The Oxford Movement; Twelve Years, 1833-1845Church, R. W. (Richard William)
Religion
The Oxford Movement; Twelve Years, 1833-1845
Church, R. W. (Richard William)
Oxford movement
ministers of the Church are not blameless if, by keeping back the more
gracious and consoling truths provided for the little ones of Christ,
they indirectly lead him into it. Had he been taught as a child, that
the Sacraments, not preaching, are the sources of Divine Grace; that
the Apostolical ministry had a virtue in it which went out over the
whole Church, when sought by the prayer of faith; that fellowship with
it was a gift and privilege, as well as a duty, we could not have had
so many wanderers from our fold, nor so many cold hearts within it.
This instance may suggest many others of the superior _influence_ of
an apostolical over a mere secular method of teaching. The awakened
mind knows its wants, but cannot provide for them; and in its hunger
will feed upon ashes, if it cannot obtain the pure milk of the word.
Methodism and Popery are in different ways the refuge of those whom
the Church stints of the gifts of grace; they are the foster-mothers
of abandoned children. The neglect of the daily service, the
desecration of festivals, the Eucharist scantily administered,
insubordination permitted in all ranks of the Church, orders and
offices imperfectly developed, the want of societies for particular
religious objects, and the like deficiencies, lead the feverish mind,
desirous of a vent to its feelings, and a stricter rule of life, to
the smaller religious communities, to prayer and Bible meetings, and
ill-advised institutions and societies, on the one hand, on the other,
to the solemn and captivating services by which Popery gains its
proselytes. Moreover, the multitude of men cannot teach or guide
themselves; and an injunction given them to depend on their private
judgment, cruel in itself, is doubly hurtful, as throwing them on such
teachers as speak daringly and promise largely, and not only aid but
supersede individual exertion.
These remarks may serve as a clue, for those who care to pursue it, to
the views which have led to the publication of the following Tracts.
The Church of Christ was intended to cope with human nature in all its
forms, and surely the gifts vouchsafed it are adequate for that
gracious purpose. There are zealous sons and servants of her English
branch, who see with sorrow that she is defrauded of her full
usefulness by particular theories and principles of the present age,
which interfere with the execution of one portion of her commission;
and while they consider that the revival of this portion of truth is
especially adapted to break up existing parties in the Church, and to
form instead a bond of union among all who love the Lord Jesus Christ
in sincerity, they believe that nothing but these neglected doctrines,
faithfully preached, will repress that extension of Popery, for which
the ever multiplying divisions of the religious world are too clearly
preparing the way.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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