Hours of Christian devotion

Preface To The First Edition

INASMUCH as in the case of a devotional work, more than of any other, what is personal to the Author claims consideration, I take leave to communicate the following particulars : —

For several years I had, in common with many others, felt the want of a sterling book of devotion — the product of our own times, and judiciously adapted to the prevailing wants; and I was surprised that, among the increasing number of works on the practice of Christianity, there appeared none calculated to be for the age in which we live what those of Thomas a Kempis and of John Arndt were for theirs. It is true that the Church still possesses the treasure bequeathed to her by those and other witnesses for the truth, who were masters of the art of speaking to the heart ; and that such sterling works of the olden time will never cease to sustain and foster vital Christianity, as long as the Bible continues to lay the foundation of it. At the same time, however, they do not by any means preclude the necessity of a work originating in the present day. For does not the difference between books of devotion and the Holy Scriptures consist in this, that the latter furnish the prolific seed of all the many and various developments of spiritual life, and consequently provide a fund of spiritual nourishment suited for all ages and all individuals alike ; whereas a book of devotion delineates one particular form of it, modified by its own particular age, and by the peculiarities of the individual author ? Is there not a connection between the mode in which the religious life is at any time expressed and the then prevailing degree of culture ; and in consequence of this, do not different periods claim for a book of devotion a corresponding difference in style ? And even, although that point be overlooked, considering that there are at least a few models of excellence in form which continue classical for all ages, has not vi Preface to the First Edition.

*

every age dangers and errors, discoveries and views, conflicts and afflictions, peculiarly its own ? There can be no doubt, therefore, that beside the devotional books of bygone times a place on the shelf is due to more modern productions ; and would not an A Kempis, a Tauler, and an Arndt, had they lived in the nineteenth century, have spoken with far greater power than they do to the hearts of the present generation ?

The thought of labouring in this field of literature, however, was foreign to my mind until awakened by outward incidents. First of all, in the year 1826, when bowed down both in mind and body by long and severe indisposition, I began to write meditations on passages of Scripture chiefly with a view to my own consolation. The task was never finished. During my second visit to England, I received a fresh impulse by becoming acquainted with a work of which the plan appeared to me eminently suited for family worship. It contained select portions of sacred Scripture, chiefly of a practical tendency, and one for every day of the year. Short solutions of the difficulties were given for the purpose of promoting insight into the meaning of the Word. There was then appended a meditation upon the text, and finally a prayer embodying, as vows to God, the resolutions inspired by the subject. I still think that a devotional work executed according to such a plan is a real want of the Church of our native land still requiring to be supplied ; and I was stirred up repeatedly to think of composing a work of the sort. It was, however, the state of my eyesight, which for a length of time threatened to fail me, that proved the occasion of my writing the book which I now present to the Christian world. During the winter mornings and evenings I was prevented from pursuing my usual employments by candle-light, and it was then that, in quiet rumination, the plan of these ' Hours of Christian Devotion ' was matured. At the time, the danger of being compelled to resign for several years, if not for ever, my vocation as professor, was constantly present to my mind ; and if a season of affliction is not in general the most unfavourable for the production of a religious work, I may be permitted to indulge good hopes of the success of the present one, as not only the original conception but also the subsequent execution of it occupied what were very grave hours of my life.

On the other hand, I am well aware how much there is to weaken this expectation. The curse of the present age, which

