THE RAINBOW: 3 Magazine of Christian Literature, with Special Reference to the Revealed Future of the Church and the World. THE MAY, 1877. THE ENGLISH PULPIT. HE interests of truth, the honour of God, and the highest welfare of the people alike demand, and at all times demand, fidelity on the part of the pulpit. But the intensity of thought which marks the present time gives unusual emphasis to the demand for faithfulness to the divine record in the case of our public teachers. Two remarkable facts, which seem at first sight irreconcilable, characterise the Sunday congregations of England. The first is that, as a rule, places of worship are more largely attended than heretofore. There is a strong desire to hear what the pulpit has to say, springing no doubt from the universal conviction that the world is nearing some extraordinary crisis which, whatever may be its essential character or mode of development, will remove some of the landmarks of our venerable theology, and introduce great changes into human thought on almost every subject. The second fact is, that this ardent wish to receive light from the accredited leaders of religious thought is not, generally speaking, gratified. The intelligent occupants of the pew-and these are far more numerous than the pulpit imagines-are tired of fine essays or eloquent orations on some sentence or half-sentence quoted from psalmist, prophet, or apostle, upon which the essayist or orator builds his argument and shows what he can do in elaborating some principle or doctrine which may be both good and true in itself, but which utterly fails to shed light upon the awful and glorious realities of the impending crisis. The people want to hear what God has said concerning these last days; they wish for expositions of the divine word, readings from the inspired prophets of both Testaments, and clear unfoldings of Christ's teachings respecting his return for his Church and to his inheritance-the world. Men are wearied of theological wranglings and hair-splittings; of Calvinistic and Arminian "doctrines, doctrines," of creeds and catechisms; and not before time. They want light, food, strength, the air of heaven to breathe, the will of heaven to guide. There is a deep and a true conviction on many minds that there are truths in the Bible which have not yet been brought before our congregations generally. The fierce falsehood of eternal torments is now abandoned by most men as an intolerable horror, which has no place whatever in the Word of God; but some ministers who have done this have unhappily wandered into regions of shoreless speculation about universal or partial restoration, for which in the testimony of Scripture they have no authority. Probably the chief reason which has led to this mistake is their still cherished belief in the pagan fiction of the natural immortality of the soul. Denying everlasting torment, and believing human deathlessness, restoration is of course the logical alternative, so that we have no difficulty in tracing the process of thought in the minds of the brethren to whom reference is made. But to supersede that which is obviously false by that which has no authority is not wise. What is gained by abandoning one huge error to embrace another? The gratification of a mere sentiment is not a sufficient answer, for this matter must be determined not by our wishes but by our Creator's will, and we may rest assured that his will is every way better than our wishes. Of course we expected diversity of speech when eschatology became the subject of discussion. It was inevitable that some degree of doctrinal confusion should arise upon the ruins of an exploded error. Some men are slow of apprehension, and, with a praiseworthy sense of the sacredness of what they have been taught as religious truth, are reluctant to part with any notion, however incredible or awful in itself, which is supposed to be a part of "the faith.” This conservative feeling springs from a good motive, and is therefore, and so far only, worthy of respect. But it will not bear a moment's criticism; for that which is incredible or awful in itself cannot be an integral part of a system which, avowedly and confessedly, had its origin in the love of God to man; and the more valuable a thing is, the more anxious should its friends be to keep it clean from the dust and bright from the rust which are so common in the world. The feeling which will not endure a speck of mildew on the sacred parchment, or a mob of chaffering money-changers in the Father's temple, is intellectually nobler and morally more beautiful than that which timidly shrinks from the removal of a hoary falsehood as if it were a buttress to eternal truth. Among the other false things which have darkened the story of man, a false piety has been none of the least. Intelligent loyalty is not reckless, but it is always fearless, and it does not mean to undermine the building when it puts forth a strong hand to tear away the parasites that the marble and gold of the glorious erection may flash back the light of the noon-day sun. But there are other men who are quick in apprehending logical results, who see, as it were, by inspiration, or intuition-if you prefer the word-what must be the ultimate issue of a given doc trine. A long process of reasoning is not required in their case. They can reason, and that most rigidly, but whilst you are slowly piling up your scholastic argument with "this" and "that" and therefore," they have reached the goal, and are calmly sitting with folded arms, smiling at your needless toil. The remarkable fact is that these men are almost always right. Careful subsequent examination proves that the conclusion reached is in harmony with Scripture. The reason is not difficult to find. The quick perception was really the effect of Scripture truth lodged in the mind, and perhaps long lodged there, although the rapid thinker may not have been conscious of the fact at the time. These are the men whose disagreeable lot it is to be misunderstood, and misrepresented, and evil spoken of in our churches. As a general rule this is what they get for heralding any great reformation, or bringing to the light of resurrection some long buried truth, that is to say, until they die, and then the empty compliment of having been before the age is paid to their dust. Between these two types of mind there are many intermediate links which it would be a waste of time to particularise by characteristic epithets, even if it could be done correctly. Nor is it in the least needful to attempt this, as every one knows the