Popery Part 1

Popery.

by Edward h.o.a.re.

RULES.

I. That this Society be called "THE ISLINGTON PROTESTANT INSt.i.tUTE."

II. That the objects of the Society be to awaken the attention of Protestant Christians to the progress of Popery; to call forth and unite their energies in opposing it; and to form a rallying-point, as well for the defence and promotion of Protestant truth, as for the maintenance of the Protestant principles of the Const.i.tution.

III. That the princ.i.p.al means for the attainment of this object be: the issue of suitable publications; the enrolment of the names or members; public meetings, lectures, and sermons; addresses and deputations to Parliamentary representatives; pet.i.tions to the Legislature, or the Sovereign; and correspondence with kindred societies, with a view to obtain and communicate information.

IV. That the Society be conducted by a President, Treasurer, Committee, and two Clerical and two Lay Secretaries.

V. That Members be of two cla.s.ses:-

1. That every person contributing a Donation of Five Guineas or upwards, at one time, or an Annual Subscription of Five s.h.i.+llings or upwards, be a Subscribing Member.

2. That every person from among the operative cla.s.ses, who shall be recommended by two Subscribing Members, be admissible as a Free Member, subject to annual re-election.

-And that all members be ent.i.tled to attend the General Meetings of the Society, and to receive the Annual Reports, and other publications, as far as the funds will admit, preference being given to the Subscribing Members, to whom also the privilege of voting will be confined.

VI. That a Committee be annually elected, consisting of thirty Lay Subscribing Members, together with all Clergy resident in the parish who are likewise Subscribing Members of the Society, with power to fill up vacancies. That this Committee elect, either from among themselves or from other Subscribing Members, District Sub-committees, with a view to carrying out the objects of the Society generally in the parish.

VII. That the General Committee receive the Reports of the District Sub-committees; determine on the admission and annual re-election of Free Members, in pursuance of Rule V.; regulate all matters of expenditure; suggest plans for general adoption; and supply such publications as may be required for distribution.

VIII. That all publications circulated by the Society be first approved by the General Committee, and bear the stamp of the "ISLINGTON PROTESTANT INSt.i.tUTE."

IX. That the General Committee meet on the third Monday in every month, and oftener, if needful. Five members to const.i.tute a quorum.

X. That an Annual Meeting of the members of the Society be held in the month of November, on such day as may be fixed by the General Committee; when the proceedings of the foregoing year shall be reported, the accounts presented, and the Officers and Committee chosen.

XI. That the Secretaries shall call a Special General Meeting on the requisition of not less than twenty Subscribing Members; that such requisition be in writing, and specify the object for which the meeting is to be summoned; and that not less than seven days' notice be given, by circular, to the Subscribing Members of the Society.

XII. That none of the Rules of the Society be repealed or altered, nor any new ones adopted, but at the Annual Meeting, or at a Special General Meeting called for that purpose.

XIII. That all Meetings of the Society be opened with prayer, and closed with benediction.

XIV. That it be earnestly recommended to all the members of this Society to make its important object and plans a subject of special and frequent prayer, both in private and in the family.

N.B. 1. Contributions in aid of the Inst.i.tute will be thankfully received by any of the officers.

2. As the pecuniary qualification for Members.h.i.+p has been fixed at the low rate of 5_s._, and as every Subscribing Member receives, in the form of publications, considerably more than an equivalent for that sum, it is obvious that the Society can only be maintained by the liberality of such as can afford to contribute more largely to its Funds.

3. All the publications of the Inst.i.tute may be purchased at Mr.

Jackson's, Bookseller and Publisher, Islington Green.

4. Parties contemplating the formation of similar Societies in any part of the country, are cordially invited to correspond with the officers of the Inst.i.tute, who will also be thankful for any authentic information and friendly communication from Societies already in existence.

THE ACCOMMODATION OF CHRISTIANITY TO THE NATURAL HEART.