Preface to the First Edition. vii

has proved the main hindrance to the production of a sterling work of Christian devotion, will not spare mine. The force of intuition, and with it of vital faith, is broken by the predominance of the reflective power, which lifts its voice not merely in the professor's chair, where it has a right to be heard, but even in the closet of prayer. It is the fatal worm which is perpetually gnawing at the faith of our times, and consuming its vigour. When I speak of reflection, I do not mean, as many may misapprehend, the doubts which, may arise in individual minds. What I mean is, the habit of reflecting upon the reasonableness of faith which necessarily presupposes the positive existence of doubt. If, however, the true theologian be he who, after climbing the ladder of science to a height at which he has the unclouded heaven in view, delights himself with gazing into it, and no longer thinks of the steps of the ladder save when employed in the friendly office of helping those at the foot to mount — if he, I say, be the true theologian, then certainly there is no better school for perfecting his education than that of affliction, for there he becomes practically confirmed in the article of faith, and has no leisure to look anywhere but above himself. Whether I have succeeded in supplying to any extent an existing want, time must decide. To myself it is a satisfaction to know that the work is not the product of reflection, but owes its origin to external inducements which were wholly unsolicited.

For some time I could not make up my mind with regard to the plan. At first I hesitated whether to make it a work for family use or a devotional book of a more general character ; next, whether to adopt exclusively the form of meditation, and in that case, whether the meditation should adhere closely to the text, or take a wider range ; and finally, what arrangement would best answer the purpose in view. Hardly any of our books of devotion are methodically arranged. The casual contemplations which they deliver present themselves like flowers upon the meadow, to be plucked as any one likes. Something may perhaps be said in favour of this plan ; at any rate, such a lack of method is preferable to an excess of it, when obtained at the expense of freedom and liveliness. It may, however, be objected to such an unmethodical collection, that it is wholly inartistic; and, moreover, that there are arrangements by which certain advantages, intellectual as well as religious and moral, may be attained. I therefore came to the resolution to give in these meditations a view of viii Preface to the First Edition.

the Development of the Christian life on both its inward and outward sides. This further entailed that the book should be of a more general character, and also that it should take the form of meditations ; because for family worship, at which the whole household, including the servants, are present, this form is, in my opinion, less suitable than that which I have above described. By the plan which I have adopted I likewise hope to meet the wants of those who, at least, are not destitute of Christian feelings, but in whom these are not accompanied by a developed Christian intelligence. Bishop Mynster's book endeavours to combine edification with an exhaustive exposition of the doctrines as they are classed in systems of theology. My endeavour has been to do the same with regard to the doctrine of the Christian way of salvation. A rigid systematising is in general repugnant to my nature, and as my fondness for carving out of the raw material equals my aversion to the process of gluing, I have not sacrificed freedom of expatiation to regularity of plan. Within the limits of the course taken by the work, as a whole, freedom and variety obtain. Most books of devotion are chargeable with monotony. That is a fault which I have endeavoured to avoid — or rather, to speak more correctly, it is a fault into which the peculiarity of my mind has prevented me from falling. In writing these meditations I have felt myself in my proper element much more than in the composition of sermons, the traditional form of which imposes fetters under which my mind often sighs for freedom. I have also ventured to lay aside the language of the pulpit, and, in so far as the subject admitted, have adopted the style sometimes of Claudius, sometimes of Thomas a Kempis, sometimes of Tersteegen, and at others, and indeed most frequently, of Luther. To that dear father of our Church I have owed more than I can tell in the composition of this work. In converse with such a man of steel — so pithy a nature — in whom certain phases of the Christian life were exhibited in the most finished style (although differently gifted individuals have displayed it more perfectly in others), I always felt myself edified, elevated, and strengthened. His image, I confess, had for several years presented itself to me under a cloud, for I fixed my eye too exclusively upon the outbreaks of his vigorous nature, ere yet it had been subdued by the Spirit of the Lord ; and I felt myself inspired with purer sentiments of reverence for Calvin, whose mind was so well disciplined both in thinking and acting. But on resuming my study of Luther, when the

Preface to the First Edition. ix

unction of faith and power consecrating his radically German character, the entire truthfulness of his being, and his wondrous childlike candour and naivete, once more unfolded themselves in their glory to my eye, I was constrained to turn to him again with the most entire and unmingled affection, and to exclaim, His foibles are so great only owing to the greatness of his virtues !

