Creator to whom he was deeply grateful for many blessings, a life which had been chiefly spent in promoting the temporal and In him spiritual welfare of his fellow-creatures. 66 the poor lost a generous benefactor, his neighbours a bright example, and those who were more intimately connected with him, a kind and valuable friend."

Sermons on Faith, and on other Subjects; BY ROBERt Nares, M. A. F. R. S., &c. Archdeacon of Stafford, Canon Residentiary of Litchfield, and Rector of Allhallows, London Wall. Pp. 360. 10s. 6d. London. Rivingtons. 1825.

FEW subjects have given more frequent exercise to the pen of the theologian,-not any within the intire range of divinity has been the parent of a greater aggregate quantity of sound sense, on the one hand, and of extravagant absurdity on the otherthan "Faith." By one party, Faith, the saving faith of St. Paul's epistles, has been represented as a term synonymous with the secret assurances of the Puritans of Cromwell's day, or the Revivalists of our own; as a virtue so excellent in itself as to supply the place of every other virtue, public or private; as the mere gift of God, bestowed at random, so to speak, upon the most dissolute as well as upon the most pure in mind and morals; as a thing frequently denied to the humble enquirer for half a century, and frequently granted to the abandoned criminal on the scaffold; and yet, with all this, as the necessary precedent of human salvation, without which, in the peculiar sense affixed to it by themselves, eternal misery must be the fate of all. By another party the very opposite extreme is held. These persons affect to embrace the sentiment of the poet,

"For forms of faith let angry bigots fight,

His creed cannot be wrong whose life is right:"

and so, treating faith as a thing illusory and unprofitable, they ascribe the salvation of such as shall be saved, wholly to the effects of their general conduct on the welfare of mankind. In the eyes of the politician, the last will no doubt appear a preferable species of doctrine to the first; but we need not add that it is not the doctrine of Christianity. By a third party, again, faith is confined to the mere act of believing in

God, as he is set forth in holy Scripture, and in the redemption of the world by the death of Christ. Those who restrict the meaning of the term within these narrow bounds, very properly contend that, unless it be accompanied by holiness of life, and purity of morals, it will avail nothing to the salvation of him who professes it. Whilst a fourth party, alarmed at the idea of ascribing any merit to good works, maintain, that however necessary good works may be, as far as the individual himself, or his fellow mortals are concerned, they are valueless in the sight of God, who has promised to bestow upon faith, and upon faith alone, the reward of eternal life. In our humble opinion, one and all of these parties are in error; though certainly they err not to the same extent.

The First party err, because they mistake for a rational and sober faith, the wild workings of a disordered imagination. Faith-real, solid, and living faith, can hardly be acquired in a moment, without the operation of a miracle. When a man is under the excitement of any violent impression, such as that produced by terror, by astonishment, by joy, or even by sorrow, a skilful manager may, perhaps, persuade him to profess a belief in any thing, which tends to keep up the excitation, or to divert it into an agreeable channel. Thus the criminal who is about to suffer death, and whose past life may have been one of utter ignorance and vice, if he be assured, as is frequently the case, that all who obtain so much faith as to produce an internal conviction that Christ died for them in particular; and that the anticipation of salvation here, will be followed by actual salvation hereafter,-seldom fails to work himself up into the state of mind required of him. But is this faith? or are that man's prospects the more bright, because in his last moments he has presumptuously dared to pronounce God a liar, who has promised to judge all men according to their works? Surely not. In what respect the Second class of reasoners err, we need not repeat. Their creed, or rather their want of creed, will find no support in that volume which distinctly says, "he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in me, shall never die." Of the Third and Fourth classes it may be sufficient to observe, that they err by considering either faith or morality, or even both combined, as in any degree the cause of man's salvation. Faith and good works are unquestionably the conditions on which an admission into the kingdom of heaven has been promised to man; but between the conditions of obtaining any benefit, and the operative cause of that benefit, there is the widest possible difference. The divines, therefore, who from a fear of ascribing

VOL. II. NO. IV.

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any merit to good works, ascribe the intire merit of salvation to faith, fall into the very same error with those from whom they differ. There is no more merit in faith, however we interpret the term, than there is in good works, considered with reference to human salvation; eternal life being, after all, to 'the most pious and faithful of our race, "the gift of God, through Jesus Christ our Lord."

We have read a good deal on the subject of Faith, as well what has been written by our old, as by modern divines, but we certainly never met with any exposition of the term Christian Faith, which has given us more satisfaction than that now before us. We like the book, not only because we cordially agree in all that the Archdeacon asserts, but because it is written throughout in a plain and unaffected style; such as the fastidious critic will not condemn, and the half-lettered 'peasant may fully comprehend. The view taken of the question by our author may be stated in few words; and his mode of supporting it, cannot be too generally studied.

