A Practical View of the Prevailing Religious System of Professed Christians, in the Middle and Higher Classes in this Country, Contrasted with Real Christianity.Wilberforce, William
Religion
A Practical View of the Prevailing Religious System of Professed Christians, in the Middle and Higher Classes in this Country, Contrasted with Real Christianity.
Wilberforce, William
Christianity; Christianity -- Great Britain
But these grand truths are not suffered to vanish altogether from our
remembrance. Thanks to the compilers of our Liturgy, more than to too
many of the occupiers of our pulpits, they are forced upon our notice in
their just bearings and connections, as often as we attend the service
of the church. Yet is it too much to affirm, that though there
entertained with decorum, as what belong to the day and place, and
occupation, they are yet too generally heard of with little interest;
like the legendary tales of some venerable historian, or other
transactions of great antiquity, if not of doubtful credit, which,
though important to our ancestors, relate to times and circumstances so
different from our own, that we cannot be expected to take any great
concern in them? We hear of them therefore with apparent indifference;
we repeat them almost as it were by rote, assuming by turns the language
of the deepest humiliation and of the warmest thankfulness, with a calm
unaltered composure; and when the service of the day is ended, they are
dismissed altogether from our thoughts, till on the return of another
Sunday, a fresh attendance on public worship gives occasion for the
renewed expressions of our periodical gratitude. In noticing such
lukewarmness as this, surely the writer were to be pardoned, if he were
to be betrayed into some warmth of condemnation. The Unitarian and
Socinian indeed, who deny, or explain away the peculiar doctrines of the
Gospel, may be allowed to feel, and talk of these grand truths with
little emotion. But in those who profess a sincere belief in them, this
coldness is insupportable. The greatest possible services of man to man
must appear contemptible, when compared with "the unspeakable mercies of
Christ:" mercies so dearly bought, so freely bestowed--A deliverance
from eternal misery--The gift of "a crown of glory, that fadeth not
away." Yet, what judgment should we form of such conduct, as is here
censured, in the case of any one who had received some signal services
from a fellow creature? True love is an ardent, and an active
principle--a cold, a dormant, a phlegmatic gratitude, are contractions
in terms. When these generous affections really exist in vigour, are we
not ever fond of dwelling on the value, and enumerating the merits of
our benefactor? How are we moved when any thing is asserted to his
disparagement! How do we delight to tell of his kindness! With what
pious care do we preserve any memorial of him, which we may happen to
possess? How gladly do we seize any opportunity of rendering to him, or
to those who are dear to him, any little good offices, which, though in
themselves of small intrinsic worth, may testify the sincerity of our
thankfulness! The very mention of his name will cheer the heart, and
light up the countenance! And if he be now no more, and if he had made
it his dying request that, in a way of his own appointment, we would
occasionally meet to keep the memory of his person, and of his services
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account