Christianity must, thirdly, be set free from all authority, no matter under what name it shows itself. No man and no body of men has a right to step between God and the Christian. All obligatory professions of faith will be abolished.

Our religion must also be delivered from all exaggeration in respect to the importance of outward forms. The principle, that God is spirit, and must be worshipped in spirit and in truth, and that it matters little what are the forms of this worship, must be universally adopted. A truly Christian spirit may be hidden under the most absurd and vain ceremonies.

Christianity must likewise be delivered from all superstitious views as to the literal interpretation of the Scriptures.

Our religion must, finally, be freed from the belief, that faith in a certain dogmatic interpretation of the Scriptures is necessary to salvation. Much progress has already been made in this respect. Christian communities are already beginning to be convinced that a man may be truly Christian, although his interpretation of the Scriptures be entirely opposed to their own. The conscience of the Christian world is indignant, when, in our own times, a bull is issued from the pontifical throne of Rome, declaring that moral virtue is of no value in the sight of God, or when such men as Newton, Clarke, and Locke are declared to be bad Christians because they did not believe in the doctrine of the Trinity. When the whole world shall have been convinced that there is but one faith necessary to salvation, that which each man has formed for himself by the sincere and conscientious study of revelation, then the final triumphs of Christianity in this world will be at hand. For the last eighteen centuries man has sought in vain for peace and harmony in a complete. unity of doctrine and of faith. Let him seek for this peace in the unity of all Christian hearts, and his search will not be vain.

Such are the changes through which Christianity must pass before it can become the universal religion of mankind. If we now ask what changes our religion must undergo before it can become the religion of eternity, the idea will naturally present itself, that Christianity must be freed from the notions of time and space. If we view our religion in this new light, we shall naturally be led to consider heaven and hell, not as two distinct places, in which the just are rewarded and the sinner is punished, but as two different dispositions of the

1848.]

The Future Life.

19

mind. In a future existence, we shall be what we have made ourselves. If we have used our faculties to approach God, we shall be recompensed by the approbation of our conscience; if we have used them, on the contrary, to separate ourselves from him, we shall suffer all the pangs of an evil conscience. The question here presents itself, whether these sufferings will be eternal, whether there is no hope of a final reconciliation between God and all his children. The answer to such questions is simple. It is possible for man eternally to misuse his faculties. We have already said that the road which leads him away from God is as infinite as the road which leads him towards his Heavenly Father. Man may, then, eternally suffer, because he may eternally do wrong. But, because this possibility exists, ought we to believe that it will ever be realized? Is it not more in harmony with the consoling instructions of our religion, to believe that the time will come when God will be all in all? We have, indeed, in the nature of man, almost a certain guaranty that he will not be eternally miserable. If he retain the consciousness of his actions in another life, he will know that he has sinned, and that therefore he suffers. Is it not natural, then, to suppose that he will seek to rise from his state of degradation and to join those heavenly legions who are on the road of progress? We confidently believe that the time will come when all beings will form but one great family. We cannot but pity those who wilfully deny themselves so beautiful and consoling an expectation, and who believe that an eternity of suffering awaits every sinner. But, alas! what shall we say of those who believe that all who do not profess the same creed with themselves will be irretrievably lost? We turn from such a deplorable aberration of the human mind, and thank God that we do not believe in so horrible a doctrine. We can cast our eyes over the whole extent of this world and contemplate the beings who people it, without fearing to meet the eye of one - yes, not even of one

sentenced to so hard a doom.

We have endeavoured, in the preceding pages, to trace, as rapidly as possible, the principal features of M. Coquerel's remarkable work. It will be seen that he examines frankly and thoroughly all the problems which our religion suggests. Whether we accept his conclusions or not, the position which he holds in France and the influence which he exerts entitle his opinions to consideration, especially when deliber

ately expressed with a reference to the present interests of society and religion. To say how soon the pure Christianity of which he has given the outline in this book will be popular in France is beyond the reach of human foresight. In a country which is comparatively new to so pure a faith, it can hardly be expected that it should be immediately adopted. But the time will certainly come, when the French, as all other nations, will relinquish the superstitious errors of the past and adopt a Christianity founded on a broader and more liberal basis. Our unshaken confidence in the truth of our religion, and in the purity of the form of Christianity which we profess, renders us firm in our belief that the time will certainly come, when all Christians will agree, not on theological points, which will ever remain open to discussion, but on all subjects essential to their progress in this world and throughout the different stages of their future existence. The time will come, when the spiritual power of the pope will no longer be felt in its influence on mankind; perhaps the activity which has rendered Pius IX. so popular is but a display of that preternatural strength which not unfrequently announces an approaching dissolution. The time will come, when the confessions of faith of La Rochelle and of Augsburg, or the contradictory articles adopted by the Church of England, will no longer be considered as binding. And all these changes will occur without much struggle. The churches now dedicated to the Roman Catholic worship will be converted into Protestant temples; they will not be destroyed. The tapers which burn on the altars, as if the light of the sun were not a light sufficient for the worship of God, will be extinguished; the works of art which adorn them will be transported to some museum; the confessional will be removed; the priest in his rich and varied dresses will no longer officiate at an altar stripped of all its splendor; incense will no longer rise to the Gothic roof; but multitudes will still throng the church to hear the word of God read and explained.

