THE POTTER'S VESSEL[1] [1] Preached at St. Giles's, Cripplegate. The argument in this sermon, stated shortly during dinner-hour in a City church, is developed at length in the lecture which comes last in this book. "Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear My words. Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it."--JER. xviii. 2-4. I suppose there is no metaphor in Holy Scripture that has been so much misunderstood and led to more mischief than this metaphor of the potter and the clay. Do not you know how, if any of us dared to vindicate the ways of GOD to men, again and again we were referred to the words of St. Paul: "Who art thou that repliest against GOD? Shall the thing formed say to Him that formed it: Why hast Thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?" And so the offended human conscience was silenced but not satisfied. There is no doubt that the monstrous misrepresentation of Christianity which we call Calvinism arose chiefly from this metaphor; and few things have done more harm to the religion of the world than Calvinism. Those who believe that GOD is an arbitrary tyrant who simply works as a potter is supposed to work on clay, irrespective of character or any plea for mercy--how can such a person love GOD, or care for GOD, or wish to go to church or even pray? You cannot do it! Thus there sprang up in some men's minds just such a picture of GOD as is described by that wonderful genius, Browning. Some of you may have read the poem called "Caliban on Setebos," in which the half-savage Caliban pictures to himself what sort of a person GOD is. He had never been instructed, he knew nothing; but he imagined that GOD would act towards mankind as he acted towards the animals and the living creatures on his island; and this is a quotation from that poem: "Thinketh, such shows nor right nor wrong in Him. Nor kind, nor cruel: He is strong and Lord. Am strong myself compared to yonder crabs That march now from the mountain to the sea; Let twenty pass, and stone the twenty-first, Loving not, hating not, just choosing so. Say the first straggler that boasts purple spots Shall join the file, one pincer twisted off? Say, this bruised fellow shall receive a worm, And two worms he whose nippers end in red; As it likes me each time, so I do: so He."