment of hostility, and not a few of the best men of the country are affected by it. The evil is now in its incipient stage, and it can be remedied. One course must be pursued, and matters will come right again, viz., the American pulpit must banish every thing from its discussions and appeals except the simple proclamation of the gospel as Jesus Christ taught it. The power of the minister is in that gospel alone; the character of the minister is derived solely from his relation to Christ as his representative. If he will preach that gospel in conformity with the New Testament model, he will preach the truth that will purify public opinion-the truth that will follow the merchant to his countingroom, the statesman to the halls of legislation, the sovereign to his seat of authority-the truth that will encircle all interests in its protective embrace, and sanctify all relations by its heavenly presence. Standing in his serene attitude beside the cross, patriotism will learn of him its lessons of devotion, forbearance, and integrity; philanthrcpy will bow its head to catch the anointing that has consecrated him; eloquence will light its torch at the Pentecostal flame that yet burns about his brow; and piety will go forth with his benediction to emulate the angel-host in ministering service to the world. Compare such a position-its high and hallowed motives, its eternal aims, its vast resources, and immeasurable results-with the low, paltry, disgusting conduct of men who lower the pulpit to the level of the hustings, and pollute the air of the sanctuary with the cant of demagogueism. What a universe of breadth and space is between them! Side by side place Judas kissing Christ into the arms of his murderers, and John watching through his death-scene for the last token of affection, and the extremes of character are not more vividly impressive.

The present position of the American pulpit, owing to the causes enumerated above, is calculated to awaken the solicitude of all patriots and Christians. Believing that a pure and powerful pulpit is the noblest inspiration to a nation's intellect, and the surest guarantee of its conservative virtues; believing yet further, that it is the leader of its intercessions in the hour when danger invokes the special aid of Heaven, and the appointed channel through which the blessings of Christianity ordinarily flow to men, we cannot be otherwise than sensitive to its moral and spiritual condition. No people are more ready than our countrymen to respect and honor the pulpit so long as it maintains its true character, and none are more jealous of it if the taint of priestcraft affects it. A state of things is now beginning to exist in connection with the pulpit that demands attention, and hence the propriety of the question-What shall be done? The peculiarities of the age as related to religious movements must first be carefully considered, if the question, "What shall be done?" be properly an swered. Christianity has given birth to a large class of semireligious institutions, that are working effectually for the improvement of mankind. Indeed, of late years, no small degree of its power has appeared in the moralization of society rather than in its absolute Christianization. In this way ministers have been brought into close

SERIES IV.-VOL. VI.

28*

contact with the world on its own grounds. A vast amount of good has been thus effected. But we must not lose sight of the dangers that lie in ambush along these popular paths. A religious worldliness is easily generated in the midst of these influences, and ere he is aware, the minister of the sanctuary is led into a secular temper of mind, that soon becomes apparent in his style of treating religious subjects, and in his pulpit demeanor. Apart from this sort of exposure to a worldly atmosphere, a pulpit of any mark is now a matter of newspaper notoriety. The patronage of the press is bestowed on the fine preacher, and his discourses are reported for breakfast-table chat. Criticism has its eyes and ears open, and hard it is for the preacher, who ought to be the most disinterested and unconscious of speakers, to avoid the temptation of being an actor in the sight of the great public. Then, too, is the vitiating method of constantly advertising sermons on this or that topic-a eatchpenny system, that deserves a hearty rebuke. The famous horn of the mock Angel Gabriel is ludicrous enough, but these small tin trumpets that every Saturday squeak a thin stream of clerical vanity into the public ear, is a violation of all ministerial modesty and dignity. In brief, the desire for popularity is misleading some and corrupting others. "What, then, shall be done?" The remedy is simple, viz., to correct these bad habits to reform all abuses, and to restore the pulpit to its original office of evangelizing the world by the simple, honest, faithful proclamation of Christ's gospel, in Christ's spirit, for Christ's glory.. Above every thing else, there is now wanted a profound and earnest faith in the power of Christianity to create a noble race of men and women a race that shall repeat the wonders of apostolic piety, and move the world to reverence and love.

