A new treatise on the duty of a Christian towards God. Being an enlarged and improved version of the original treatise

Front matter

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A : ae TREATISE | ne oS BEING = sec oa

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Preface

WHat am 1? Wuar Is TO BECOME OF ME?

Sxrious and important questions, which the man of good sensa will never treat lightly, persuaded as he must be that an error on these points might be irreparably fatal in its consequences !

The idea of my existence is so closely allied with that of God, that [ cannot reflect on the former without being struck by the latter. Nothing exists, except by Him who zs, and zs by himself; it is in Him that we have being, motion, life, and reason. He has created us by his power, he preserves us in his goodness, and governs us by his Providence. As a natural consequence, we must, then, honour him, for his pre-eminent existence demands worship. A God, a rational man, a religion, one cannot be without the other. The idea. of religion is as natural to man as is that of God: the child receives its Impress with ready docility, and the old man is almost always forced to return to it. Let the passions only be silent, and all men will range themselves under the banners of Religion.

It is with the hope of being useful] to all that we publish thie New Treatise on the Duty of the Christian towards God, an the means of fitly discharging it. Every one will here find the grounds of his faith and of his future hope solidly established, and will see, by the examples which follow the explanation of the truths of faith an the duties of religion, that nothing is impossible to him who is well disposed, and desires to correspond with the graces he receives, and to avail himself of the aid which God gives “ to men of good will.”*

Far from taking to ourselves an honour which belongs not to us, we acknowledge with pleasure that it is from the works of MM, de La Salle, d@ Humbert, and Lhomond we have drawn up the body of dostrine cortained in this New Treatise

Introduction

NEVESSITY OF A RELIGION, AND THE OBLIGA- TION OF STUDYING IT.

1.— NECESSITY OF RELIGION.

Tur existence of the universe and the admirable order which reigns throughout, necessarily suppose a wise and powerful cause.

That cause is Gop; He it is who has created all things, and who regulates all according to the eternal laws of His divine wisdom. Of all created beings, man alone is endow. ed with intelligence and liberty; he alone is capable of knowing, willing, and loving; nevertheless, God, who is wisdom itself, has only given these faculties to man to thks end that they may be employed in promoting His ylory.

These truths, unquestionable as they are, prove Jeyona all doubt the necessity of a religion, that is to say, a counexion of obedience and love from the rational being to his. Creator. Vaiuly will it be said that God is too great and too far elevated above us to take any interest in the honour which we render Him. God, it is true, has no need of ou

yaa e 6 INTRODUCTION.

homage, but He is infin‘tely just, and therefore w./ls what is conformable with reason and order—hence it follows that the creature shoula and must honour his Creator, and tes. tify his love and SOHO: to Him whe has called him nto being.

Can a father possibly dispense with the love and respec! which his children owe him ?

God is, then, our father, hence we ought to love Him; He is infinitely good, we ought therefore to attach ourselves to Him and to His service; He is just, and He is all-powerful, and as such we ought to fear and respect Him. It was He who created us, and who still preserves our lives; all the blessings and advantages which we enjoy, we hold from His bountiful hand, and He holds ever in reserve gifts far more precious than any we have yet received; He desires to render us eternally happy—has He not then a right to require of us worship and homage?

This worship ought to be internal, comprehending all tne faculties of our soul; it should be external, so that the body may concur with the soul in the worship paid to God; and public, because that men, being destined to live in society, should assemble together to bless and adore Him who has created all.

Without a fixed and unvarying system of worship, religion could not long subsist amongst men, seeing that they have so great need of mutual edification, and of exciting each other to the practice of their common duty. Thus, from the very beginning of the world, men have come together to render homage to the Lord, and every where we find the Divinity worshipped in the name of the whole people. The same light which reveals to man the existence of a Being 01 whom he entirely depends, shows him alse

INTRODUCTION. — Y | ’

the obligation of paying Him all honour. The form of this worship has been different amongst the various nations of the earth, but its principle has-been every where the same, that is to say, the necessity of honouring a supreme power, a creator and conservator—an all-disposing Providence. So true it is that man ceases not to hear an inward voice which cries: “ Homage to the Master of life!”

