CHAPTER XIII. The Common Prayer-Book. HAVING now considered the principles of the Church's Christianity, let us turn our attention to the public worship of the Church of England as repeated each Sunday in thousands of churches all over the land. To begin with. It cannot be denied that the Book of Common Prayer contains many prayers of extreme beauty, framed in language which appeals to our highest emotions, and which are worthy of the greatest praise. Notwithstanding this, there is very much which the reader, who has imbued himself with the full meaning of the true religion of Jesus, cannot fail to regard with feelings of abhorrence; and were it not that so many men go to church from mere habit, and rarely, if ever, bestow much thought on the real significance of the phrases they are called upon to stand up and give utterance to or tacitly assent to, it would be incredible that sensible Englishmen of the present day could be found to sit out the Church's service. To begin with, I find, however, that the very first words which strike the ear of the worshipper on entering the church are so admirable and so true that we can hardly express our admiration for them too strongly. Where in the whole Thirty-nine Articles shall we find anything so beautiful and true, and yet—be it said—so utterly at variance with the whole of the doctrines contained in those Articles, as the following: "When the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness Here is a passage which is publicly read up by every clergyman in the land twice every Sunday, and yet it is utterly heterodox and unsanctioned by modern Christianity! Salvation by repentance and well-doing, irrespective of creeds or faith. Surely it is too good to be true! One seems to doubt the evidence of one's senses; yet there it is in plain English. The prayers which follow are so comforting and beautiful that I should be sorry to find any fault with them. The Apostle's creed has then to be repeated by the whole congregation, unless it be one of the days on which the creed of St. Athanasius is required to be read, and then the latter is repeated or sung by the whole congregation. The remarks made on the latter (ante p. 167) need not be here repeated. Those who can honestly believe the contents of this creed are not to be envied. Those who repeat it, or lend their sanction to it by belonging to a Church which incorporates it in its Articles and yet do not believe it, are, in my humble opinion, either wanting in moral courage -in not protesting against the mockery of religion which the retention and repetition of this creed involves or they are such lukewarm Christians that they take too little interest in the service to trouble themselves about its meaning. In the prayer preceding the Communion service, the congregation are required to beseech the Almighty to grant that "by the merits and death of Thy Son Jesus Christ, and through faith in his blood, we and all Thy Church may obtain remission of our sins, and all other benefits of his passion;" and in the priest's exhortation the doctrine of Salvation by faith only is further insisted on in alluding to Christ's “meritorious Cross and passion, whereby alone we obtain remission of our sins, and are made partakers of the kingdom of heaven." Let the reader compare this with the words of Christ when, in reply to the scribe who addressed to him the words, "To love God and to love his neighbour as himself is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices," Jesus said unto him, "Thou art not far from the kingdom of God." See also the words, "Except ye be converted and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven;" and the whole tenour of Christ's teaching, which clearly teaches no salvation by faith only. In the service connected with the public baptism of infants we find original sin and natural depravity once more to the fore: "Dearly beloved, forasmuch as all men are conceived and born in sin, and that our Saviour Christ saith none can enter into the kingdom of God, except he be regenerated and born anew of water and of the Holy Ghost," &c. The priest then proceeds to pray to the Almighty that he will mercifully wash the child and sanctify him with the Holy Ghost, that he "being delivered from thy wrath" may be received into the ark of Christ's Church, &c. Then comes another prayer that the infant, "coming to the holy baptism, may receive remission of his sins by spiritual regeneration." As to the statement that "all men are conceived and born in sin," I wonder what mother who fondles her first-born child-all purity and innocence-really believes in her heart that it is conceived and born in sin and deserving of God's wrath, &c.! Probably not one in a thousand but would reject with abhorrence such a foul libel. It is inconceivable how sensible men and women can patiently go through a ceremony where solemn nonsense like this is given utterance to. The repetition of such words is really little short of blasphemy to the Creator, considering that in another part of the service the congregation is asked to sing from the Psalms such phrases as the following: "But thou, O Lord God, art full of compassion and mercy; "O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is gracious, and his "Gracious is the Lord and righteous: yea our God is mer- over all his works." At the conclusion of the Baptismal service occurs this soothing passage: "It is certain by God's Word, that children which are baptized, dying before they commit actual sin, are undoubtedly saved." Are we then to infer that those children who are not baptized will be eternally lost? If not, what is the good of baptism? In any case, it is utterly repugnant to the love Christ expressed for little children when he said, "Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of God," as it is also utterly inconsistent with Divine mercy and justice to believe any such doctrine. Having already enlarged upon this subject elsewhere (see ante p. 149), I need say no more here than to point out that if children are conceived in sin and deserving of God's wrath, and if (as the 17th Article expresses it) God has, "before the foundation of the world," predestined that a select few, "whom he hath chosen in Christ out of mankind," should be delivered from curse and damnation, it is surely wonderful that any parent, who cares for his child's soul, will take the awful responsibility of bringing children into the world, seeing that he can have no certain assurance that any particular child of his will be one of the elect! It is idle to say that Churchmen can go to church, and yet disbelieve these doctrines. The Church service requires them to repeat aloud such passages as the following from the 51st Psalm:— And "Behold, I was shapen in wickedness: and in sin hath my mother conceived me." every man who utters such words must surely be held responsible for them, or else he admits that he is degrading the religious worship to a solemn farce. Although the Church service is in many respects admirable, and contains prayers and songs of great beauty, it cannot be denied that sensible men and women are expected to repeat words which are self-contradictory and almost blasphemous in their teachings, and which certainly are a disgrace to the Church as an expounder, above all things, of the Religion of Jesus. I have already quoted several extracts from the Psalms which represent God to be merciful, forgiving, and longsuffering. There are many others to the same effect: "The Lord is full of compassion and mercy, long-suffering, and of great goodness." (Psalm 103:8; also 145: 8.) "O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is gracious: because his mercy endureth for ever." (Psalm 118: 1.) "O praise the Lord, all ye heathen: praise him, all ye nations. For his merciful kindness is ever more and more towards us: and the truth of the Lord endureth for ever." (Psalm 117: 1.) "The Lord upholdeth all such as fall: and lifteth up all those that are down." (Psalm 145: 14.) "Arise, O God, and judge thou the earth: for thou shalt take all heathen to thine inheritance." (Psalm 82: 8.) These extracts are all from the Old Testament, and represent God as a merciful Father, even to the extent of granting salvation to the heathen! The reader has already had abundant extracts from the New Testament to the same effect, and he knows, too, that Christ-sent from God-taught above all else mercy, forgiveness, and forbearance. With these facts before him, I ask, how can any conscientious Christian-who cares enough about religion to think upon the meaning of the words he utters -attend the service of the Church of England Sunday after Sunday, and repeat such passages in the Psalms as I have here culled for the perusal of the reader? |