overlooked. Man was so widely sundered from his Maker, that a mediator was required to break the distance. But such a mediator must necessarily partake of my nature. If he is not divine, in touching him, I am still far from God; but if he is not human, I am unable to approach him at all. If, being only man, he is on my side the gulph, being only God, he is on the other, and to cross it remains an impossibility. The real humanity of Christ therefore is a precious truth to those who long to be re-united to their Heavenly Father. It was prominently held before the early Christians. There is one mediator between God and men, the MAN CHRIST JESUS. The apostle John declares that every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God.' And, as if to keep the reality of human nature before the minds of those who had such proofs of his deity, Jesus frequently spoke of himself as 'the Son of MÁN.'

"The world was in a state of moral stagnation. Philosophy had neither certainty nor power. Judaism had become dogma without spirit. Jesus came to exhibit truth with a living energy, so as to make it loved and practised. Men were spiritually dark, but he came as the 'light of the world.' They were dead, but he quickened them by coming amongst them as the life. That which was from the beginning, which we have HEARD, which we have SEEN WITH OUR EYES, which we have LOOKED UPON, and our HANDS HAVE HANDLED, of the word of life; for THE LIFE WAS MANIFESTED, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us; that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us, and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.' Here is Divine Socialism! Fellowship with one another, by fellowship with God, through the manifested life of God, in the 'Man Christ Jesus.' He did not merely declare that God was love, he came and exhibited it. He did not from heaven preach virtue, he dwelt on earth and lived it. We need to have truth embodied and brought near to us. We have symyathies with what is human, which cannot be felt towards that which is divine. Thus men have ever been prone to hero-worship, defying the wisest and strongest amongst themselves. Precept requires illustration; we look for example. But in in copying the best of human models, as these are all defective, we necessarily imitate their imperfections too. Men will not be better than their gods. The votaries of Bacchus, Mars, and Venus, will indulge in debauchery, cruelty, and lust. Jesus has supplied the great want of humanity, he has come as our Divine Hero. If we receive him as such, we shall resemble him. His example we may safely follow in every point. There needs but universal worship to be rendered to him, for earth to resemble heaven.

"As mere notions have little power, Jesus appealed to our senses by living among men. His whole life was a mighty sermon! And how eloquently did it appeal to men's hearts! This was the theology of the early Church. Before any creeds were drawn up, any system of doctrine prepared, the life of Christ filled the hearts and governed the actions of The gospel preceded the epistle. Why have we a four-fold version of that wonderful narrative, but to show us the importance of study

men.

ing it? The apostles did not so much preach theology as Christ. That first sermon by Peter when three thousand were converted, was a proclamation of Christ. Men were directed to him as a living Saviour. They were to exercise faith in him, not in Churches, creeds, and dogmas. 'Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.' "We preach Christ crucified.' The Galatians were reminded, though literally they had not beheld the Saviour, that 'before their eyes Jesus Christ had been evidently set forth crucified among them:'-so much was Paul's preaching an exhibition of Christ. "Christianity was inseparable from its founder. We may adhere to the Baconian philosophy and be ignorant of its author, or condemn his character when known. But Christianity is faith, love, and obedience exercised towards a personal Christ. Thus the apostles ever spake and wrote. But in later years the system has been divorced from its founder. Men have often been theologians without being Christians. Creeds, dogmas, systems, Churches, have usurped the place of Christ. Men have had faith in doctrines rather than faith in Jesus. In proportion as he, the Man Christ Jesus, has been lost sight of, Christianity has become formal, a philosophy and not a life. In wrangling about words, the voice of Jesus has been unheard; in disputing for the Saviour's seamless coat, the crucified one has been forgotten. We want now, what the world has always wanted, an earnest faith in a personal Christ. We need to feel him as a living presence, showing us, in his own conduct, how to live, and impelling us by the mighty force of love to walk in his steps."

Contemplate, then, the life of the Man Christ Jesus. He was 'born of a woman.' He was a partaker of our flesh and blood, not in semblance only, but with every human faculty and every natural infirmity. He was a helpless babe; a child, both in mind and body; he 'increased in wisdom and stature;' he hungered, thirsted, wept! What a proof of the love of God! How in earnest was he to save mankind, when he condescended to stoop so low to lift us up! And what dignity belongs to man! Christ wore my nature! Better than all pleas of abstract right-subversive of all sophistries of necessity and policy in justification of wrongdoing, is this great fact,-Christ was a Man! Dare I oppress my brother because he is poor, unlettered, weak, or because his skin is darker than my own? He is a man! and in trampling on him I insult the nature which Jesus for ever dignified!"

Perhaps the most forcible passage in this tractate is the one describing the objections some raise against Christianity, from the inconsistency of those who profess it :

sus

"You are asked to believe in Christianity, but you are picious of it and hold aloof, as if it were enlisted on the side of wrong. You perhaps are saying in reply to such appeals-I look upon Christianity only as one of the numerous systems by which the world is checked in its intellectual, social, and political progress. It has been employed as an engine for cramping the minds of men, and fastening on them the chains of a spiritual despotism more terrible than any mere physical thraldom. Its history has in great measure been one of contention, and its march tracked with blood. What terrible persecutions