THERE are two points of view in which every system may be regarded-its external action, and its internal principle. We may examine either the great effects of its machinery, its plans, its purposes, its advances, and its perils; or we may trace its inner principle, and endeavour to detect the secret spring by which the whole is set in motion. It must at once be obvious that this latter inquiry is by far the more difficult; for our attention is directed rather to the philosophy than the action of the system; and we are called to examine the subtle tendencies of the human heart, which, of course, are more difficult both of detection and exhibition than the great, broad, startling facts which lie on the surface of the world's history. This difficulty I have seriously felt in the preparation of the present lecture, the subject of which, is, "Popery the accommodation of Christianity to the natural heart." The subject plainly requires that we should study the secret working of the natural heart, and should also examine into the corresponding principles of Popery, in order to discover their mutual accommodation, and to show how the whole system of the one is dexterously fitted to allay the fears and supply the cravings of the other. Throughout, therefore, we have to deal more with principles than with facts. I must ask your forbearance, therefore, if the lecture a.s.sumes a somewhat abstract form, and contains but few of those startling statements which abound in the history of Popery, and which are of the utmost importance in arousing the dormant Protestantism of the land. But yet, as facts are but the development of principles, I must ask the attention of thinking minds, and earnestly beg the candid consideration of all those Christian friends, whose desire it is to be established in the truth.

In its _outward dress_, then, and _external presentation_, we see at once that Popery adapts itself to the natural man. The Bible presents the Gospel to us in the most unmixed simplicity; the fruits of the Spirit are its choicest ornament, and the humbling of the heart is its proudest triumph. It goes to the unlettered cottager, places the Bible in his hand, and gives him the saving promise, "Believe in the Saviour as there revealed, and live." In the external aspect of such a system there is nothing to catch the natural eye; to the man who is not taught by the Spirit, there is nothing peculiarly lovely in its fruits, and to the person who is not influenced by his grace, as there is nothing to charm the senses, so there is little to attract his favourable regard. But Popery, in presenting a spurious Christianity, has dressed it up in all the meretricious ornaments of sense. It has summoned to its aid all that may allure the natural tastes, so that if it fail to win the heart, it may at all events enlist the eye and ear in its behalf. Thus there is no natural taste which is not pre-eminently gratified by Popery. The lover of music and the fine arts will find his highest delight while he hears the sounds of the well-sung anthem thrilling through the vaulted roofs of a magnificent cathedral. The admirer of architecture will draw a contrast unfavourable to truth when he compares the n.o.ble ruins of Tintern Abbey with the simple church on the hill side that overhangs it.

The antiquarian is provided with an ample supply for the spirit of research in the legends, the bra.s.ses, the ruins, and above all, in the claim it sets forth of resting its pretensions on a far-gone antiquity: while the ignorant and superst.i.tious find all their wishes satisfied in the relics, the charms, the pilgrimages, the holy coats, the miracles, and the whole tissue of fanatical deception with which the system abounds. The effect upon such minds is proved by the fact, that in those countries where Popery prevails, there appears to be no room for all the new schemes of quackery which abound in our own. The Church has secured a complete monopoly, and finding that poor death-stricken man is ever craving after some unnatural mitigation of his woe, has undertaken to supply his utmost necessities, and to furnish a thousand charms and remedies to hush his longings, if it cannot cure his ill.

But if this were the only manner in which Popery adapts itself to the natural man, there would be comparatively little cause for complaint.

There is no sin in an attractive exhibition of the truth, nor is it wrong to enlist the tastes in favour of the Redeemer's kingdom, for the Apostle to the Gentiles was himself "made all things to all men." So soon, however, as the truth itself is modified in order to suit the prejudices or inclinations of those to whom it is addressed, the accommodation from that moment becomes sinful in its character. Now it is impossible to study the records of Romanism without perceiving that it is perpetually guilty of this sinful modification. Thus in different countries it a.s.sumes different external aspects. In catechisms for the Irish, for example, it omits the second commandment, while in those for England it generally inserts it, adapting itself in each case to what it considers that the people's mind can bear. In China the Jesuist missionaries actually went so far as to omit from their teaching the great fact of the crucifixion, because they considered that a truth so humbling would be unwelcome to that proud and self-sufficient people. The foundation of Christianity was removed in order to accommodate it to the pride of the natural heart.

