The Sun.
London, England, 1861-05-16 00:00:00

ON THE INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE.

John xviii., part of 37th v.—" To this end was I born, and
for this cause came I into the world that I should bear
witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth
heareth my veice."

We have now come to the last and longest Essay
in the celebrated volume which has recently men-
pied our attention. Both as it respects the Essay,
and my own opinions upon the subject of it, I find
it necessary to deliver two discourses. The present
one will be occupied chiefly with the contents of
the Essay, and a vindication of the Rev. B. Jowett
from some of the slanders which have given great
pleasure lately to large assemblies of religious per-
sons. Let us he thankful that—while slander -is
bad enough, while reckless charges apparently fix
a stigma upon innocent men, while ignorance and
prejudice, clothed in uncharitable words, may ex-
cite bad passions and the applause of thoughtless
sectarians of every class—the day has gone by for
public prosecutions and penal sufferings on account
of religious opinions. The Bishop of Salisbury yet
hopes. there is a probability of a legal process ; but
I do not think that anything so unfortunate for the
bishops or the hiefarchy is in prospect. It is a
strange anomaly that a meeting has recently been
held in London to obtain for some poor people in
Spain the right of freely reading the Scriptures ;
and meetings are being held in which the conduct
of men who write what they deem to be truth and
fact about the Bible, are being condemned in every
form of phraseology and every measure of bitter-
ness. If we are to read, may we not think? If
we think, may we not utter our thoughts, espe-
cially if those thoughts are expressed in proper lan-
guage ? If they are not supported by valid argu-
ments they are worthless; if they are, if they con-
tain truth, although that truth may be against
popular prejudices and ecclesiastical creeds, it must,
as it has done in hundreds of cases before, ultimately
prevail.
The moral tone of what is called the religious publie
is very deeply to be deplored. If Christianitycan teach
us anything, it ought surely to teach us justice, ordi-
nary candour, and ordinary charity. Certain per-
sons claim for themselves the right of free reading,
free thinking, and of private judgment, as against
Roman Catholics, and if they are Nonconformists,
they claim it as against the Established Church.
Now, what they thus claim, or exercise, they ought
surely to grant to others. When the Protestant
refuses to acknowledge the Pope as Christ's Vicar
on earth,—when he refuses to worship the Virgin
Mary,—when he will not consent that the Church
should interpret for him Holy Scripture,—when he
resists the claim of the priest, and will not be ab-
solved by him, nor have masses offered for his
father and mother,—when he refuses to believe in
purgatory,—the good Catholic is quite shocked at
him, considers he is a heretic, and shakes his head,
and shrugs his shoulders as to the chance of his sal-
vation. Let me candidly put it to you : as a Pro-
testant, do you care anything about what the
Catholic priest thinks of you ? Do you fear his
anathema? Are you apprehensive of the truth of
his malediction ? Have you any other feeling than
pity for his ignorance, regret for his bigotry, indif-
ference for his censure, and sorrow for his injustice
and uncharitableness ? Be assured that it is the
same on the part of educated men, who have read
the Scriptures attentively, either in Hebrew or
Greek .or in English,—who have given days and
sights to their consideration,—who are thoroughly
versed in Biblical criticism,—who know something
of MSS., translations, and sacred hermeneutics,—
and who, in a spirit of deep religious reverence for
Go& for the Scriptures, and for Christianity,—utter
what they believe to be the truth respecting the
Old and New Testament. They are among the
best and most judicious friends of the Bible, and
the warmest advocates for Christianity as taught
by Jesus Christ. Popular prejudice cannot frighten
them. Bishops, priests, and deacons may attempt
to frown upon them, and threaten to deprive them
of their ecclesiastical position, and put a black mark
upon them before the public eye ; but is it not un-
ust in itself ? Is it not unjust to charge a man with
what he repudiates? Is it not unjust to condemn a man
before he is heard ? Is it not wiesed to excite the
clamour of a mass of thoughtless persons on a sub-
ject of which they are ignorant, and against a book
which, in hundreds of cases, the exciters and ex-
cited have not read? Is it not unjust to make
garbled and partial extracts, and to leave out and
pass by all the great and noble thoughts and para-
graphs that give a juster complexion to the real