has it instigated, inflicting tortures the mere recital of which makes the blood boil with indignation at the cruelties to which superstition may urge its votaries! What a gloomy record would a faithful history of the Church present, of bitter controversies, and political intrigues, and bloody wars, what a terrible picture of captives pining away life in dismal dungeons, and torture chambers ringing with the shrieks of their dislocated bleeding victims, and fires surrounded by demons in human form, in which not men alone, but delicate women and feeble children are being burnt to death, and all for the glory of God, and the truth of his gospel! And though such atrocities are no longer enacted, we have to thank the spread of enlightenment and liberal principles, for the spirit of persecution is still vigorous, and only needs opportunity for its manifestation. Evidence of this may be seen in the way in which free inquiry is often condemned, and opinions contrary to the received faith denounced, in the mode in which men are held up to scorn for their creed, and in the intolerance with which controversy is often waged on the most trifling points, between the numberless sects into which Christians are divided, leading a bystander to infer that if the tongue and the pen can exhibit so much ferocity, the rack and the stake, or, at least, the prison and the penal settlement would be invoked, were it practicable, in order to convince the heretic, and prevent the spread of his pernicious notions.'

''

"I see, moreover,' continues our friend, 'that the worst abuses have been defended, and the most salutary forms resisted, on the plea of Christianity. King-craft has been upheld by priest-craft, and tyranny has muffled itself up in the cloak of piety. Peaceable and loyal citizens have been deprived of political privileges because their religious opinions were thought to dishonour the gospel, and because they were too conscientious to pronounce a shibboleth which they did not believe. Injustice has been sanctioned under pretence of honour done to God. Christianity has been a plea for levying additional taxes, which have been wrung, not merely from professed friends, but from open foes, in order that if they refused the homage of the heart, they should, at least, render that of the purse, or as if the saints cared little for the former, if only they could make sure of the latter. I see that Christianity is only another competitor among the crowd of candidates for station, power, and wealth, nestling in palaces, creeping up to thrones, and luxuriating in the good things of this life. Í see its ministers aspiring to princes, intriguing at courts, controlling senates, enacting laws, and ruling with worldly authority vast nations of men. I see them assuming sacerdotal pre-eminence, claiming special Divine prerogatives, professing to dispense heavenly grace, and erecting for themselves a sovereignty over the consciences of men. I see others not open to such a charge, but still allied to the party of the wealthy few rather than that of the poor and toiling many, flattering the great, and excusing their crines, discouraging the cause of popular progress, advocating the continuance of things as they are, rather than labouring to make them what they should be, following the fashion of the world, votaries of respectability rather than of truth, without large sympathies and a generous desire, at any personal sacrifice, to promote the welfare of mankind, and, too often, more anxious to secure the fleece than to benefit the flock. I see Christians zealous for points of doctrine, but lamentably

apathetic in advancing the physical, intellectual, and social interests of men. I see them torn into factions, wrangling with each other on subtle distinctions, while advocating liberty of opinion for themselves, often practically denying it to others, and setting up their individual notion as tests of character, contending for creeds and formulas and ceremonies, rather than emulating one another in justice, and mercy, and love. I see religion assumed as a mask, behind which villany may be the more securely perpetrated, so that when I learn that a man professes to be pious, I am specially on my guard, lest he cheat me in business, or betray my confidence, or malign my reputation. I see Christianity sanctioning unjust wars, and banners consecrated by its priests, uplifted in front of desolating armies, and beckoning on to butchery and pillage, a furious and licentious soldiery. I see the aborigines of distant climes ever driven farther and farther back into the forest and the desert, and advantage taken of the petty ebullitions of their sense of unmerited wrong, to exterminate whole tribes in the name of a righteous vengeance, thus ever extending the limits of an already overgrown Christian' empire. I see that atrocious system which subjects one race of men to be the cattle of another race, and practically denies their claim to humanity, sanctioned and upheld by professors of the gospel, so that, from the auction mart, where they have for ever sundered the dearest ties, men will come to take part in a prayer meeting, and from flogging their slaves in the field, to preach to the saints in the Church. I hear that slavery derives its strongest support from ecclesiastical confederations, and that the Bible is quoted in its defence. I see-but time would fail me in enumerating all the reasons which I have for looking suspiciously at Christianity, as not the true friend of the many, the poor, and the oppressed.'

"We may think such a charge as this, in many points exaggerated, and in others altogether untrue, but, whatever our opinion of its validity, it is a fact that such a charge is made by multitudes, and felt by still more, who hesitate to give it expression. Such feelings as these are at the bottom of that indifference to religion which so lamentably prevails among the great masses of society, and it becomes Christians, instead of contemptuously closing their ears against such objections, to apply themselves vigorously to their refutation. What reply shall we make?"

Reviews and Criticisms in our next.

I.

CHRIST'S RELIGION.

"PROVE ALL THINGS; HOLD FAST THAT WHICH IS GOOD." 1 Thess. v. 12.

THE BATTLE OF LIFE, AND HOW TO WIN IT;
OR, THE MORAL OF OUR LORD'S TEMPTATION.

(Continued from page 103.)

CHAPTER

I V. SCENE I.

PASSION AND PRINCIPLE.

THIS first trial will appear to involve, fundamentally, the regulation of bodily appetites and passions; and to draw a distinction between their legitimate and improper gratification: this will plainly be seen, when we try its relation to all mankind. To prepare for this view of the subject, we need only consider, that Adam's first temptation is given under the same symbol—that of eating:-" And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."(Gen. ii. 15-17.) It may be proper here to observe, that some gross and latent views of the first sin are here sufficiently set aside, by the fact, that the tree of knowledge, of which Adam was not to eat, was pointed out, as existing, before Eve was created.

The temptation itself is described, Gen. iii. 1-6:-"Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat." Here the idea of

VOL. II.

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