who fucceeded the apostles, were confessedly fallible, and consequently unworthy of equal regard with them: nor did they attempt to make any additions to the rule of faith and manners, comprehended in the bible. On the contrary, they held, as we do, that all effential articles are to be found there: and so did the following ages too: till at length the rulers of the church of Rome, having fet up notions and practices, which the scripture did not warrant, were obliged to pretend, (but very falsely) that they were taught by the ancient fathers, or delivered down by memory. And they decreed in the council of Trent, 200 years ago, that fuch traditions were to be received with the same respect as holy writ. But let us rest on surer ground: build on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jefus Christ himself being the chief corner ftone *; and on all occasions appeal to the law and to the testimony: for if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is na light in them †. • Eph. ii 2a. † If. viii. 20. 302 SER SERMON XLI. ON THE DUTY OF READING THE SCRIPTURE. 2 Тім. ііі, 16, 17. All fcripture is given by infpiration of God: and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. IN difcourfing on these words, I have already proved, III. That we ought to read and study it diligently. This duty follows with the clearest evidence, from its inspiration and usefulness. For if we may neglect what was written under so peculiar a direction of God, for our guidance to eternal happiness, to what can we poffibly ever be bound to attend? And yet I fear the confciences of many, if not most of us, can too easily inform us, how little we regard, how feldom we look into, these books. We exclaim against it perhaps as the wickedest tyranny in the church of Rome, that it prohibits them to be read without licence. But do we ourfelves make much more use of our bibles, in the midst of the fullest liberty, than if they continued to be locked up from us? Do we not spend a very small share of our time, of our leifure time, in looking into them, compared with what is wasted in the idleft occupations and amusements? The hours which we allot L allot to reading, do we not more commonly, and with far more pleasure, employ them on any other fort of reading, the most infignificant, the most corrupting and pernicious, than on this? Are there not multitudes, who can hardly name the time, when, even on the Lord's day itself, they read a chapter, with the serious intention of improving their fouls? Nay, the few, (and very few'l doubt they are at present) who think of religion in earnest, do they not usually apply to other books chiefly for instruction in it, and study the facred volumes far less than the compofitions of fallible men? These are facts as notorious as they are lamentable. And therefore I shall 1. Confider, in order to remove the causes, from which fo wonderful a contempt of God's word hath arifen. 2. Produce his commands for paying it a very different regard. 3. Shew what evils follow from disobeying these commands. 1. I shall confider the causes, from which this wonderful contempt of God's word hath arifen. Now the more general causes doubtless are, the original corruption of our nature, indisposing us to every thing good; (against which, if we value our interests in a future life, we ought to watch continually :) and our confequent acts and ha. bits of fin, which we very abfurdly fuffer to drive us from the scripture, that we may be easy in them, instead of having recourse to the scripture, which would excite us to an effectual reformation of them. Another very extensive cause is the wrong education of our youth. They are very little taught, in comparison of what they should, (if they are taught at all) either by their parents at home, or their masters or tutors afterwards, to be reverently conversant in the sacred writings, and yet less instructed how to profit by them. Hence they are unacquainted with their history, their doctrines, their language: have no early impreffions made on them in favour of what they contained and fo, when they are grown up, ignorantly flight them, fin without any restraint from them, and are eafily induced to join with fooffers in ridiculing them. All this might be much otherwise, if they, who educate children, were but near so careful about it, as true piety, or even common prudence, would lead them to be. Other But Other causes, or excuses, for neglecting to read scripture are, the various objections made against it, many of which you have heard confuted; and the disagreeableness arifing from the peculiarity of its style, of which also I have spoken. fuch as can read it only in a tranflation, (and the rest are a very small number in proportion,) will be tempted to complain of it still more than others: whereas they ought to acknow. ledge, that they are less qualified to judge, and therefore less intitled to find fault. For all tranflations, especially from writtings of diftant countries and ages, lose a great deal of the spirit, the strength, the elegance, and often the clearness too, of the original. Besides, ours is a literal translation. Even the most figurative and poetical passages, and the remotest from our whole common manner of expression, are almost always rendered word for word, without aiming at beauty, but merely at faithfulness. It is incredible, to any but men of skill in these matters, how great a disadvantage this must be. Scarce any other ancient book could appear tolerable in such a dress, but the bible: and that suffers by it extremely. Yet if this method had not been chosen, if any fine passages had been brought into a fairer light, any harsh ones foftened, any dark ones explained, any turn of a fentence made more forcible or more pleasing, by taking only such freedoms, in a moderate degree, as are taken, to a very great one, in most or all other authors, that we tranflate; the fame persons who complain of flatness or obscurity now, would have complained of artifice and unfairness then. And furely the scrupulous fidelity, which hath been shewn on this occafion, well deferves in return the candor of making all due allowances. Amongst these, a very great one is to be made on the following account, that even this tranflation was published above 1 50 years ago; when multitudes of texts were not near so well understood, and confequently could not be fo rightly expressed, as they have been fince: when also our language was different, in several particulars, from what it is at present; and therefore, though it hath been happily secured, by the common use of our bible and prayer-book, from changing so fast as it did before, yet some phrafes in both are become less intelligible, and a great many less proper and graceful, than they once were not to say, that the utmost propriety and accuracy was not in those days very strictly regarded. Befides, every book of the bible hath, for the convenience venience of quotation, been divided, many ages after it was written, into chapters, not always quite so judiciously separated, as they might have been; and these chapters again into very short verses, which persons are too apt to confider as indepen dent sentences; and thus often mistake the meaning, but oftener still overlook the otherwise plain connexion and force of argument in the sacred writings: perhaps imagine that there is none, and that studying them is to little purpose. Nay, lastly, the very expositors of scripture, whose profession is to affist men in reading it, and whose utility for that purpose, upon the whole, is very confiderable, yet sometimes discourage them from it. For commentators, in all books on which they labour much, and therefore above all in the bible, on which they have laboured most, frequently perplex what without them would be clear enough; either from partiality to their own notions, or vanity of finding out something new, or defire of feeming to differ from others where they do not, that they may not feem to copy them when they do. All these things contribute to lessen the esteem of the bible with some, perhaps more than is imagined: for though they may seldom be proposed as direct formal arguments against its usefulness, yet they are secretly and artfully thrown into the scale, so as to weigh a great deal on that fide of the queftion. And many, who will not allow, or, it may be, do not perceive, that they think the worse of scripture for them, yet are kept by them, more or less, from the ferious reading of it. But evidently both forts of persons act very unreasonably. For the original is not in the least answerable for the defects of tranflations, or for any other human imprudences. And though it cannot, by the best tranflation, appear in all its primitive splendor; yet in the worst (and ours is far from being such,) it exhibits every thing neceffary to the obtaining of eternal life, which alone might fufficiently recommend it to our most reverent respect and diligent meditation. However, besides this, under its greatest disadvantages, if we attend to it judicioufly, we shall find in it, (as critics, by no means prejudiced in its favour, have confefsed) far nobler and more striking beauties, ✓ and in far greater plenty, than in any or all the writers of heathen antiquity. But the internal hindrances, (if I may call them so) of studying fcripture, have not been the only, or perhaps the chief ones. |