facts of the case, and vindicate the accused from the
unjust accusations brought against them ? Before
many years, the exceptionable parts of the volume
of Essays and Reviews will either be received as
facts, or tolerated as open questions for the discus-
sion of all persons competent to the task, or refuted
by just, candid, and conclusive arguments. And
of one thing I am assured, that the men who, with-
out reading the Essays, or mastering their argu-
ments, have rushed thoughtlessly into the battle,
will be thoroughly ashamed of themselves. Tens,
if not hundreds of cases in the progress of truth and
freedom have terminated in this way, and their
opponents have been covered with blushes, and for-
given; though of the amount of injury they in-
flicted they will for ever be ashamed.
In science there have been the familiar cases,—
of Harvey and the circulation of the blood—of
Jenner and vaccination—of Galileo and the solar
system. In social life, education for the humbler
classes—religious liberty for all ; Jew as well as
Christian—the repeal of the Test and Corporation
Acts, which the clergy opposed with a vehemence
which, could they have embodied it in phy-
sical force, they would have grasped the pillars of
the firmament and brought down upon those who
advocated such wickedness, sun, moon, and stars,
concluding that " the wreck of matter and the
crush of worlds" would be preferable to their not
qualifying an exciseman for his office by giving
him the Lord's supper.
Other instances will occur to many of you ; I
need not mention any more. As I have said, in this
discourse I shall be obliged to confine myself to the
Essay; to the objections brought against it, and to
two or three quotations from it—thus presenting to
you some of the noblest sentiments that the mind
can conceive, the heart feel, and the pen commit to
paper. In the next discourse, in connection with
the same Essay, we shall go honestly into the sub-
ject of Inspiration—give you the opinions of some
of the most distinguished theologians who have
lived and influenced the Church—and endeavour
to answer the question—whether or not it can be
said the Bible is an infallible authority on all that
it contains ; and if not, in what light it shall be
received and heartily welcomed by us.
It is not an easy work in the short space of time
before me to give you an intelligible analysis of the
long, but deeply interesting Essay which closes the
volume. There are in the vol. 433 pages, and this
Essay occupies 104 of them, or nearly one quarter
of the volume. It opens by an allusion to the
differences of opinion that exist on the inter-
pretation of Scripture. The book is un-
changed ; the changes are in its commentators.
Some think that the Bible is to be explained by
the prayer-book; others by the traditions of the
Reformation. "There has always, in all ages, been
an endeavour to pull the authority of Revelation in
different directions." The progress of the mind
creates a multitude of interpretations. There is an
obvious meaning in the Scripture which will sur-
vive all others. Certain passages of Scripture are
not fairly dealt with. The writers of the New Tes-
tament did not write for creeds ; the extreme
variety of interpretation of the Bible exists in no
other book. The Essayist refers to the externals of
interpretation to obtain and recover the original
meaning : and to what the interpreter is trying to
do. He adverts to the history of interpretation, and
to the awakening of the critical faculty. Biblical
criticism, he says, has been truer to the Church
than to Christ. He refers to the number of explana-
tions which exist as to the two witnesses—the little
horn—the man of sin—the number of the beast,
&c., and says that Joseph Mede, the greatest autho-
rity on this subject, twice fixed the end of the world
in the last century, and once during his own life-
time. He refers to the interpretation of types—to
party efforts, and to different theories as to the
origin of the gospels. He alludes to the language
of the creeds, and to the conditions of thought im-
posed from without. He alludes to the matter of
inspiration and its varieties, to the source of know-
ledge and inspiration, and to progressive revelation
and imperfect narratives. He alludes to the effect of
Galileo's discovery on the interpretation of Scrip-
ture, to the fact that the fathers of the Church de-
termined nothing on the subject of inspiration, an:.
to the difficulty of getting rid of what is not
He adverts to the adaptation of Scripture to trtuhe
creeds and to the thoughts and manners of the pre-
sent age, and also to the difficulties
the gospels with the creeds. He alludes
ldllwudoersf identifying
to
and
ecclesiastical and social state of the
f Scripture truth are
shows how certain. aspects