2.—TiH= NECESSITY OF STUDYING RELIGION.

To believe in the existence of God, the immortality of the soul, the rewards and punishments of the other world, or, at least, having nothing satisfactory to say against these great truths, yet to live as though one were persuaded of the contrary being the case, is an inconsistency which can

only arise either from ignorance or licentiousness.

It is quite true that the most formidable enemies of religion are darkness of mind and depravity of heart. ‘There would he fewer unbelievers if religion were better known, and there would be none—not one—were men without passions. But neither the guilty negligence of the one, nor the corruption of the other, can ever do away with that which is. Now the unanimous consent of all nations, the secret conciousness of every man,—the universe and all that it contains, are so many witnesses attesting the existence of God. Thethought, the will, and the intelligence of the soul, all tend {o prove its spirituality, and sonsequently, its immortality. Such being the case, how are we to account for the stupid indifference of those who, without precaution and without fear, dare to advance towards -the fatal point which must - decide their eternal doom. “I know not,” say they, “ what ts to become of me; all that I can say is that I shall one day die, and on leaying this world 1 sball either fall inte

8 INTRODUCTION.

annihilation like the brute, or into the hands of God to he judged by Him. I know that if there be a God, he must punish all those, who like myself take no pains to serve him: all around tells me that God does exist; nevertheless, as this belief if carried out, would thwart my inclinations and desires, I choose rather to believe only what | see !— It may be that time will not be given me to repent; of that I am reminded by the testimony of faith, and by the voice of conscience; but no matter. I shall set the evidence aside and go on in my own way, for things may not be so bad after all.” In what way can we account for the wilful blind. ness of him who thus sports with his eternal fate? Can he dare to flatter himself that he will share throughout eternity in the happiness of the virtuous man perverse follower of his own inclinations /—or can he imagine that the God of all justice will regard in the same light he, the wicked and vice and virtue—the impious who blaspheme his name, and the just who adcre him with awful veneration ?

Uf all knowledge, then, that of religion is the most important for man: it is it which moderates him in prosperity, and sustains him in adversity, teaching him that time is nothing, and eternity all; it is it that secures the tranquility of States, by making man submissive to the authorities established by God himself, and that not only from the fear of punishment, but by the obligation of conscience; it is reiigion which forms the clement prince and the faithful subject—the just steadfast friend. Not only does it prohibit the usurpation of that which belongs not to us, but it forbids even the desire thereof; nay, it goes farther still, and commands us to share our abundance with him who is in want; it not only condemns murder and revenge, but enjoins us to pardon injuries and love our enemies; it teashea —

INTRODUCTION. 8 us to do good to those who hate and revile us, and to pray for those who persecute us. “ Astonishing fact!” says Montesquieu, struck with these truths, “that religion which uppears to be but for the other life, should yet constitute the happiness of man in this world.”—* Society without eligion” says the too-famous Voltaire, “ wov'd be but a den of ferocious beasts.”

Let us then conclude that nothing is more important for man than the study of religion, since religion herself makes it obligatory on us. The first duty which it imposes on us is the study of its precepts, and if it demands implicit faith in its mysteries, it also ordains that we should examine the reasons which prove their existence. Wo, then, to him whe blaspheming that of which he knows nothing, dares to des pise as popular prejudices truths the most certain, and the most worthy of respect !—Truths which the noblest minds have adopted, after the most careful investigation, and yielded up to them all the faculties of their soul.

Young people, who are about to enter the world, never forget the precepts of the Church;—be faithful to your duties, nor suffer yourselves to be drawn away either Ly the raillery, or the example of those who have themselves unhappily deserted the path of. virtue.

