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much of "romantic attachment" to the old forms of education at our universities, and still think so highly of them as salutary for the mind, and a basis for ulterior labours, that it requires an effort of abstraction and reason to reconcile it to our feelings to deduct two years from the usual course; and we should prefer, were it generally convenient, which we fear it would not be, that the student should reside at college for theological study, a year after taking his degree, the degree being perhaps somewhat anticipated, as proposed by Dr. Adams in his commencement sermon at Cambridge in 1830. But if this could not be generally carried into effect, on account of the additional time and expense, Mr. Raikes's plan would well deserve a trial. It is at least simple and feasible, and would, we believe, be in a good measure efficient, provided the theological tuition was what it ought to be.

We have often thought that somewhat might be done in our cathedrals, to make them, as some of the Reformers proposed, schools for theological education, and seed-beds to the church. We will not, however, discuss this point at present, both because it would take us too far from the book before us, and because we purpose devoting a few pages to the important question of cathedral reform in our next Number. We will only say at present, that if the violent hand of spoliation is to be effectually warded off, the most likely means to effect this object will be to make these seats of ecclesiastical dignity and emolument so obviously and practically useful, that no man who has the least regard for religion or the church, would wish to curtail their revenues, or diminish their splendour. Chancellors, archdeacons, and deans, are more or less working officers, though not in every case to the extent that might be desirable; but canons, prebendaries, or other dignitaries who succeed to a portion of the emoluments designed for those who in the times of Popery had much

to do in celebrating masses for delivering souls out of purgatory, but whom Protestantism has emancipated from such vain and onerous offices, might surely, under a well regulated plan, superintend a school of theological instruction, deliver lectures to the students, and in other ways benefit the church and diocese. But more of this hereafter.

Our much respected and judicious author proceeds to lay a solid foundation for his argument by shewing the necessity of a regular education for the Christian ministry, and the limits which should be assigned to it. He admits, indeed, the apophthegm of Bishop Burnet, that much piety with little learning will, by the blessing of God, effect more than much learning with little piety: but this does not prove that learning, when brought into subjection to the cross of Christ, is not of great and essential value. Besides, even in those cases where there has been much usefulness with moderate scholarship, Mr. Raikes most justly remarks, there might be peculiar qualifications in the things which were most important and indispensable, notwithstanding the defects in other matters.

dered illiterate, if tried by the standard of "A man, for instance, may be consihuman attainments, who still may be, like Apollos, mighty in the Scriptures. He may be destitute of outward graces, and still may be able to speak to the souls of his hearers with a power which they cannot gainsay or resist. He may be ignorant of this world's wisdom, and still be deeply read in the intricacies of the human heart. He may have received none of those artificial assistances by which man endeavours to supply the want, or to increase the effect, of natural powers; and still he may have been endued with shall set all the feeble imitations of man an unction and a power from above, which at defiance. It is easily possible to conceive a person such as this; one who should be to all appearance destitute of in a degree which education cannot reach, education, and who should still possess, that great power of moving men's minds, for which it is the office of education to prepare the preacher; and who, in his and inwardly digested, should have obBible only, thus read, marked, learned, tained just the only knowledge that is wanted for the work of the ministry; the

knowledge, without which no saving effect can be produced; but with which, when duly and affectionately exerted, the man, whosoever he may be, becomes at once a scribe rightly instructed unto the kingdom of heaven." pp. 31-33.

But this very alleged case of great utility without what is by many considered essential learning, leads to the essence of the whole question; namely, that the chief qualification, so far as schools and study can qualify, is that which this supposed unlearned man possessed in a very high degree,- —a thorough knowledge of the word of God. Most delightful is it to us to observe the explicitness and Christian boldness with which

our author, himself an examining chaplain, lays down and urges this important proposition. The candidate for holy orders has been too often relegated to rival schools of theological dialectics, instead of being sent at once and supremely to the oracles of Inspiration. Many a young manwell disposed to religious inquiry, and not inclined to shrink from a reasonable portion of study, has felt himself so overwhelmed with an array of Greek, Latin, Hebrew, and Syriac, fathers, antiquities, ecclesiastical history, intricate controversies, hermeneutics, thorny and thistly systems of divinity, elaborate collations of families of texts, and individuals of families, as almost to despair of ever being able to understand the plain meaning of the Bible, or to compose a discourse for popular edification. We are not disposed, nor is Mr. Raikes, to undervalue this sort of Biblical apparatus, so far as it can be obtained without unreasonable sacrifice: but after all, the Bible, and the Bible alone, is the religion of Protestants; and the Bible, and the Bible alone, is the foundation of knowledge

for the Christian minister.