Thousands of other instances might be adduced to show the pliability of the system. It is like the camelion, and varies its colour according to the soil on which it treads. It will even preach justification by faith in those parishes where the people have learned the value of that blessed truth; while, at the very same moment, in the decrees of the Council of Trent, it levels its anathemas against those who venture to maintain it.

In Protestant countries it will be foremost in its denunciations of idolatry, while in others, where the people are prepared to bear them, it will fill its churches with its idols. In all cases, it accommodates itself to the existing bias of the mind addressed.

But these things are rather the dress of Popery than its essence; they form the apparel with which she has arrayed herself in order to appear before the world, but they do not const.i.tute the real deep secret of her strength. They are nothing more than the paint upon the cheek, the arts which the system has a.s.sumed, but are not the source from which the system itself has sprung.

To this _inner source_, then, we have now to turn our thoughts, and we have to shew that Popery has founded itself upon the essential truths of Christianity, but has so altered and perverted them by addition, by subtraction, and by alteration, as to accommodate them to the wants of unconverted men.

And here we must just remark, that Popery did not at any time appear ready made on the world's platform. It was not like Mahometanism, which was constructed by one man, and brought out complete after a certain retirement from the world; but it was like the growth of a little horn, commencing with soft and unnoticed buddings, until, as time advanced, it acquired length and strength, and hardness. In fact, the process has been very much that which we see in dissolving views; you look at one time at a given picture, and at the very time that you moat admire it, certain lines become fainter, and others stronger, so that after a while you discover that the whole landscape is completely changed. You have had your attention fixed throughout, but the change has been so gradual, the fading and brightening of the different parts so imperceptible, that though you now see the lofty tower where a few moments back the cattle were grazing in the meadow, you are at a loss to decide when the change commenced, or what were the distinct steps of its accomplishment. Just so it has been with Popery. Men began by looking at Christianity; they beheld its beauty and admired it; but as they looked, a faintness gradually crept over its outline; its finest touches began insensibly to disappear; the lines of a new picture by degrees took their place, till at length the whole scene became changed, and instead of Christianity we found Popery; instead of Christ we saw Antichrist exalted in his room.

Our business to-night is to shew that this transformation is the work of the natural heart when brought into contact with the Gospel: and in doing this, there are a few general principles which it is important we should clearly understand in the outset.

The first of these is, that every living man has a certain conviction of G.o.d's existence, combined with a sense of right and of wrong naturally implanted in his heart. This may be deadened and perverted, but it is implanted there at birth, and has remained amidst the wreck of our ruined nature. We do not require revelation to a.s.sure us of the sin of murder, nor could any doubt the duty of obedience to parents, even if there were no sanction for it in the written word. Bishop Butler says, "Let any plain, honest man, before he engages in any course of action, ask himself,-Is this I am going about right, or is it wrong? Is it good, or is it evil? I do not in the least doubt that the question would be answered agreeably to truth and virtue."

A second universal fact is, that every living man has sinned against this natural law; that there never has been a single individual in the whole race, who has not, in countless instances, done that which he by the light of nature has known to be offensive to the mind of G.o.d.

A third fact is, that there is within every heart a certain faculty which is termed conscience, which sits like a judge, and pa.s.ses sentence on every action we commit. Like a sensitive nerve, it feels the approach of sin, and, unless it be completely seared as with an hot iron, it is ever sounding within the heart the still small voice of just reproach. Thus every man in a state of nature is uneasy; he may endeavour to palliate sin, and discover excuses for its commission; but he cannot altogether shake off the sense of it. A consciousness of insecurity hangs around him. He is not ready to die; he has no joy in the prospect of the advent; and, though he may have some undefined hope of mercy, he knows nothing of the calm peace of the child of G.o.d.

A fourth remark is, that this uneasiness is increased just in proportion as such a character is brought into contact with the Gospel.

There are thousands who feel the power of the Gospel, but who never know its grace. It throws its light beyond the range of its salvation, and just in proportion as that light breaks in upon a natural heart does it quicken conscience, and revive the uneasiness of sin. When the revealed word is never presented, the law of nature becomes gradually obscured, and the voice of conscience gradually silenced, so that the uneasiness begins to die away, and a fatal apathy by little and little creeps insensibly over the soul. But when the revealed word reaches the mind, even though the heart be never new-born by the Spirit, conscience regains much of its power, the waters of the heart are stirred up and troubled, and the sense of uneasiness rises afresh with renewed vigour in the soul.