Read none but good books, which will instruct you more and more in the truths of Religion ;—the better instructed you are, the firmer willbe your faith, and the more you study your religion, the more will you be impressed with its divine beauty. Never permit your mind to be dazzled by the vain sophisms of the irreligious—never take blasphemy for reason, nor raillery for proof. Shun bad som. pany, which cannot fail to corrupt your morals. Fly frou vice, and you will preserve faith.

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10 : INTRODUCTION.

{f, in times past, you have had the misfortune to err or fall away from your duty, return at once to Him who awaita | you with outstretched arms, and who never rejects those who seek His favour:—do not sacrifice your hope of eterual bliss to a mean and contemptible human respect.

Exampie.—One of those Christians who haye nothing of Christianity but Baptism, and who never even knew his Catechism, or had otherwise forgotten it, made it his particular request (doubtless, after a sincere conversion, and in the profound humility of his heart) that the following epitaph might be engraved on his tomb :—“ Here lies tha fool who departed from this world without having sought to know why he came into it.”——Extract from the Cate. chism of ali the churches of» France.

_ A NEW TREATISE

ON THE

DUTY OF THE CHRISTIAN TOWARDS GOD;

AND THE MEANS OF ACQUITTING HIMSELF THEREOF,

Sr aed art First.

CF THE KNOWLEDGE AND LOVE OF Gor

Ist—_OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD.

Chapter I. Of The Creed, Which Is The Abridgment Of Our Faith

ARTICLE I.

OF THE APOSTLES’ CREED IN GENERAL.

[r was necessa’~ that the faithful should have for thei _ profession of faitl, « regular formula, short, simple, easy ta remember, and the same every where, hence it was that the Apostles, before they separated to go preach the Gospel, drew up the Creed which still bears their name, and which wadition has invariably attributed to them.

The word Symbol signifies a sign or an abridgment, be. cause the profession of faith made while reciting it serves to distinguish the Christian from all others, and because it contains in an abridged form all the truths which a christian is bound to believe on the peril of his salvation.

The Apostles’ Creed contains twelve articles, and is divid ed into three parts. ‘The first part is comprised in the first article, and speaks of God the Father and the creation of the world; the second takes in the six following articles, and treats of the Son of God, the redemption of man and the universal judgment; and the third is composed of the three concluding articles: it speaks of the Holy Ghost, the (lurch, the remission of sins, the general resurrection, and of the rewards and punishments reserved for men after their Jeath, according to the good or the evil they shall have done in the flesh.

To recite the Apostles’ Creed is to make as many acts of faith as there are truths contained in it: hence, it is good and useful to recite it often, but more especially when we rise in the morning, so as to testify to God that we propose to spend the day as a Christian ought; and also when going to bed at night, in order to dispose ourselves to die in the faith of the Church, should death surprise us during our sleep: this is the reason why the church ordains that all should know it by heart, and obliges parents to teach it to their children.

The words of the Apostles’ Creed are these: “I believe in God the Father Almighty,” &e.

Exampir.—One of the tyrants of old having sought, by threats and promises, to induce the Christians to give up their faith, said to them at last: “ What do you believe ?” Whereupon one of them replied: “ Listen!—I am going to make my profession of faith,” and he commenced saying aloud, in a firm tone: “I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth,” &c. Lasausse.

Christians have been frequently heard to cry out, amid the most fearful torments inflicted on them because of their faith: “I believe—I am a Christian. Death before unbelief.”

‘here is said to be in the imperial library of Vienna, a very old Greek manuscript, containing the Apostles’ Creed divided into twelve articles, with the names of those who composed them. ‘The first is attributed to St. Peter; the second to St. Andrew; the third to St. James; the fourth ts

St. John; the fifth to St. Thomas; the sixth to St. James the Less; the seventh to St. Philip; the eighth to St. Bar- ‘tholomew; the ninth to St. Matthew; the tenth to St Simon; the eleventh to St. Thadeus; and the twelfth to St. Matthias. Tre1gnot. Amusemens Philoleg giques.