rightly or
onne gilne
dc
ve
d. u
aH refers
Cc
h refr
isetisa tothe
Christians,
and
tothe
nwofifoutrheonefegseio.
single
scopacy, ori-
,,words—such
Bzoa.s, dainvdorhcoa,wininspnierritohne,yepi
is a power in the world.
twhrooungghlyts oinf
tfourtpurreeteadg,es. The Scripture
He cites texts of Scripture about infant baptism--
Bishop and Presbyter—and alludes to certain pas-
sages which are almost habitually neglected ; he
quotes a short but striking and true sentence from
the celebrated Lessing—" that the Christian reli-
gion had been tried for eighteen centuries—the reli-
gion of Christ remained to be tried." He adverts
to the great changes of society in the nineteenth
century as contrasted with the first, and enumerates
several things which the gospel would have us to
do, and others that it would not have us to do. He
alludes to the contrast of the conduct of Christ
towards the woman taken in adultery and the ex-
cessive severity with which even a Christian so-
ciety punishes the errors of women. He has no
sympathy with the opinion among Protestants of
the " Damnation of Catholics and of the heathen,"
and cites some very pertinent texts that should
banish such opinions from our midst. The Bible,
he says, is not a book of statutes—and it is Eas-

tern in thought, phraseology, and illustration. He
alludes to the disturbing influence of creeds—to
love and truth, grace and faith—and that the Scrip-
ture has one and only one true meaning. He refers
to the relation between the Old and New Testa-
ments, and that traditional statements are of no
value. He justifies a candid statement of difficulties,
and says it is a duty to speak as well as to with-
hold the truth. He then states the fact, that the
difficulties of the Bible are well known, and that
the results of criticism are not to be ignored, The
gospel was once before the age, and many are now
trying to drive, and to keep it back: He then pro-
ceeds to offer some very definite opinions and ad-
vices, such as—interpret the Scripture like any
other book ; that Scripture has but one meaning ;
that there is design wherever there is order and
beauty; and after referring to the growth or de-
velopment of Scripture, he considers it may be
regarded as a kind of progress from childhood to
manhood. He considers that Scripture has an inner
life or soul, as well as a body or form ; and after some
remarks upon the prevalency of the Greek language
in the time of Jesus, he lays it down as a rule of in-
terpretation that we want ONLY what is found in the

text. He alludes to the difficulties common to the
Greek and English testaments, and offers some cri-
tical remarks upon philology not necessary to be
adverted to now. He alludes to the opposite sides
of God's dealings with man, citing certain texts of
Scripture—and he continues with some very valu-
able remarks upon the study of Scripture. He says
that Christian truth is not dependent on the fixed-
ness of modes of thought—and that although we
had no words for mind, matter, soul, body, and the
like, Christianity wouldremain the same. Speaking
of the literal application of certain figures of speech
hp pertinently remarks, "A recent commentator on
Scripture appears willing to peril religion on the
literal truth of such an expression as we shall be
caught up to meet the Lord in the air." Would he
be equally ready to stake Christianity on the lite-
ral meaning of the words, " where their worm dieth
not and the fire is not quenched."
The difference betwixt interpretation and appli-
cation is pointed out, and he illustrates how it may
be perverted in these words : " It may not only re-
ceive a new meaning, it may be applied in a spirit
alien to itself. It may become the symbol of fanati-
cism, the cloak of malice, the disguise of policy."
Cromwell at Drogheda quoting Scripture to his
soldiers ; the well-known attack on the Puritans in
the State service for the Restoration—" Not every
one that saiih unto me Lord, Lord ;" the reply of
the Venetian ambassador to the suggestion of Wol-
sey, that Venice should take a lead in Italy, which
was only the earth is the Lord's and the fulness
thereof,' are examples of such uses." In other pas-
sages interpreters see what is not there, and make
words the substitute of their own feelings. He refers
to the unity of Scripture, and says that the simple
feeling of truth, and right, is the same to the Greek
or Hindoo as to ourselves. And after referring to
the parables, he says :—" There is no language of
Scripture which penetrates the individual soul and
embraces all the world in the arms of its love,
in the same manner as that of Christ him-
self." After several illustrations of passages
in the Epistles, he says that the words " Charity
never faileth" have a voice which reaches to
the end of time. He urges moderation in contro-
versy, and alludes to certain lessons in the Old
Testament, instructive and deeply practical: and
he refers to reverence to scripture suppressing re-
flection. He says that a change in some of the
prevailing modes of interpretation is not so much
a matter of expediency as of necessity ; and that a
change in the manner of stating and defending
doctrines is already observable. He refers to seve-
ral of the old controversies and the old states of
bigotry, and says—
" The feeling which gave rise to them has in a great
measure passed away ; no intelligent man seriously inclines
to believe that salvation is to be found only in his own de-
nomination. Examples of this Sturdy Orthodoxy' in our
own generation rather provoke a smile, that arouse serious
disapproval."