Amidst the dangers that now threaten the decline of ministerial usefulness, let us think of those ancient days when Christianity went forth, fresh and free, to subdue the nations of the earth. Not then did it seek an alliance with any attractive worldliness. Not then did it covet the testimonials of philosophy and art to seal its pretensions. The magnificent possessions of Cresus, the famous Pericles, the renown of Cleopatra, the achievements of Cæsar-what were they to a religion that preached poverty of spirit, self-denial, tribulations, and death. as the badge of discipleship and the preparation for immortal rewards? It then relied on God's presence. It was content to speak in God's name. It was satisfied with God's approbation. The strength of man could not help it. The ancestral honors of Judea availed nothing in its behalf; and the pride of Grecian wisdom was. humbled beneath its scorn. The mighty eagle that had swept the world gave not a single feather to the champions of the cross. friends of Christianity then, felt that it was competent to create its own nobility, in the persons of regenerated men and women, and in this trust it conquered. The same law yet stands. Christianity is a divine witness to each generation, and it must rule in God's right. Authority may offer its aid, but it will retire from its presence, rebu ked for its follies and abashed by its crimes. Intellect may come and report, through Newton, its triumphs in the far heavens; through Cook, its explorations of the sea; through Davy, the discoveries of chemistry; through Humboldt, the harmonies of a vast Cosmos. It may sing the great oratorio of the world's sadness in the strains of

The

Milton, or inspire a loftier eloquence than has yet entranced the world. But these all are insignificant compared with the doctrine of Christ crucified as the wisdom and power of God. It is this doctrine that gives an emphasis to all thought a sublime import to all life. It is this doctrine that lifts up the humblest struggle to the height of a grand warfare. Out from fishers' huts and rude forest homes this doctrine brings the chosen men whose battle-ax cleaves the heart of the world. It is to this doctrine that we are indebted for our Luthers, our Knoxes, our Whitfields, and Wesleys; and if the pulpit of to-day were baptized by the outpouring of its spirit, this morbid, restless, turbulent age would find its perfect peace in the bosom of God.

NATURE OF THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE-No. III.

WHEN it is clearly understood that the true Christian faith is simply a personal trust in Christ as the Messiah, the Son of God, and that the true Christian "Confession of Faith" is an acknowledgment of this trust, we have at once a satisfactory solution of the much vexed question concerning the nature and the necessity of creeds. It then becomes evident that creed-makers have wholly mistaken, not only the subject matter of the Christian faith, but the very nature of the faith itself, and have substituted confidence in intellectual "views," for a heart-felt personal reliance; and doctrinal opinions, for a living Saviour. And when, furthermore, we investigate, as we have just done, the true nature of what is properly termed "the doctrine of Christ," and perceive that this has respect to conduct and not to tenets, and that it presents rules and motives of action, and not the propositions and formulas of Theology, the whole foundation on which it is possible to erect a doctrinal creed is wholly swept away. Christian knowledge is no longer to be confonaded with Christian faith, or to be divorced from Christian duty. The simple truths inculcated by Christ and the apostles for the guidance of practical life, are no longer to be made the basis of any theory, designed to replace the great proposition announced from Heaven by the Father himself, at the baptism of Jesus, and declared by Christ himself to be the rock on which his church is founded. Human opinions and speculations, on the contrary, thus disconnected from the things both of faith and duty, and dethroned from their usurped dominion over the conscience, are at once reduced to their proper insignificance; and the teachings of Christ assuming their true position, are no longer the play-things of a childish opinionism, but the substantial instruments of a real practical obedience; they are no longer objects of contention,

but means of harmony; no longer the belligerent "proof-texts" of opposing theories, but the pure and peaceful wisdom of the Christian life.

As it is always interesting to distinguish from each other things that are different, and as it is also most important to do this in regard to the things of salvation, let us endeavor to trace, with still greater clearness, the boundary between the Christian faith and the Christian doctrine. In thus distinguishing, we shall learn how to define them; and, in defining, we shall be enabled to comprehend their appropriate position and their real nature.