7 ' ARTICLE II.

I believe, &c. .~HE NECESSITY OF REVELATION.

Mavn’s greatest interest is to know the end for which he is sent into the world, and what wil! become of him atter his death; his mind, however, being so limited in its capacity, he can but imperfectly conceive spiritual things, aud hence it is that he must refer himself to the expusition of them which God has vouchsafed to Be him by revelation.

Of the truths which God has revealed % men, some are contained in the Sacred Scriptures, and others have reached us by means of tradition. ‘The Scriptures are divided into the Old and New Testaments. The Old Testament comprises all the sacred books written from the time of Moses to that of Jesus Christ; and the New, those that have been written by the Apostles and some of their | disciples. All these books were written by divine inspiration, and their authenticity is incontestible. ‘Ihere can be no doubt that their authors were really those to whom they are attributed, that they have been preserved with religious veneration, and that they have come down to us bya constant and unbroken transmission. From the very time of their sojourn in the desert, the Hebrew people have had the books of Moses;—they read them every day, and fathers transmitted to their children the knowledge thev contained, as the most precious inheritance they could leave them; the original was religiously preserved in the ‘Tabernavle—and the words, nay, even the letters were counted. It would then have been impossible to introduce the slightest change, without exciting the clamorous oppo s ti DUTY OF THE CHRISTIAN sition of a miItitude of persons, all conscientiously bound to preserve the integrity of the narrative.

The Pentateuch, comprising the five first booxs of the Bible, have always been attributed to Moses by an entire nation whcse religion, civil usages, and their constitution itself, were all fonnded on that book; so that ove cannot dispute the fact of Moses being its author, without dispating the existence of that people, which would be sheer absurdity. ‘The other books contained in. the Holy Bible have the same marks of authenticity, and all of them are so closely connected that the facts related in those last written necessarily suppose the events described in the precediig accounts.

‘he writers of these books have all proved their divme mission by shining miracles and by prophecies which time has literally fulfilled—they must, therefore, have been sent by God. ‘The miracles which attest the authenticity of the sacred books rest on evidence so plain that there is no possibility of their being doubted. At one time it was an entire kingdom stricken at different times with ten terrible plagues; ‘at another, the sea opened to give a passage to the Hebrews, and closed again over Pharaoh and all his army; then it was an immense multitude fed for forty years with manna which fell from heaven, their thirst quenched with water drawn forth in torrents from the bosom of the solid rock, shaded by a thick cloud from the burning heat of the sun, and their nightly path illumined by a pilar of flame ; again, it was the Jordan diyiding its waters to let the people pass: at one time it was the course of the sun arrested to give time to secure the victory; at another, an entire army of one hundred at_: eighty-five thousand men struck dead during the night, under the walls of Jerusalem, All these prodigies, and a Y thousand others of a like nature,

of which several were attested by solemn festivals, established expressly to perpetuate their memory, can neither lie everlooked by the most stupid observer, nor called in question by the most ineredulous. The people consequently were so convinced of the authenticity of the sacred writings, that they accepted the Laws therein contained with all their strictness and all their punishments—terrible as they were.

The proot which rests on the prophecies is no‘ ‘ess strong: there we see a host of inspired men wio speak not as though doubting, hesitating or conjecturing, but who, in an assured tone, publicly declare that such and such events will certainly come to pass at the time, in the place, and with all the circumstances which they point out. And what events are those? The most minute in detail, the most important, the most interesting to all the nations, and yet the most improbable at the time when they were foretold; such are the carrying away of the Jews to Babylon, after the capture and destruction of Jerusalem, then a most flourishing city; the precise term of seventy years pointed out as the duration of the captivity; the triumphant return of the people to, thei. own land; Cyrus, their liberator, mentioned by name mo e than two handred years before his birth: such, too, is the order and succession of the Four great empires, two of which were named, that is to suy, the Persians and the Greeks, although these last were then cooped up in a small corner of the earth, and divided into several States. How was it that these prophets could thus penetrate the future? Who was it that discovered to their view events so distant, and then so little likely to happen, if it was not Him who is the master of time, and whose eternal decrees have regulated all? It is thus that the sacred writers have been ever regarded as the ministers and atnbassadors of God; it is thus that their books came to be revered as divine, and containing the true word of God.