Poetry speaks to the heart in quite another dialect than prose. It was therefore my intention to introduce an abundance of choice extracts from our old hymns ; but it cost great labour to find them, and frequently I could not find at all such as I wished and required ; I therefore spoke in the language of poetry myself. Very few of the verses dispersed throughout the work are by other authors. I am aware how much it thereby loses in pith and in ecclesiastical character ; but there has also been a gain in originality, which is no inconsiderable advantage for a devotional work. As for tone and language, I could have wished for the power of speaking with the tongue of a Luther or a Claudius to enable me to speak to all; but at least I have endeavoured to learn from these masters.

The title chosen for the work will be disapproved by many. Some will wish not to be reminded in any way of the well-known " Stunden der Andacht ;" others will at once perceive in it a sentence of condemnation of that widely-circulating work. The reason why this title was selected was simply in order that they who are pleased with the cooking of the food in the " Stunden der Andacht," but doubt of its wholesome and nutritive qualities, might be at once informed that there is something here which is intended to supply their wants. I am not of the number who, the moment they see that book in any person's hands, would snatch it away, as I am aware that in many cases it has fostered the seeds of good ; but I certainly consider much of what it contains to be pernicious, and, most pernicious of all, the abundant nourishment it supplies to the conceit of self-righteousness. Besides, in works of this sort much depends not only upon what they give, but likewise and not less upon what they withhold. Now, what the "Aarau Stunden der Andacht" withholds is nothing less than what the Evangelical Church declares to be the only true way of salvation. The object proposed by the following meditations is to show what that way is. They claim to be an impartial and healthy portraiture of the Gospel life of faith, and in that respect are calculated to reconcile all such honest admirers of the former x Preface to the Seventh Edition.

work as are courageous enough not to shrink from the pain of self-knowledge. There is an inexcusable want of conscience in the way in which some men are now calling others Mystics and Pietists, while they wish to have it believed that these sectarian nicknames do not strike with equal force the Evangelical Church (I except Dr Bretschneider, who has the merit of speaking out, and who represents Luther and Melanchthon as the ringleaders of the Pietists). I therefore call upon all who may publicly express an opinion of this work, and feel disposed to characterise it aspietistical, to show so much at least of a sense of justice as expressly to state whether and to what extent they find the delineation it contains of the Gospel life of faith to be morbid ; or whether, with Bretschneider, they denominate this form of piety pietistical, just because it does delineate what the life of faith is, according to the view of the Evangelical Church. Considering the blind party zeal of the opponents, and the reiterated acts of crying injustice which they commit, it were to be wished that none of them would enter the polemical field without seriously taking to heart the words of our Lord in Matthew, vii. 12.

Such are the remarks with which I desire to preface these * Hours of Christian Devotion.' May so much of divine truth as they contain find its way into the heart, and to God be the glory and the praise.

A. THOLUCK.

Halle, 29th September 1839.

Preface To The Seventh Edition

However little I could have expected it, I have had the gratification of emitting a sixth edition of this work, originally the fruit of hours of sorrow. It has been my endeavour to approximate the language to that simplicity, without which devotion can never reach its proper depth, more than was the case in the first edition. Since then many similar voices have been raised ; among them may this of mine still for a while retain its youth.

A. THOLUCK.

Halle, 2$th October 1859.

Author's Preface To The English Translation

IT is a gratification to me to see those Hours of Devotion translated into the English tongue, and presented to the nation by whom so many of my other works have already met with so kind a reception. The hindrance to an earlier translation of the work, as I anticipated from the first, and have now learned as a fact, has been its peculiarly German character. The texts of Scripture are cited and explained as they stand in Luther's version of the Bible ; numerous passages are quoted from the writings of that reformer, and of other godly German authors ; and a text is occasionally taken from the Apocrypha. Above all, however, I must here refer to the poetry prefixed as mottoes to the several meditations, and appended to them at the end. To meet this last obstacle, the translators of different countries have adopted different methods. The Swede has inserted hymns of his own Church ; the Dane poetry of his own making ; and the French translator has omitted the poetry altogether, and generally abridged even the prose text. The esteemed friend who has executed this English translation has not allowed himself to be deterred by any of these difficulties, and, as it appears, has even vanxii Preface to English Translation.

quished with some success the last of them — that, namely, presented by the poetry.

