CORRESPONDENCES. [In continuation from page 291.] Seek ye first the kingdom of God and its righteousness, and all thi gs shall be added unto you. Matt. vi. 33. It may be objected further, that by thus prying curiously into the secret counsels of God, and the mysteries of his wisdom, men may be led to neglect the weightier matters of religion, such as love, mercy, charity, humility, patience, and the faithful discharge of those duties to which they are called in their respective stations; they may fill their heads full of speculative knowledge, and leave their hearts empty of substantial good; they may labor more to the enlightening their understandings, than to the reforming their corrupt wills and lives; and thus they may fall under that severe denunciation pronounced by the Lord against all such deluded persons, "That servant which knew his Lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes ;" and in another place," If ye were blind, ye should have no sin, but now ye say, we see, therefore your sin remaineth." It * Luke xii. 47. † John ix. 41. VOL. I. Uu No. 8. is very true: Nothing can be more dangerous; nothing, therefore, is more justly reprehensible, than a mere curious opinionative knowledge even in divine things, if it be not attended with, or doth It was this not lead to a suitable PURITY OF HEART AND LIFE. consideration which drew from the apostle that censure; when comparing knowledge with charity he saith of it," It shall vanish away;" and in another place, " Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth." And yet we find the same apostle in other places passing high commendations on knowledge; as where he prayeth for the Ephesians, "That God would give unto them the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Jesus Christ ;" and for the Philippians," That their love might abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment."§ And agreeably to this prayer of the apostle's, we read in other parts of the sacred writings, the great advantages and even necessity of spiritual knowledge in order to the soul's attaining unto perfection in a godly life, as where it is written, " It is not good that the soul be without KNOWLEDGE; and again," My people are destroyed for lack of KNOWLEDGE; because thou hast rejected KNOWLEDGE, I will also reject thee; not to mention many other passages to the same purport. The truth therefore seems to be, that it is not knowledge, but the abuse of it, which is hurtful, and consequently reprehensible. Men, therefore, should not be discouraged in the pursuit of spiritual knowledge, only so far as they pursue it with wrong motives, or in a wrong spirit. If they seek to pry into the deep mysteries of holy things, merely to indulge a vain curiosity, or to build themselves up in a proud conceit of superior wisdom, without regard to real reformation of heart and life, through the humble spirit of love and charity, they then deserve the greater censure, as they will subject themselves to greater condemnation. But if in humility and the fear of the Lord, they seek the illumination of divine knowledge, as a principle of heavenly light for spiritual direction, to lead them in the ways of righteousness and regeneration, to confirm their faith, to purify their love, and thus to build themselves up in a godly life; if they study to be acquainted with heavenly mysteries, only that the spirit of truth may be more fully opened, and more powerfully operative in their wills, their understandings, and actions; what pursuit in this case can be more profitable, what * 1 Cor. xiii. 8. † 1 Cor. viii. 1. ** Prov. xix. 2. #Ephes. i. 17. tt Hosea iv. 6. more commendable than that of spiritual knowledge, or a diligent searching for the treasures of divine truth! Surely we may say of knowledge, sought after in such a spirit, and applied to such holy purposes, what is said in the prophet concerning Tyre, "Her merchandize and her hire shall be holiness unto the Lord.* "Every part of the WORD OF GOD, historical as well as prophetical, the (apparently) most trivial and insignificant circumstance recorded, as well as the most remarkable and important event, contain in them an INTERNAL OT SPIRITUAL sense, perfectly distinct from the sense of the LETTER, and yet veiled under it; and that whilst the sense of the LETTER of the sacred records treats only of EXTERNAL and NATURAL things, such as relate to persons, places, and events of this lower world, the INTERNAL OF SPIRITUAL sense treats at the same time of INTERNAL OF SPIRITUAL things, such as relate primarily to Jesus Christ Himself, and secondarily to His kingdom in the heavens, and His true Church here upon earth." Under the influence of such a persuasion in our own minds, we are willing to enforce it also on the minds of those for whose spiritual instruction all our labors are intended; believing it to be a thing of the utmost importance for all christians to be fully satisfied, not only concerning the authenticity and genuineness of the sacred scriptures, but also concerning that spirituality contained in their letter and history, by which they are so eminently distinguished from all other writings whatsoever, and which alone properly constitutes them what they are so generally called THE WORD of God. In making this repeated avowal of our sentiments, we are well aware that they are at once supported and opposed by many high human authorities, which would render it difficult to decide where the truth lies, if the decision rested only on the opinions of men. But it is happy for the christian church that this is not the case, inasmuch as the evidence of truth, in this, as in all other instances, is to be sought for, and found, not in the testimony of man, but of God; not in the human and fallible speculations of finite minds, but in the divine and consequently infallible attestations of the supreme and infinite intelligence. To determine, therefore, in what manner the sacred scriptures are written, and whether they contain an internal spiritual sense distinct from the letter, or are to be understood merely according to the sense of the letter, we are not left to the uncertainty of our own vain conjectures, nor yet to the greater hazard of calculation on the conjectures of others. We may possibly tremble, whilst we hear it asserted by one learned Isaiah xxxiii. 