Let it be observed, then, that to "believe Christ" in the usual sense of the expression, is one thing, and to "believe IN Christ," is quite another. To believe Christ, is simply to receive any of his teachings as true. To believe IN Christ, is to receive Christ himself, and to trust in him in all his personal and official character, as he is revealed to us in the gospel. In thus receiving Christ, we receive him not only as our High Priest and our King, but also as our Teacher, and we will, then, of course believe his sayings. Hence, when we believe in Christ, it necessarily follows that we will believe Christ.

On the other hand, it is quite possible for men to believe Christ, without at all believing in Christ. There are multitudes who receive the sayings of Christ, not because of their confidence in Him as a Divine Teacher, but because they approve the pure morality and the sublime principles which he developed. The intrinsic beauty and obvious wisdom of his instructions, compel the admiration and the intellectual homage of the world, but this is quite compatible with the utter rejection of his Messiahship, both formally and practically, and the entire absence of an interest in Him as the Saviour of men. To receive Christ as the Saviour, implies a consciousness of our lost and sinful state; an entire self-renunciation, and an implicit reliance upon him alone for wisdom; and not for wisdom only, but for righteousness also; for sanctification and for redemption. If it can be supposed possible for any one truly to receive Christ as a Divine Teacher, and thus to believe on him in this respect, without receiving him in his whole character and office as revealed in his own life and teachings, then such a one cannot be regarded as believing on Christ, in the true and scriptural import of the expression. Christ was not sent into the world in order that men might merely believe him, as they might believe a Socrates or a Plato, but that they might believe on him in his entire work of human salvation and in all the relations which he sustains. It is both the will and "the work of God," that men should thus "believe on Him whom He hath sent," and nothing less than this can be regarded as the Christian faith..

But, when the question is closely considered, it is apparent that he only who thus believes in or on Christ, in his whole character, personal and official, can be truly said, in the full and proper sense, to believe Christ. For it is he only who accepts, in its entire meaning, the great fundamental truth that Jesus is the Son of God, and receives this declaration, as well as all the other sayings of Christ, as of Divine authority. Others, as before remarked, may be said, in a certain limited sense, to believe Christ, because they believe his teachings from their own convictions of the excellence of the teachings themselves; but the Christian believes Christ because he believes on Him. Hence it is said that those who truly receive Christ and obtain the privilege of becoming Sons of God, are those who "believe on his name." "He that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." Again: since he that does not believe Christ as to the great fundamental truth which he announced, and for which he died, gives evidence that he does not believe on Him, so it is further declared, that while "he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, he that believeth* not the Son, shall not see life."

It is worthy of special remark, that life and salvation are no where promised to those who believe Christ, unless where the declaration of his Messiahship is the thing believed.† To believe this, as announced by Christ, is both to believe him and to believe on him. The sublime truth that "Jesus is the Messiah the Son of God," is thus the Christian's creed, which is to be received, it matters not how or by whom declared, whether by Moses, by the Father, by the Son himself, or by the apostles. The proposition itself is true, and in believ ing it we believe the person who announces it. Hence Jesus says: "Though I bear record of myself, my record is true, for I know whence I came and whither I go." Still, though thus true in itself, the credibility of the declaration is not suffered to rest on Christ's assertion alone. "It is written in your law," said He to the Jews, "that the testimony of two men is true. I am one that bear witness

* There is an admirable propriety in the language of the original here, which does not appear in our translation. In the first clause we have Torεvov is TOV vov, but here the verb is changed, and we do not have, as in English, the same one repeated with a negative, but arɛilwv rw vw, which implies more than a simple absence of faith, and is not the exact opposite of GTEVwv, since it involves the idea of a perverse will, a practical rejection or wilful disobedience, a refusing to confide or trust. Hence it is rather the opposite of πιστεύων εις, and might properly be rendered, "believeth not on the Son," or "trusteth not in

the Son."

† John x. 36-37.