I deem it of little importance that one of the parts of the book is not included in this translation ; x I hope that, in spite of that omission, it contains a kernel which may take root and grow up in the heart of the readers. I have had the satisfaction of finding in a remote Waldensian valley a pious soul to whom the book, even in the extremely abridged form of the French translation, had become a source of happiness and edification. The hope I entertain for it rests upon the fact, that in place of being composed, like other works of the kind, I believe I can say of it with truth that it was rather an effusion. It was the fruit of a mind which sought to reap good to the Church from hours of sorrow as well as of joy, for it originated in a season of heavy trial, when, owing to the weakness of my eyesight, I was prevented in th© winter evenings from prosecuting my learned studies. Like the pious Tersteegen, I then thought with myself : " If my God does not will as I do, I will as He does, and thus we always keep on friendly terms." I also sought to extract a gratification from those hours of bitter suffering by presenting to Christian souls a fruit of the heart in place of a labour of the head. And the Lord has been pleased to bless it, as I know by testimonies from the Churches of various countries which have reached me, and made me ashamed. I therefore indulge the hope, that in that Christian land, which above most others has been blessed with a riches of devotional books, this one also, in its own peculiar style, will find minds and hearts which will feel its attraction. It has a specialty adapted to the present religious wants of Britain ; for while it edifies it seeks to instruct, and that

1 This refers to the twelve Meditations on the Fasts and Festivals. These form an independent work.

Preface to English Translation, xiii

on the practical duties of the Christian life. This, no doubt, it does exclusively upon the ground on which alone the fruits of life ever grow — I mean, the ground of faith. I have been young, but now am old — I have spent a whole lifetime in battling against infidelity with the weapons of apologetical science, — but I have become ever more and more convinced that the way to the heart does not lie through the head ; and that the only way to the conversion of the head lies through a converted heart, which already tastes the living fruits of the Gospel.

A. THOLUCK.

METRICAL PROGRAMME.

I. GENERAL PART.

Oh happy who themselves condemn, .

Faith proves a saving power to them ; And faith on Holy Scripture rests, Which, what God is, what man, attests :

1EDITATIONS.

9-15 16-19 20-25

Faithful and kind, a gardener here Labours from weeds the beds to clear ; While late and early dew in showers From heaven revives the drooping flowers : Though clouds at times the sky invest, In the cool shade some plants thrive best : , Inside the garden fairest shows, Yet to earth's ends its perfume throws ; And all life's ranks and handicrafts Partake the fragrance which it wafts ;

26-30 31-40 41-47

48-55 56-64

Metrical Programme. xv

III. S^owg^ naan t\z bright \nz% hot unb bu,

II. SPECIAL PART.

THE CIRCLE OF HUMAN LIFE.

Oh who will teach me, ere it fleets away,

To make the most of life's brief winter day ? . . 68, 69

Behold, the Church extends the hand of grace

To help the pilgrim entering on the race ;

And, ere the threatening storms obscure the sky,

Yields him a refuge in her sanctuary : . . . . . 70

That hand he holds until, in strength increased,

The Master calls him to the holy feast,

Where the new man receives congenial food,

As died the old in the baptismal flood : . . . . 71, 72

Thus, trained by home and Church to meet the strife,

In manhood's strength he takes the field of life ;

And, first the wide and various scene explored,

Selects some spot on which to serve the Lord : 73

Next, that the hours of toil may sweetly glide,

He calls the gentle helpmate to his side, .... 74

And labours on, till, old and weary grown,

Kind death approaching, mows the veteran down : . . 75

Then meet the mourners round his silent grave,

And God adore for the dear friend He gave : 76

Table Of Contents

1. We are the offspring of God.

4. Teach us to number our days.

5. All of us have sinned.