"The Bible, and we may add with safety, the Bible alone, is the learning essential to the Christian minister. Other accomplishments he will need; but he will need them only in reference to this, and in subordination to this. He will need the knowledge of languages; but it will be merely that he may understand more accurately the meaning of the word of Scripture. He will need a knowledge

of antiquities, but it will be merely that he may comprehend more fully the peculiarities of expression he meets with in the Scripture. He will need, more or less, those sciences which are usually taught under the names of logic, rhetoric, or philology; but he will only need them that he may be able to state more clearly, and to impress more deeply, through their help, the inferences he deduces from the Scripture. To enable him to extract from Scripture something of its inex

haustible riches of wisdom and of knowledge, he will need every aid which study, or experience, or learning can afford. To

enable him to meet the obstinate deceit

fulness of the human heart, and to apply which it is unwilling to admit, he will need every art which the schools of rhetoricians used to offer; but these will be merely used as means for a certain end,

to the conscience those wholesome truths

and they will be all sought in order that they may be turned to that purpose. The comprehension of Scripture, the interpretation of Scripture, and the application of Scripture, these will be his employments; Scripture will be the material on which he is employed; and nothing will possess any value in his eyes, nor seem to contribute to the accomplishment of his end, except it is derived from the authority of Scripture as its principle, or tends in some way or other to maintain and impress it upon others.

but, under all the varieties of his work,

"In conformity with this principle, by which the preparatory studies of her ministers are to be regulated, the Church of England seems herself to have been guided. She does not despise antiquity; she does not neglect those human means which may add dignity to her offices and solemnity to her worship; she does not reject the use of that light which God kindled originally in the intellect and reason of men; but she endeavours so to use, so to employ and exercise them, that they may act in subordination to the revealed word, and display and manifest forth its powers to greater edification. In the same manner the studies of her ministers are to be applied, not to the neglect, far less to the exclusion, of the Scripture; but simply and entirely to the development of its statements, to the elucidation of its mysteries, for the purpose of inquiries carried on in the most reve

rential respect for its authority, and in

the most entire submission to its conclusions. That sacred volume which is placed in the hands of her ministers at the moment of their ordination, is not merely the token, but it forms the substance of their future labours. Thenceforward that book is to be their all. In that, they are to trace their own credentials. In that, they are to find the terms of the reconciliation which it is their office to proclaim to others. In that, they are to seek the re

medy for the various evils which it will be their duty to combat or relieve. Nothing that they can find within that book can be neglected, for all is given by inspiration of God; and in its various appli cations is profitable for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. Nothing that they can say will possess authority, unless it be derived from this; and nothing which is derived from this can be rejected with impunity by those to whom it is addressed.

"Look at it in whatever way we choose, the claims it possesses are paramount, are irresistible. As coming from God; as being literally his word the word which the Creator utters to his creature man, the knowledge which Infinite Wisdom sees fit to communicate what can demand such reverence? As addressed to man himself, as containing the message of reconciliation, the means by which the sinner may find peace and acceptance with God-what can be of so much importance for men to hear? As offering comfort to those that are wretched, light to those that are in darkness, hope to those who are in despair-what can be so welcome? As opening heaven to the view of man, as unfolding the purposes of God towards ourselves; as clearing up the doubts and uncertainties of our present state by the realities of that which is to come; as raising us above ourselves, and as shewing us things which are beyond all nature-what can be so glorious?" pp. 33 -38.