The authority of the books of the New Testament rests on the same foundations, and is equally incontestible.

The New ‘lestament contains the history of the life, miracles, and doctrines of the Son of God, written by his disciples, all contemporaries of his, whose testimony is aniform throughout, and who relate but what they themselves heard and saw. From the very beginning of Christianity, the books were cited and even transcribed by the greatest men, some of whom had seen the Apostles: even the enemies of Christianity, such as Julian the Apostate, Celsus, Porphyrus, have never raised an objection on this point, yet they were comparatively near to the times of the

16 DUTY OF THE CURISTIAN

Apostles, and consequently withn reach of the truth. Se also uw heretics, whose interest it was to dispute the authority of these divine books, have openly acknowledged their authenticity, contenting themselves with endeavouring to pervert their sense.

‘The Church has ever cherished a profound veneration for these books, causing them to be publicly read in all the assemblies of religion; she has always regarded them as the word of God, and emanating from the Holy Spirit, and as such that no one could either add to, or diminish them without committing a sacrilege. If these books, then, are authentic and divine, the narratives which they contain must be true; and if so, it is quite true that God himselt has spoken to men. °

We must then regard all doctrine opposed to what Scripture teaches, as Titan it falsehood and error, and it is for us to Oppose the word of God to the audacious license of impiety aud unbelief. We should never forget that if our faith must be rational, by a due examination ‘of the proofs on which it is based, still it can never be too humble in its submission to revealed truths, and to the explanation which the Church gives of them.

Exampirs.—Several persons. repaired to the house of a philosopher, and said to him: “ We have been sent hither to beg of you to tell us clearly what is God.” The philoso. pher said: “1 will think of it—go, and return in eight days.” The eight days being past, the deputies called again, and hé ‘gaid’ once’ more: “Return in eight days.?) Eight days after they received the same answer. ‘lhe deputies were at length tired of hearing from the philosopher only the same words, and they demanded to know .how long he would keep telling them to return in eight days. He replied: “1 must make you the same answer as often as you ask the same question. I know that God is—I know and feel that he exists, but I am not, nor never shall be able to say what he is.”

“Who will explain to me what God is, if it be not God himself ?”.

Saint Augustine, before his conversion, went to cherch as

TOWARDS vOD. 17 often as his occtpation permitted, ant above all, he never failed to go on Sundays to hear St. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, preach. “They were,” said he, “excellent explanations of the word of truth, and as I listened from time to time, my heart, touched by the eloquence of that holy man, became slowly awakened to the truth.” He said alter his conversion : “ How often, oh, my God! have I been moved to tears by the melodious sounds of the hymns and psalms which they sang in church!”

The sane holy doctor said: “Oh, my God! there is nothing in the world affects me so deeply as to hear thy voice speaking through the divine books of thy Sacred Scripture—it is for me a pleasure that surpasses all others. Grant, oh, Lord! ‘that I may ever feast on thy holy word, for the delights I thence receive are all chaste and holy. Vouchsafe also to grant that I may never either deceive myself or others by taking the words of Scripture in a wrong sense.” (Confess., liv. 7. ch. 6.)

“What books do you read?” asked the proconsul Saturnin, under the emperor Severus, of the Confessor of the faith, Sperat. He replied: “ The four Gospels of Our Lord Jesus Christ and the Epistles of the Apostle, St. Paul ”

ARTTICEH BH 19h I believe in God.

EXISTENCE OF GOD.