19. 340 prelate, "That the sacred penmen were, in some cases, left wholly to themselves; and that their natural qualifications were sufficient to enable them to relate things with all the accuracy they requir ed." And we may, perhaps, be equally concerned and surprised, to read in the works of another learned and right reverend author, that "When it is said that scripture is divinely inspired, it is not to be understood that God suggested every word, or dictated every expression ;" and in another place, (though without saying a word of the contrary declaration of St. Paul) "We may venture to pronounce, that in no one book of the Old or New Testament, which professes to relate past occurrences, is there a single instance of allegory." We may be told again by another celebrated writer, in one line, that "The WORD OF GOD, like His book of nature, teems with life;" and in the next line, we may find him darkening, if not contradicting his own position, by his own explanation of it, where he says, "Every part thereof is animated by incident and character." On the other hand, we may be taught by authorities equally respectable for piety, for learning, and for dignity, that the sacred scriptures of the Old Testament contain a sense "which is styled by divines the prophetical, evangelical, mystical, and spiritual sense." We may hear one to this purpose assert, that "The Therapeutæ (an ancient sect of the Jews) interpreted the scriptures of the Old Testament allegorically, and that being wont to seek out the spiritual meaning of the law, they more readily embraced the gospel, than those who looked no further than the outward letter."** We may read in the writings of another, that "As the historical sense of the holy scriptures is fetched from the signification of words, so the spiritual from the signification of those things which are signified by the words."tt We may, in like manner, hear a third testifying to "the double sense of prophecy;" and a fourth to "the conduct of the mystic allegory of the scriptures ;" and also to "the two-fold character of David, literal and allegorical ;"§§ and a fifth to the testimony of the See Bishop Law's Theory of Religion, quoted and sanctioned by the Bishop of Landaff in his Apology for the Bible, p. 108. See the Bishop of Lincoln's Elements of Christian Theology, part I. chap. i. p. 21. See ditto, p. 69. see Sermons by the Rev. T Gisburne, p. 174. See Bishop Horne's Preface to his Commentary on the Psalms, p. 10. **See Archbishop Wake on the Catholic Epistle of St. Barnabas. See Bishop Hall': Works, folio edition, p. 533. See Bishop Hurd's Introduction to the Study of the Prophecies. primitive fathers, "Who (says he) were unexceptionable witnesses to us of this matter of fact, that such a [spiritual] method of expounding the Psalms, built upon the practice of the Apostles in their writings and preachings, did universally prevail in the church from the beginning."* We may next consult Vitringa, Glassius, Witsius, Waterland, and other eminent writers who have discussed the subject; and yet, after all, the grand question will still remain to be asked and answered, viz. What is the testimony of God himself on this important point? In other words, what do the sacred scriptures themselves testify concerning themselves, the manner in which they are written, and the sense in which they are to be understood? [To bo continued.] DICTIONARY OF CORRESPONDENCES. [Continued from page 295.] ADULT age, that state of life in which man acts according to his own judgment and understanding. This is what properly constitutes an adult, and not so much the number of years which a person may have lived; although it is usual to say, that such or such an one is an adult, when he has passed his twenty-first year, because in that time he generally attains to such a state of intelligence and discretion, as to enable him to judge and act for himself. They who are in the affection of truth for the sake of truth, when they arrive at adult age, and come into the exercise of their own understandings, do not abide in the doctrinals of their particular church merely because they were educated therein, but examine and compare them with the woRD, to see whether or no they are agreeable to the truth; and then, after deliberate inquiry, and full conviction, they reject whatever is contrary thereto. They who die infants, are after death educated in heaven; and as they receive the instructions of intelligence and wisdom, they gradually put off their infantile appearance, till at length they become adult angels. They who die adults, carry with them into the other life the memory of terrestrial and material things, and with it a natural * See Bishop Horne's Preface to his Commentary on the Psalms, p. 21. |