This brings the whole matter into a comparatively small and manageable compass. There is ample study for the longest life and most powerful intellect; yet there is tangible instruction for those whose leisure is little, and their ability not great. The most simple may rise to it; the most elevated cannot ascend above it. Few clergymen have time, even if they have taste, to go very deeply, and least of all in their preparatory studies, into some of the matters of critical and biblical learning, so admirably condensed by Mr. Hartwell Horne; nor is it every one, Mr. Raikes remarks, that can fill up the whole outline traced by even Mr. Bickersteth and Mr. Bridges in the Christian Student, and the Christian Ministry, though this range is less learnedly discursive than that which is often propounded in books on clerical study, and more directly connected with practical, devotional, and pastoral matter, than with critical in

terpretation. In all pursuits, something may be taken for granted; and we may safely enter into the labours of other men in points of mere research, which we cannot work out for ourselves. The full length and breadth of theological lore are, at all events, rather for subsequent study than for previous training. If much can be attained, it is well; the more solid and valuable reading the better, provided the student duly ruminates upon, and prays over, what he reads; but if candidates for orders cannot attain every thing, it is surely better to begin with the beginning, and to learn what is most essentially, directly, and substantially serviceable. The sacred Scriptures, read, marked, learned, and inwardly digested, are the nourishment of spiritual life, and the peculiar qualification for one who aims to be a faithful minister of Jesus Christ. In religion a text is an argument, and the strongest of all arguments; and much of excellent demonstration and declamation is often quite thrown away, when "Thus saith the Lord" would have settled the question. Every merely moral argument in a sermon may be met by counter arguments; for if virtue is excellent, vice is alluring; but what can be replied to "Be ye holy, for I am holy;" or to "We beseech you by the mercies of God that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God,"even if it had not been added, that this is a reasonable service?" Forcibly does Mr. Raikes demand,—

"

"Alas! is it not obvious, that while men have been engaged in this lengthened, fruitless course, time has been passing, souls have been perishing, and breaches church of Christ? Is it not notorious, many and wide have been made upon the that the victories gained in this mode of proceeding, have been few, and questionable, and undecided? The regular may have been made more regular; the moral, the intellectual part of mankind may have been amused, enlightened, or confirmed in the paths they had chosen; but no brands have been plucked from the fire, no sinners have been converted, no inroads have been made on the kingdom of ignorance and vice; and Satan may have seen with satisfaction the energies of the

Christian world exerted in a form, which would never endanger the security of his empire.

"But it is otherwise with the word of God. From that there is no appeal; against that there is no resistance to be offered. Men must either be convinced and believe, or must throw off the selfdelusion of religion together with its semblance. In this case they cannot protect their disobedience by a long-protracted combat; they cannot be defending their sins by disputing the authority which condemns them. The contest must be at once decided and they must soon be made to feel that the Scriptures are to them the savour of life unto life, or of death unto death." pp. 61, 62.

Mr. Raikes proceeds to answer the objection, that this method of theological study-namely, sending the inquirer to Scripture to form his views, rather than taking a system of divinity, say the Thirty-nine Articles of the Anglican Church, as a centre to set out from in his excursions-is likely to render his reading desultory, and to lead him into mistakes which he might have avoided, had he taken with him a clue to the general question. There is doubtless something to be guarded against, and something to be gained on each side. We read the Bible with more intelligence when we know beforehand, as every person educated in Christian principles does, some of the chief points to which it relates. This enables even an unlearned man to appropriate and apply its declarations with comparative facility; whereas, were it put into his hands for the first time without a word of explanation, he must read the whole of it over more than once before he could be sure that he had grasped the general scope. The great truths which enter into all orthodox creeds and catechisms are a common stock accumulated by the diligent study, meditation, and prayer of many wise and holy men; they are results, not authorities; and may be lawfully and serviceably used as assistances and stepping stones. These, of course, Mr. Raikes does not mean the student to put out of sight. With regard to more elaborate systems comprising numerous details,