We could wish, for M. Coquerel's sake, that he might live to witness these tranquil triumphs of Christianity over the errors of the past. Few men, indeed, have done more towards hastening the religious progress of their country than he. Those who are acquainted with his life know how much courage it has required to hold his ground in the Reformed Church of Paris. Surrounded by clergymen who believe in the creed of St. Athanasius, and in the impossibility of salva

1848.]

Doctrinal Instruction in Sunday Schools.

21

tion for those who do not accept that masterpiece of human ingenuity, he has been constantly attacked by his colleagues in the most bitter manner. To these invectives he has replied with firmness, but without overstepping the limits of Christian charity. Peace and unity in the Church have been the constant theme of his eloquent preaching. We remember to have heard him on one occasion, after having exhorted his hearers to maintain peace with those of their brethren whose doctrinal views differed from their own, exclaim :— "Do you not hear the sound of those who are waiting at the doors of this church to be admitted to commune with you? O, no! You hear them not. The noise of our vain and sterile disputes has buried their voice!" May his perseverance and his courage be recompensed! When at the

hour of his death he shall look around him and does not see the seed which he has sown bursting forth into a rich and fertile harvest, he will console himself with the thought that he has done his duty, and that God will do the rest. He will remember that St. Paul has said :-" I have planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase."

R. W.

ART. II. - DOCTRINAL INSTRUCTION IN SUNDAY

SCHOOLS.*

"SHOULD the doctrines of Christianity be systematically taught in our Sunday schools?" was a question proposed by the Secretary of the Sunday School Society to several correspondents, while preparing his Annual Report. It is discussed in the latter part of that Report, as fully as its proper limits would permit. We deem it a very important question, and one which demands, at this particular time, the careful consideration of every friend of pure Christianity. We say, "at this particular time," because we fear that there is in many minds a strange aversion to the whole subject of doctrinal discussion or instruction, both in the pulpit and in the Sunday school. The older members of our most

The Nineteenth Annual Report of the Sunday School Society, with an Account of the Proceedings at the Public Annual Meeting, 26th of May, 1847. Boston: S. G. Simpkins. 1847. 12mo. pp. 24.

firmly established religious societies, who were interested in the controversy upon Christian doctrines which took place between the Unitarians and their opponents some years ago, acquired clear and distinct views of the doctrines of Christianity as held by Unitarians, in distinction from the doctrines of other denominations, of the arguments by which they are supported, and of the way in which objections to them are answered. But, at the same time, they became wearied with the process, and disgusted, perhaps, with the unchristian bitterness that too often accompanies controversy, if it be not generated by it. And the natural consequence has been an aversion, in many of our older societies, to distinct doctrinal discussion, or direct and systematic efforts to teach the doctrines which are embraced. It is much to be feared, therefore, that the younger portion of such societies are growing up without any well settled and distinctly defined opinions, liable, in after life, to be "driven about by every wind of doctrine" to which they may be exposed. And there is great danger, also, that, from the want of clear and distinct views upon the doctrines of Christianity, their religious principles will become weak or unsettled, and they will be driven by difficulties or allured by temptations from the path of moral virtue and Christian holiness. We thank the Secretary of the Sunday School Society for having called the attention of the community to this question, Should the doctrines of Christianity be systematically taught in our Sunday schools?"

The question takes it for granted that there are certain "doctrines of Christianity." And this the members of every Christian denomination sincerely believe. They may dif fer widely upon the question as to what these doctrines are; but they all believe that Christianity is not without its own. distinct and peculiar doctrines, that Jesus Christ and his Apostles in teaching Christianity did teach these doctrines. But what place, we very naturally ask, did they assign them in their teaching? Did they teach doctrines as matters of importance, as essential parts of Christianity, or as mere incidental appendages, which might be attached to the system or separated from it, without, in either case, seriously affecting its character or its practical influence? It seems to us that the doctrines of Christianity were taught by our Saviour and his Apostles as essential parts of the religion, - without which it would not be what it now is. We can