He refers to several uses of Scripture—as a bond
of union—as a light to the heathen—as a part of
education when judiciously employed and as illus-
trating and setting forth truth to congregations.
Inquirers should not, he says, be condemned, and
there is no reason for doubting the value of critical
inquiry—and he concludes his long but valuable
Essay with these noble words :
" No one can carry out the principle that public opinion
or Church authority is the guide to truth, when he goes
beyond the limits of his own Church or country. That is
a consideration which may well make him pause before he
accepts of such a guide in the journey to another world.
All the arguments for repressing inquiries into Scripture in
Protestant countries hold equally in Italy and Spain, for
repressing inquiries into matters of fact, or doctrines, and
so far denying the Scriptures to the common people. Be
assured that there is some nobler idea of truth than is sup
plied by the opinion of mankind in general, or the voice of
parties in a Church. Everyone, whether a student of theo-
logy or not, has need to make war against his prejudices,
no less than against his passions; and in the religious
teacher the first is even more necessary than the last. For
while the vices of mankind are in a great degree isolated,
and are at any rate reprobated by public opinion, their pre-
judices have a sort of communion, or kindred with the world
iwnitthhoeuitn.terTeshte,yelaarseseas,csotalleteestiovfeseovciiel
tyan,
adnhdaovtetrhienifirilbei:lelenegs
amid which we live. He who takes the prevailing opinions
of Christians, and decks them out in their gayest colours—
who reflects the better mind of the world to itself, is likely
to be its favourite teacher. In that ministry of the Gospel,
even when assuming forms repulsive to persons of educa-
tion, no doubt the. good is far greater than the error, or
harm. But there is also a deeper work which is not de-
pendent on the opinions of men, in which many elements
combine, some alien to religion, or accidentally at variance
with it. That work can hardly expect to win much popular
favour, so far as it runs counter to the feelings of religious
parties. But he who bears a part in it may feel a confidence
which no popular caresses or religious sympathy could in-
spire, that he has by a Divine help been enabled to plant
his foot somewhere beyond the waves of time. lie may
depart hence before the natural term, worn out with intel-
lectual toil ; regarded with suspicion by many of his con-
temporaries ; yet not without a sure hope that the love of
truth, which men of saintly lives often seem to slight, is
nevertheless accepted before God."

Three passages have bgen objected to by the Me-
morialists. The first is this :

" No one would interpret Scripture as many do but for
certain previous suppositions with which we come to the
perusal of it. ' There can be no error in the word of God,'
therefore the discrepancies in the books of Kings and
Chronicles are only apparent, or may be attributed to dif-
ferences in the copies.—' It is a thousand times more likely
that the interpreter should err than the inspired writer.'
For a like reason the failure of a prophesy is never admitted
in spite of Scripture and history (Jeremiah xxxvi., 30
Isaiah, xxxii.—Amos, x. 17, the mention of a name later
than the supposed age of the prophet is not allowed to be
taken in evidence of the date.—lsaiah, xlv. 1."