He draws a broad and marked line of distinction between the terms Faith and Belief; showing that there may not exist one particle of the former where the latter abounds. Belief 'he describes as an a sent to propositions which we cannot deny; and too truly observes, that it is held, in the matter of revealed religion, by vast numbers, who have nevertheless no claim to be considered as faithful. Faith, he says, implies 'that kind of trust in God and in Christ,-that unshaken and unshakeable reliance upon the whole declarations of Scripture, which operates at all moments, and under all circumstances, upon the mind, with force sufficient to defend him who entertains it from the assaults of temptation, and to comfort and support him in trials and difficulties. "Such a faith was held," he continues, "by all the saints of the olden time, from Abel, the first martyr, down to the apostles and fathers of the church; and such a faith will still be held by those who are really faithful, and not mere believers." The following may be taken as a fair specimen, both of the language and matter of the volume. After bringing forward, from the history of the Old Testament, numerous instances where faith has been tried, sometimes to the advantage, sometimes to the disadvantage of the tempted, Mr. Nares goes on to say

"These are great examples: but in common life also there are trials by which the steadiness of a sound faith is put to the proof. Suppose a person rightly instructed in youth, and taught to know both what he ought to believe, and in what to trust; his faith will then be tried, through life, by various tests adapted to his successive situa

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tions, and varying circumstances. His first great task will. be, to resist the temptations of the world, and restrain his passions within the bounds of propriety and morality. In these efforts his success will of course be proportioned to his firm reliance on those truths with which his mind was stored by education: supposing always the preventing and assisting grace of God, which in every part of life, and under every kind of trial, must be sought, and which will never be denied to those who rightly seek it. It must be further proved, as he proceeds in life, that he has the steadiness to adhere to what he knows to be the truth, in defiance of the scorn of those who ridicule, or the sophistry of those who strive to undermine, his faith. Or if he meet with no temptation to deny the truth, he may meet with many which will urge him to depart from the integrity, purity, uprightness, or other proofs of obedience which a true faith prescribes.

"Or it may please God to prove him by afflictions of various kinds; disappointment of worldly hopes, the loss of friends, poverty, disease, pain of body, or distress of mind; under any or all of which afflictions, if his faith and trust in God and Christ do not so far support him as to be made manifest in patient and resigned submission, the issue of his trial cannot be deemed favourable. Yet there is mercy with God; and after any, or even many failures, how far that mercy will extend to pardon frailty, is known to God alone. Sincere repentance will do all that can be done; accompanied by faith and trust in Him who died for our deliverance, and whose abundant merits can compensate for the worst of our defects.'

We subjoin a brief description of the Christian life, because we look upon it as most rational and sound.

By this view it will be seen that the Christian life is properly a life of faith. A life of reliance on the truths revealed in the Scriptures; reliance so firm as either to prevent transgression, however strong the temptation, or to recover the offender from it, and enable him to gain new hopes by the means prescribed in the Gospel. to do well, with sorrow and repentance no less sincere, whenever the Sincere endeavours deceitfulness of sin may have have baffled those endeavours: these are the conditions, without the due performance of which, hope must be delusiye, and confidence presumptuous; the confidence, not of the faithful, but of those who set aside the laws of God and Christ, to make new precepts and conditions for themselves."

The Archdeacon's conclusion we shall give in his own words:

"I have thus endeavoured to refute and to expose the chief errors which have prevailed, or do now subsist, respecting faith, by showing, in the first instance, that it is not mere belief, but something much more difficult to be attained. Belief may come spontaneously by proof, or certain knowledge, but faith must be supported by many other virtues; Ef2

particularly by humility and patience, prepared to submit themselves in all things to the will of God. Secondly, it has been shown, that if faith could subsist without accompanying virtues, it would be absolutely of no value or efficacy towards obtaining salvation. The case of the thief, pardoned on the cross, which has often been grievously misapplied, teaches only, what we ought otherwise to believe, that Christ could discern true penitents, even under the most suspicious circumstances. But our uniform persuasion should be, that in order to live by our faith, we must also live according to it; which is to live, as far as may be possible, according to the example of our Lord. If we look to that, we cannot but be assured that all iniquity must be as far from his approbation, as it was from his practice, and that if he suffers guilt to hope for pardon, it is to encourage repentance and amendment, not to give licence to an obstinate continuance in sin, or to the abuse of that very mercy which we adore.”

To all this we give our most cordial assent. It were well, if preachers in general, when treating of the matter of Faith, would adopt such sentiments, and imitate such language.

We regret extremely that our limits will not allow of our making quotations from any of the occasional sermons in this volume. They are all excellent in their way; and they are full of that happy and cheerful tone, which never fails to accompany vital religion,

Subjoined to the whole is an admirable Charge, delivered to the Clergy of Stafford in the year 1812. In conclusion we unhesitatingly affirm, that the present publication of Mr. Nares, while it may, and we trust will, prove of great benefit to society, detracts nothing from the previous reputation of its author, as a scholar and a divine.

The Doctrine of the Church of Geneva illustrated in a Series of Sermons, preached by the modern Divines of that City. Edited by the Rev. J. S. PoNs, one of His Majesty's Chaplains at the Dutch Chapel, St. James's Palace; and Minister of the French Episcopal Church, cailed Eglise des Grecs. Pp. 368. 10s. London. Treuttel. 1825.

THE Church of Geneva has for several years past been labouring under the charge of Socinianism; and it seems to be the object of the Editor of these Sermons to adduce evidence in proof that the charge is unfounded. For this purpose, he has selected twelve discourses, from the productions of ten of those whom he considers the most venerated ministers of the National