ADDENDUM TO CHAPTERS VI. VII. VIII. A. D. 1834. ON TEACHING, FAMILY AND SOCIAL RELIGIOUS DUTIES, The preceding chapters on the ministry, contain a plain statement of the sentiment of Friends, that no verbal communications consist with the solemnity of public worship, but those which directly arise from the influence of the Spirit. We should consider ourselves as departing from the due maintenance of this important principle, even were we to admit the reading of the Bible in our meetings for worship. Well do we know that Holy Scripture was given forth by divine inspiration; but we also know that it may be read under a different influence; and that the selection of its parts for the use of a congregation is generally matter of merely human judgment. We therefore believe it to be far more consistent with our views of worship, to leave it to the Holy Spirit to impress its contents on the minds of our ministers, to be by them delivered to the people, or to suggest them to our own minds while we are engaged in silent waiting on the Lord. Now it is certain that there is nothing in these views which can interfere with the duty, or alter the desirableness, of the audible reading of the Bible on other occasions-in our schools, in our family and social circles, or in larger companies, when suitable opportunities occur. Neither is there any thing in the principles of Friends which precludes the exercise of the gift of teaching,1 in connexion with such audible reading of the Holy Scriptures. Narrow indeed would be our notions of the varied means through which the great Head of the church condescends to minister to the needs of his children, were we to suppose that the Spirit can move in only one channel, and can edify the body of Christ through only one gift.. "Now, there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are differences of administration, but the same Lord; and there are diversities of operation, but it is the same God who worketh all in all." I have already found occasion to observe, that to teach was a duty which often devolved on the overseers and elders of the earliest Christian churches; and there is reason to believe that this function was generally, if not always, connected with the reading of the Holy Scriptures-not, indeed, in meetings for divine worship, but on other occasions, whether private or public, of a somewhat more familiar character. To instruct the young and the ignorant in religious knowledge to give them a right understanding of the written word-and to convince the gainsayers, Rom. xii. 7; 1 Cor. xii. 28. 2 1 Cor. xii. 4-6. by adducing the proofs which it contains, that Jesus is the true Messiah—was, probably, one of the leading duties of those persons who were called of the Lord both to feed and govern the flock of Christ. They were at once "pastors and teachers.”3 Still it is to be remembered, that the gift of teaching, among the early Christians, as well as that of preaching, was exercised in obedience to the will of God, and under its own required measure of the Lord's anointing. That neither this, nor any other gift of the Spirit, is at our command, is a truth too obvious to require a single argument for its support. But I believe that we may be prepared for the reception of it by a diligent daily perusal of Scripture, by close watchfulness, and by earnest prayer; and it is equally clear, that when it is bestowed upon us, it is our duty to wait upon it, to watch for its right occasions, and to exercise it in humility and faith. On the other hand, by misapplying to this branch of the subject our testimony respecting the public worship of God, and the ministry of the gospel, we may throw ourselves out of the way of some of those benefits which the Lord, in his own love and wisdom, would graciously afford us. Under mistaken notions of spirituality, we may fold our arms together, and leave both our own minds, and the minds of our young people, in a state of ignorance—a state which neither comes from God, nor can ever be the means of leading to him. 3 Eph. iv. 11. Our understanding is bestowed upon us for wise and even holy purposes; without it we should be destitute of all capacities for our duties in life, and of all moral responsibility; and to commune with the highest intelligence, would be as impossible to us, as it is to the worm in the earth, or to the hyssop on the wall. Our intellect, therefore, must not be suffered to lie dormant-it must be cultivated not only for the purposes of life, but for those of eternity. Every one knows that this faculty is of necessity brought into use in the reading of the Scriptures, as well as in every other rational pursuit. Is it not then our obvious duty, by every means within our reach, to endeavour to obtain a right understanding of them, and to communicate that right understanding to those who are placed under our care? And may we not, in reverent dependence on the Holy Spirit, exercise our own faculties for the purpose? Can we, in fact, plead any excuse for not doing so, which is likely to avail us before the judgment-seat of Him, to whom we must render an account of the use of all his talents? It is a lamentable circumstance when, on conversing with young people, and even with persons of more advanced age, we find a want of common information and intelligence on the subject of religion. Such a want will, I believe, be generally found connected with a low moral and spiritual standard. The spirit of such persons will seldom soar, like the eagle, towards the centre of light and heat; it will generally be found loitering, with flagging wing, over the dust of the earth, and often in contact with its grosser pollutions. The principles which have now been advanced, have, for many years past, been usefully in operation, both in our public and private schools. It is generally understood amongst us, to be the bounden duty of our school-masters and teachers, to endeavour to bring their pupils to a knowledge of the Bible; to unfold its contents to them; to instruct them in its history, its prophecies, and its doctrines. That the consequence of these Christian endeavours, in many of our schools, has been an increase of piety, both in the teachers and scholars, no one who is well acquainted with these institutions will venture to deny. Testimonies to that effect, of a pleasing nature, have been multiplied upon us from various quarters; and it is evident that the great Head of the church has condescended to bless the diligent use of the means afforded us in his providence, for the spreading of Christian knowledge within our borders. Yet let it not be forgotten by the preceptors of children, that religious teaching, even in its elementary parts, requires a measure of the influence of the Spirit for its right performance; and that this influence can be expected only by those who are earnest in the cause, and who reverently depend upon that divine aid, without which they "can do nothing." But it is not only the inmates of our schools who require religious instruction; a somewhat higher de |