Trat there is a God, is a truth which makes itself evident, if one may say so, to the mind, and we have but to open our eyes and reflect a moment in order to become eanvinced that it is so—all that is without and around us, and all that is within us, tends to prove the fact.

Let us look at the firmament, and what a magnificent sight do we behold! Who then has made that immense - vault? Who has suspended in air those shining spheres :— the sun, diffusing light and warmth on all.around; the moon and the stars which shine by night in the firma

18 : DUTY OF THE CHKISTIAN ment, and daily renew their majestic course with the most udmirable regularity? -

Let us then cast our eyes on the earth, and consider the innumerable multitude of animals with wnich it is peopled; the infinite variety of trees, plants, ana fruits which cover its surface; the prodigious quantity of fish which the ~ ea contains within its bosom—who, but only God, can be he author of all these wonders? Wonid it not be the height of absurdity to attribute them to chanee? When we behold a magnificent palace, we instantly conclude that some able architect must have drawn the plan, and skilful workmen carried it out; when we look upen a fine painting, we know that an acconiplished artist has conceived the design and laid on the colours, [If any one told us that all this was the work of chance—that the stones cf the edifice had cut and placed themselves—that the colours of the picture had come of themselves and taken their places on the canvas, and that they had shaded themselves by chance into such admirable arrangement, should we not regard the speaser as a fool? What folly it is then to say that the. universe was formed by chance alone ?

Finally, let us consider ourselves, and we shall find a vody composed of an amazing multitude of springs and o.gans placed and arranged with the most astonishing regularity ; throughout the whole we perceive a marked design, and we see that He who called man into being hag chus given him a manifest proof of his infinite wisdom. Who but God could have executed a work so admirable ?

But we have not only a body, we have also a soul; that soul is not material, for matter is incapable of thinking— it is then of a spiritual nature. Nevertheless, the soul is united to the body, and their union is so close that when the body is in a good condition the soul partakes of its en joyment-—and, on the other hand, when the body suffers, the soul too is in pain. Who is it that has thus united and commingled two substances so different in their nature, and

established that admirable correspondence between them— who but God alone?

Again, these sentiments of joy and grief, which by turns agitate our minds, are a new proof that there is a God; they

TOWARUS GOD. 18 ate mroluntary, and beyond our control, for if it depenced on ourselves to call them forth or banish them at pleasure, we would, undoubtedly, be always glad and joyous, nevea sal or afflicted.

We have, then, a Sovereign and Almighty Master on whom we entirely depend, and who disposes of us at hia own will and pleasure. That Supreme Ruler is God, and hence the cry: My God! which eseapes us in any sudden grief or pain, or when attacked by unlooked for misfortune—that unpremeditated exclamation, which proceeds not from reflection, being the involuntary “ testimony of a soul naturally Christian,” “according to the words of ‘Tertullian.

It is, therefore, true that we bear within us the impress of the Divinity, traced in indelible characters; and hence, we find that there never was a nation, how barbarous or even savage soever they might have been who did not aeknowledge a Supreme Power. Nations have been found utterly ignorant of arts and sciences, but none who knew not God; many, it is true, have been mistaken in their choice, but they have all and each felt the necessity of. recognizing a divinity.

This universal consent and agreement of all nations and of all ages,—of men differing from each other in genius and in customs,—separated by immense intervals of time and place—this can be noarbitrary convention; it can only® be the effect of a light which shines on all mankind,—a light proceeding from God himself and which even the most simple mind cannot misunderstand.

The heavens announee the glory of God, and the firmament publishes the wonders of his power. What other being could have said to the sun: “Go forth from nothing,” and ilumine the day? Who but He could have bade the moon to appear, and be the lamp of night? All creatures reveal to us that they have not made themselves, but that God has made them. What other than God could make the plants to grow from the bosom of the earth, or give to seeds their wondrous increase ’—Who but He could regulate the snecession of days and nights, or fix the unvarying order of the seasors? All then ainounces to as the existence of God. .