The proper course for the objectors is to show
that the Essayist has misunderstood these passages
—or falsified them—or drawn from them a wrong
conclusion. Until this is done the Essayist retains
his position:
The second passage objected to is this :
" Nor for any of the higher or supernatural views of in-
spirationx,v is there any foundation in the Gospels
There is no appearance in their writings that the
subject to
gelists or Apostles had any inward gift' or
were
of Po power external to them, different from that Jo they
ing or teaching which they daily exeravrffiro, from error,
anywhere lead us to suppose that they
_e:yer,-exhibiting all
cji•eßE.stles.
or infirmity. St. Paul writes like ateai'ufeeling, speaking
in difficult cases—and
the emotions and vicissitudes of human
corrected, too, by the
t of the coming of Christ."
more
indeed
thanwit h
onceauthority,
correcting bu t htea otant
himself,uag.
eedthtoe
tphooiswtooft
course of events in hisfextpecpassage
is
inspiration," "inward gift,"
in the meaning
betweento
the passage
cases." A
and " hesitatio.g the
attHacehr
1 differences of opinion
, by Robert Haldane and those
views !tat!" Jowett are
of Benjamin far too numerous
me now to specify, former, the
As we shall show
you next Sunday evening, there is every
for
Variety among the Fathers, the Reformers,
and the orthodox divines of every school. If I
understand the Essayist, he gladly adopts the state-
ments of the writers themselves, but 'they are very
few. For instance, there is not any elaini to in-
spiration, nor to infallibility set forth in any one
of the four Gospels ; if there be, it can be cited and
calmly discussed, without slander and without
malignity. In the first four Tersee of the Gospel 1

honesty, the origin and sources of the
bears his name.
by' St. Luke he states with all situp,
-Thr-words.. inward gift" are ambiguous. The
Evangelists and the Apostles must -have had the
highest religious gifts ; and as to Whatever they
could not have known of themselves God revealed
it to them by His own spirit.
As to " hesitant- lifficult cases," it was so
palpable that Apostles and Evangelists were not
agreed on certain points, that on one occasion a
council of the Apostles was called to determine
the matter which had been in dispute. If there
be any meaning in words, Paul must have been in
error when he inculcated the doctrine of Christ's Se-
cond Coming during the Apostolic age, and when in
his earliest Epistle he told the Thessalonians:
" For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord,—
that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the
Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep."
And in the 17th verse he also says :
" Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught
up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in
the air : and so shall we be ever with the Lord."
The third passage objected to by the Memorialists
is the following ; they
omit the first member of the
sentence, which I supply within brackets :
[" Almost all intelligent persons are agreed that the Earth
has existed for myriads of ages] ; the best informed are of
opinion that the history of nations extends back some thou-
sandth mankind spread not from one, but from many
years before the Mosaic chronology ; recent disco-
veries in geology may perhaps open a further vista of exist-
ence for the human species, whilst it is possible, and one day
which are at present wanting in the chain of an,-
origin of man."
moebefeanlilit:relkoisfwilse may lead to new conclusions respectin.

The former part of this paragraph has been fully
considered in the discourse (5) on the Hebrew Cos-
mogony, and the objection replied to. And are the
clergy of the 19th century as much afraid of a
modest speculation in natural history as the clergy
of the 16th century were afraid of a speculation.
in Astronomy ? The latter have a record in the
annals of science, which it is unwise in the former
to covet ; and if they attain it, it will be no honour
to them nor to their Church. Christianity is altio-
gether independent of,such speculations, and of the
ignorance and bigotry that would endeavour to
prevent them.

Let us now look at the Essay and its author
under another aspect. The man who has, without
a trial, been condemned and hunted down by
bishops, priests, and deacons, and by the people
who are ruled by them ; hunted down as " a blas-
phemer," " a heretic," "an infidel," and "an
atheist," has in this very Essay, and which his
calumniators have done him the injustice to ignore,
given to the world some of the noblest testi-
monies to the value of the Bible, that can
be written and published. If the Memorialists
have read them, shame upon their principles for
doing a Christian brother such injustice ; if they
have not read them, shame upon their tongues and
their pens, for the guilt of slander they have con-
tracted before God and man.
Speaking of Christ and his revelation,—the
Essayist says,—

" In contrast with wild fanaticism, as well as with the
proud Pharisee, came ONE, most unlike all that had been
before, as the kings or rulers of mankind. In an age which
was the victim of its own passions, the creature of its own,
circumstances, the slave of its own degenerate religion, our
Saviour taught a lesson absolutely free from all the in-
fuences of a surrounding world; he made the last perfect
revelation of God to man; a revelation not indeed imme-
diately applicable to the state of society, or the world, but in
its truth and purity inexhaustible by the after generations
of'nzen."
The following is his estimate of the value of the
Scriptures :