like our own truly scriptural Articles, we agree with our author that there is danger of the mind becoming cramped, if these, instead of the Scriptures, are made the text, and the Bible is only used, as it were, to prove or illustrate them. There is, however, no reason why both methods should not proceed together; there must, indeed, inevitably be more or less of a system in the mind of every person who has heard sermons, or read religious books; and the danger hence resulting is, not in using what light we have already attained, or suppose we have attained, with a view to gain more, but in so confidently taking for granted that we are right as to refuse to listen to Scripture against our system; thus bending the text to the comment, instead of the comment to the text. The plain simple way of getting at the water of life is, doubtless, to go to the fountain: in the Bible is all essential religious truth; but since there are many versions and perversions of this truth extant in the world, it becomes necessary, it cannot indeed be avoided, to try what we hear by what we read; what man tells us is Scripture, by what Scripture itself says; and in this view it is surely a profitable study, and conducive to large views of Christian theology, to take what is called a system of divinity, such as we find in our creeds, articles, and catechism, and to try it, point by point, by the word of God. Mr. Raikes, we are sure, does not mean any thing contrary to this; indeed, so far as we can gather, he expressly intends to urge this mixed view of the subject; but the more general danger is in beginning with human systems rather than with the word of God: and therefore most useful and seasonable is his exhortation to the religious student to make the Bible his text-book, and to call no man master in matters on which the inspired record is our only guide. We merely interpose the opposite caution, for the sake of some who really do verge towards what is lati

tudinarian, and are shaken to and fro, by not considering that general analogy of faith which may be lawfully and usefully employed-not to oppose Scripture, but to elucidate it, by bringing the results of many plain texts to bear upon any one which appears doubtful. Mr. Raikes, in his cautionary remarks against misemploying systems in biblical interpretation, seems particularly to refer to such questions, for example, as the Divine decrees; and here we heartily agree with him, for if a man come to the Bible, determined to strain every thing to a preconceived notion on points like these, he must procrustianize not a few texts in the operation.

secure

The word of God, then, is the proper subject for the minister's studies; a sentiment most religious and Protestant, and which we the more rejoice to see so directly and zealously advocated by a clergyman filling the responsible office of a bishop's examining chaplain, because we have thought that the wish to clerical competency is not always duly regulated by a just consideration of what that competency mainly consists in. The examinations of candidates for holy orders were too often, a few years since, disgracefully lax and perfunctory; to remedy which, some prelates have instituted examinations, strict indeed, and requiring much information and effort, but often, as to the most essential points, of comparatively little practical value. Too much has been expected from what is barely technical; from the tools and implements of the profession, considered in the hard dry character of a profession." Mr. Raikes would go far beyond this; and quite sure we are that an examination for orders conducted upon the principles adverted to in this book, would be a far more effectual guarantee for pastoral and pulpit efficiency, than the most rigid inquisition conducted upon a mere scholastic plan, whether classical, critical, or historical. Scholarship is not indeed to be de

spised, nor is science or elegant literature, or even good taste; and Mr. Raikes's own pages and periods would loudly reclaim against his parricidal act, if he affected to overlook their value; but he evidently feels that these things have been too often put out of their place; and that, strange as it may appear in a Protestant and Apostolical church, it has become necessary to vindicate the claims of the Bible to be the text book, the manual, and the oracle, of the Christian and clerical student. Every man who is anxious for practical spiritual usefulness, will feel the force of our author's arguments. In so saying, we do not diminish from the claims of our universities, which give that basis of general education which is desirable for the members of every liberal profession. But here their present system stops; they do not profess to make lawyers, or physicians, or divines. The lawyers and physicians are formed elsewhere; but where are the divines formed? What moral hospitals are open for them to walk? What spiritual inns of court invite them to sacred studies? Where are they taught the statute law of Heaven, and the forms and precedents of pastoral theology and practice?

The nearest resemblance to the kind of theological institution which we think the exigencies of the times and the church demand, may be found in some of the Dissenting and Missionary establishments, and in the theological seminaries in the United States and elsewhere. The Church Missionary Society's Institution at Islington, with such alterations as might be necessary from the difference between a missionary and an ordinary pastor, would furnish an excellent model. What is wanted is an institution in which not so much literature (even sacred literature) is the great object of pursuit, as religion, and the means and habits under the blessing of God of diffusing it. We do not ask for a college, but for a clerical family. The daily prayers, the lectures, the public services, the social recrea

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