66 the authority of the writings of the primitive Fathers, as to the faith "and practice of the primitive Church-upon the Divinity of our Lord "and Saviour Jesus Christ-upon the Divinity of the Holy Ghost'upon the Articles of the Christian Faith, as comprehended in the "Apostles' and Nicene Creeds. 66 66 66 ́Also I direct, that thirty copies of the eight Divinity Lecture "Sermons shall be always printed, within two months after they are "preached; and one copy shall be given to the Chancellor of the 'University, and one copy to the Head of every College, and one copy "to the Mayor of the City of Oxford, and one copy to be put into the Bodleian Library; and the expense of printing them shall be paid "out of the revenue of the Land or Estates given for establishing the "Divinity Lecture Sermons; and the Preacher shall not be paid, nor 'be entitled to the revenue, before they are printed. "Also I direct and appoint, that no person shall be qualified to "preach the Divinity Lecture Sermons, unless he hath taken the degree "of Master of Arts at least, in one of the two Universities of Oxford or Cambridge; and that the same person shall never preach the Divinity "Lecture Sermons twice." 66 PREFACE IN preparing these Lectures for the press, it has been my object to reduce the notes to as narrow a compass as possible. I have therefore abstained from the use of matter simply illustrative, and have only given references where the facts relied upon in the body of the Lectures or the arguments advanced were likely to be called into question, and therefore needed to be strengthened by corroborative testimony. I am conscious of many faults in execution and defects of detail throughout the volume. But I appeal for an indulgent criticism on the ground that the last twenty-seven years of my life have been incessantly occupied by the duties of a laborious ministry, and that these Lectures have been prepared under the pressure of deep domestic affliction, and amid the constant distractions of parochial work. CHRIST CHURCH PARSONAGE, SURBITON, October 8th, 1867. ANALYSIS LECTURE I THE Christian life is a warfare, and demands the exercise of the manly virtues. The sphere is spiritual : 1. The conflict against violence without the Church. 2. The conflict against error within the Church. The order of the two Providentially arranged. The second is described by St. Jude. "The Faith once delivered to the saints" involves four particulars :1. An organized and formal body of truth. Scriptural usage of πίστις. (a) Subjective. (b) Objective. (c) Subjective and objective. Relation between the Person of Christ and His teaching. 2. The rule of faith admits neither of addition nor diminution. 3. It is an authoritative trust. 4. It is committed to the trusteeship of the Church. "A Faith" of this character must necessarily be dogmatic. Definition of " dogma." "Dogma" distinguished from "dogmatism.” Modern objections against dogma, not based upon asserted inaccuracy in the statement of revealed truth. But directed against the existence of definite positive truth. The theology of the nineteenth century irreconcileable with Scripture. The alternatives presented. Object and order of the Lectures :- III. The Religious Sentiment. Lect. V. Dogma and Speculation. VI. Christianity and Civilization. VII. Conscience, and its relation to the Faith. VIII. Obligations of Belief. Preliminary objections against "dogma" considered:- Obj. 2. Prevents progress of thought. Obj. 3. Imposes limits on inquiry. The moral discipline of belief. LECTURE II The teaching of the Scriptures harmonious. The facts of History accordant with the assertions of Scripture. The theory of dogma involves three elements : 1. The Church as a visible community. 2. A body of dogmatic truth identical in all ages. 3. The authoritative documents of the Faith. Confusion and misapprehension caused by the omission of the third element: (a) No standard of discrimination between a false Church and a true one. (b) Doctrine becomes a branch of human speculation. (c) The unity of the dogmatic Faith destroyed. The theory of dogma must be understood before it is condemned. The dogmatic Faith as a Fact. I. Continuous existence of the Church. Her claim to preach a message from God to mankind unanimously urged. The value of the fact. The evidences stated. 1. The age of inspiration His Apostles. 2. The Ante-Nicene Fathers : Ignatius. Polycarp. |