There is no such treasury of instruments, and ma-
terials as Scripture. The loss of Homer, or. the
loss of Shakspeare would have affected thewhole
series of Greek or English authors who .
B ut the disappearance of the Bible from the books which
the world contains, would produce results far greater. We
can scarcely conceive the degree in which it would alter
literature and language—the ideas of the educated and
philosophical, as well as the feelings and habits of mind of
the poor. It has been said, with an allowed hyperbole,
that Homer is Greece ; with much more truth may it he
said that the Bible is Christendom."
Referring to the Old Testament, he says :--
"The beginnings of human history are themselves a
lesson, having the freshness of early dawn. There are forms
of evil against which the prophets and the prophetical spirit
of the law carry on a warfare in terms almost too bold for
the way of life of modern times. There, more plainly
than in any ether portion of Scripture, is expressed
the antagonism of outward and inward—of ceremonial
and moral—of mercy and sacrifice. There, all the
masks of hypocrisy are rudely torn asunder in which an
unthinking world allows itself to be disguised. There, the
relations of rich and poor in the sight of God, and
their duties towards one another are most clearly
enunciated. There, the religion of suffering first appears,
—' adversity the blessing' of the Old Testament as well as
the New. There, the sorrows and aspirations of the soul
find their deepest expression, and also their consolation.
The feeble person has an image of himself as the ' bruised
reed.' The suffering servant of God passes into 'the be-
loved one, in whom my soul delighteth.' Even the latest
and most desolate phases of the human mind are reflected
in Job and Ecclesiastes; yet not without the solemn asser-
tion, that to fear God and keep his commandments is the
beginning and the end of all things.' "
Once more, he says—
" Every part of Scripture tends to raise us above our-
selves—to give us a deeper sense of the feebleness of man,
and of the wisdom and power of God. It has a sort of
kindred, as Plato would say, with religious truth every-
where in the world. It agrees also with the imperfect
stages of knowledge and faith in human nature, and answers
to its inarticulate cries. The universal truth easily breaks
through the accidents of time and place in which it is in-
volved. Although we cannot apply Jewish institutions
to the Christian world, or venture in reliance on some text
to resist the tide of civilisation on which we are borne, yet
it remains nevertheless to us, as well as to the Jews and
first Christians, that 'Righteousness exalteth a nation,'
and that Love is the fulfilling not of Jewish law only, but
of all law.' "

Are these the sentiments of an Infidel ? Of a
blasphemer ? Of an Atheist ? Were there ever
nobler words uttered in just praise of Holy Scrip-
ture ? Think ye, if Jesus were on earth he would
condemn them, or condemn the author? True he
uses not the phraseology of the creeds—he has
got beyond them—nearer the Christianity of the
first century—nearer to truth—nearer to the spirit
of Jesus, and for this some thousands of his fellow-
clergymen are calling upon the Bishops to put him
down—to prosecute him—(they are persecuting
him)—and even invoke heaven to stop his career.
One " Religious Journal" has triumphed, and was
grateful for the death of Baden Powell. How
humiliating to see an editor, an educated man, a
Christian minister, in such a fallen and low
moral state, as to delight in the death
of a fellow-christian, because he did not see
with him on some points ! 'l'wice within a short
period Jesus rebuked John for the same unchris-
tian spirit. The Apostle said—" Master, we saw
one casting out devils in thy name, and we forbad
him because he followeth not us ;" and Jesus said
unto him, " Forbid him not—for he that is not
against us is for us." Shortly after the Samari-
tans did not receive Jesus into their village," be-
cause his face was as though he would go to
Jerusalem "—and when James and John saw this,
they said, "Lord, wilt thou that we command fire
to come dawn from Heaven, and consume them,
even as Elias did ?" But he turned and rebuked
them, and said," Ye know not what manner of
spirit ye are of—for the son of man is not come to
destroy men's lives, but to save them."
What a leason is this to all of us, and how ear-
nestly we should seek to embody it in our spirit
and conduct. If the defence of some ultra views
of the popular theology of conflicting creeds can
only be carried on in a spirit, and with an amount
of injustice, on which Heaven frowns, as on 1111
wickedness, let that defence be abandoned until
it can be taken up by men whose tongues and
principles are under the control of Christianity.
It inflicts a deeper injury upon Christianity than
,
any volume that can be written like The Essays
and Reviews."