fact. Indeed it is questionable whether anything short of a miracle could make all men think alike, and then it would speedily become questionable whether such a miracle could be a blessing. We are certain that it could not, and for that very reason equally certain that it will never be wrought. Heaven's miracles contemplate infinitely higher objects than a level uniformity of thought among men, which would make conversation a sleepy absurdity, discussion an impossibility, and pulpit ministration superfluous. But does all this imply that there is any insuperable difficulty in ascertaining the meaning of Scripture respecting the nature of man, the character of God in Christ, the significance of redemption, and the future of the world and the church? No, it implies just the contrary. We have the truth of God declared to us on the points named. The lines of thought along which different minds travel, in relation to these points, will be different; but where there is an honest desire to accept revealed truth untarnished by the defiling touch of pagan philosophy, medieval tradition, or science falsely so-called, there is not the slightest doubt but that revealed truth will come home to the mind and the heart as a sublime and joyful reality. What the pulpit, therefore, has to do, ought to do, and must do, if it would discharge its duty to God and man in view of the supreme crisis to which all things are tending, is clear enough. It must lay aside with holy and resolute determination the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Thirty-nine Articles of the Episcopal church, and all the other creeds of Christendom-that is to say, lay them aside, so far as the slightest idea of doctrinal AUTHORITY is concerned and accept and teach the plain declarations of Scripture concerning life and death, the coming of Christ, the extinction of evil, and the glorious future when, in a cleansed and happy universe, without sin or sorrow, "God will be all in all." The question, however, may be asked-Supposing the pulpit clothed with the moral strength necessary for this fearless testimony, would the pew endure it? We reply, undoubtedly, certainly! The devout and thoughtful in our assemblies would not only "endure" this heroic surrender of medieval dimness for cloudless apostolic light, but would exceedingly rejoice in it. This is not a supposition founded on the fact that sooner or later truth commends itself to all its friends, but on actual experience. At first the timid and the ill-instructed-the men who "need that some one teach them again the first principles of the oracle of God"-take the alarm, and depart to some congenial fold where the orthodox echoes of many generations form the pleasant lullaby of somnolent folks; but those who are alive to the responsibilities of moral life, and are consequently anxious to be living witnesses to God and his truth, will prove all things, and hold fast that which is good." Of course there are men in some of our pulpits who are mentally incapable of realising the grandeur of an effort to return to apostolic doctrine at all hazards; men who, unconsciously to themselves, reveal the narrow limits of their vision by alluding contemptuously to the glorious truths of the second advent, and immortality only in Christ; and men from whom, therefore, it is absurd to expect anything in the battle which is now being waged between truth and error. But it is a fact that intelligent hearers of such men are perfectly weary of the infliction. They go to "church" or 66 chapel" from a mere sense of duty, and to set a good example to others, but as for life or joy in the service, the thing is unknown. We say therefore, with all emphasis, that if our ministers would become teachers and rise to the height of the great argument which the Divine book places before them; if they would throw their moral and mental strength, consecrated by the Holy Spirit, into the splendid battle for a divine immortality, and the pre-millennial return of our Lord; and if to facilitate their acquaintance with these sublime doctrines of Scripture, they would cast aside misleading formularies, they would find the best men and women of their congregations standing heartily by their side. Let the pulpit be true to God, and the pew will be true to it. ED. THE THE SONG OF MOSES. DEUTERONOMY XXXII. HE reader need hardly be reminded that the Song of Moses, notwithstanding the narrative form of many of its allusions, is in the main prospective. Indeed, the pathetic words which introduce it, distinctly declare that it is to stand as a perpetual witness for Jehovah in the face of that apostasy, which, however inevitable, cannot frustrate his ultimate benediction. Suitably therefore the climax of the song awakens the pæan which is quoted by two of the New Testament writers; extolling the Angel of the Covenant, and summoning the Gentiles to rejoice with his people. It was the beauty of the version of the late Henry Craik of Bristol (the colleague of Mr. George Müller), which first suggested the attempt to cast this song into English verse; and surely Mr. Craik's reputation for Hebrew scholarship may be permitted to carry some weight among those of us who are incapable of passing final judgment on disputed points. It is from his version, for instance, that the unusual expression occurring in the fifth verse has been fetched-viz, "That they are not his children is their disgrace." In some other respects, recourse has been had to the Septuagint version, especially in the eighth and forty-third verses; though of course it must be added that the exigencies of rhyme subvert any attempt to exhibit the faithful or literal rendering of any original. The closing verse, according to the Septuagint, varies so widely from our authorised Anglican version, that it may be as well to recite it; remarking at the same time that it derives authority from the fact of two of its clauses being quoted, word for word, in the New Testament; whereas, in their exact wording, these two passages occur no where else in the Old Testament. "Rejoice ye Heavens with Him, and let all the angels of God worship Him. Rejoice ye Gentiles with his people, and let all the sons of God strengthen themselves in Him; for He will avenge the blood of His sons, and He will render vengeance, and recompense justice to His enemies; and will reward them that hate him. And the Lord shall purify the land of his people."-(Deut. xxxii. 43.) THE SONG OF MOSES. GIVE audience, O ye Heavens, and I will speak; And let the song prophetic which I seek Now when I celebrate Jehovah's name, |