Hence it follows that the sense of uneasiness is always strongest amongst the unconverted members of the visible Church. By their outward profession they are brought into the closest contact with the Gospel, and therefore, if not saved by it, they above all others are rendered most uneasy by its holiness. Whatever effects therefore are likely to result from this uneasiness, those we should expect to find in greatest strength within the limits of the visible Church. Accordingly, within those very limits, we find that which I believe to be its great and chief result, viz., Popery.

That men under such circ.u.mstances must seek out a remedy is perfectly obvious, and that there is only one remedy provided by the Lord is equally plain to the student of the Scriptures. That remedy is the free grace of G.o.d in Christ Jesus. Let a man be really brought to believe in Him, let him be taught by the Spirit to take home the blessed truth that the whole burden of his blackest sin has been laid on Jesus, and that a pardon, free, immediate, and complete, is granted to the guilty man who stands in Christ, so that "now there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit," and that man being justified by faith has peace with G.o.d. But then he is taken out of the rank of natural men, and, by the new birth, he is separated unto the kingdom of his Lord; he ceases to be a natural man, and all his peace now flows into his soul through grace.

But suppose this change does not take place, what then? The uneasiness still remains, and the contact with the Gospel only quickens it. The conscious heart therefore is forced back upon its own remedies, and these remedies are of two kinds. The first is Infidelity. The heart struggles to get free from the sense of condemnation by clearing itself if possible from the sense of a G.o.d. When conscience convicts of sin, Infidelity steps in and strives to hush its voice, saying, "Thou shall not surely die;" and when the heart persuades the man that he is guilty, he strives to find a refuge in the soothing voice of unbelief, which pretends to teach that there is no G.o.d to judge him.

But such a remedy cannot satisfy. There is such a deep conviction of G.o.d in the heart, and such unbounded and irresistible proofs of his presence throughout creation, that no man can really rest in such a system. Even Paine himself, when the vessel in which he was crossing to America was on the point of sinking, cried out in his alarm, "Lord Jesus, save me." And Voltaire, with all his blasphemous daring, six weeks after he had said he should die of glory, did die in all the agonies of despair. The nurse who attended him refused many years afterwards to nurse a devoted Christian Protestant, because she confounded a Protestant with an Infidel, and declared that she never again dare witness such horrors as she had seen in the chamber of Voltaire. So it is told of one who moved not many years back in the centre of Infidel society, that on one occasion, being seized with severe illness at midnight, and dreading the near approach of death, the terror-stricken sufferer sent for an intimate friend, and on his arrival, addressed him in words to this effect. "I fear I am dying, and I am greatly alarmed; so I have sent for you to remind me of the arguments which prove that there is no G.o.d." A fearful confirmation of a remark once made by a Unitarian to a beloved relative of my own-"Our principles are very well while you live, but they won't do to die upon."

Thus there is no real peace secured by Infidelity, as it cannot still the conscience, and leaves the heart in as much uneasiness as ever. There appears, therefore, no remedy left for the unconverted man. The Gospel is presented to his view, and the effect is to fill his heart with fear.

If he were altogether to accept it, he would be at peace; or if he could altogether reject it, then perchance, he might be at ease; but now there is so much power in it, that he cannot altogether shake it off; while, at the same time, there is so much opposed to all his will in it that he will not by faith embrace it as his own. The only hope that remains in such a case is to discover, if possible, some modification of the Gospel-some system which will profess the grand principles so as not to violate his deep and irresistible convictions, but which at the same time will so modify those principles in their practical application, that it may still the conscience without a change of heart, and give him something that he may rest in as a subst.i.tute for peace, while, at the same time, it leaves him still a natural man, with his heart unchanged, and his will unsubdued by the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

Now Popery is neither more nor less than this modification of the Gospel.

It retains enough of its fundamental principles to satisfy the conviction that it is the truth of G.o.d, while, at the same time, it so modifies and alters them in their application to the individual as to still his conscience, even in those cases where it fails to change the heart.