An inquiry into the scriptural authority for social worship...

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AN INQUIRY

INTO THE

Table Of Contents

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Definitions ...... 1

Social Worship the universal Practice of Christians .... - . - 3

CHAPTER I. Arguments from Reason in favour of Social Worship

SECTION L Explanations. The universal Practice of Christians.

WORSHIP is reverence, homage, adoration, in whatever way expressed. It has a civil as well as religious application, or is used to denote the honour rendered either to man or his Creator. Its former signification is now become in a great measure obsolete, and the use of it is preserved only by ancient institutions; but, being common in the time when the authorized version of the Scriptures was made, it occurs repeatedly in that

B

2 EXPLANATIONS.

translation, as in Matth. ix. 18, xviii. 26, Luke xiv. 10 a , and Acts x. 25. In its relig-ious sense it is applied very generally to any external homage rendered to God, as in Matth. iv. 9 and 10 ; and as in John iv. 21 — -24, to the union of external homage with the genuine spirit of devotion by which all religious services that are acceptable to Him, must be accompanied. In 1 Chron. xxix. 20, it is used in both its meanings; "And all the congregation blessed the Lord God of their fathers, and bowed down their heads, and worshiped the Lord and the king."

It is observable however, that in its religious application this word is used in the Scriptures most commonly to express that divine adoration which is public and social b .

Worship is the generic term ; Prayer is a specific mode of religious homage, and in its more extended sense includes adoration, thanksgiving, confession and petition ; but its strict and proper signification is limited to the latter : it is more-

a Though the original word in the last of these three passages is very different from that which occurs in the two former, the translators have rendered it worship, as at that time expressing the meaning of it with sufficient clearness : <e Then shalt thou have worship (honour) in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee."

b In the law of Moses there are no directions respecting prayer ; but the ancient as well as modern Jews, according to Maimonides, understood the command (Deut. x. 12) "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, &c." to signify prayer, including adoration, praise and supplication. See Vitringa de Syn. Vet. lib. iii. pars ii. cap. xiv. pag. 1031 ; and Seidell's Works, vol. i. lib. iii. cap. iii. pag. 286.

EXPLANATIONS. O

over remarkable, that the prayers recorded in the Scriptures, and particularly the Lord's prayer, consist chiefly of petition.

Prayer may be divided into mental and oral, Oral prayer, or the uttering of the devout sen* timents of the mind aloud, may indeed be private ; but, as the nature of it implies, it is usually social.

In the following pages we are to inquire, Whether or not the practice of social prayer is decidedly sanctioned by the Scriptures, and particularly those of the New Testament. That it is, to me appears unquestionable ; and such has uniformly been the opinion of the great body of Christian professors in all ages. From the time of the apostles to the present day; among those who have been taught in the school of Christ, whatever form of church government and religious discipline they may have adopted, or whatever systems of doctrine they may have received as true ; whether Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Independents, or Baptists; whether Trinitarians or Unitarians, Arians, Socinians, Sabellians, Lutherans, or Calvinists; of whatever name or denomination ; among them all, social prayer has universally prevailed. This is one of those subjects respecting which there has been the least controversy. Upon other points of faith and practice, in a great majority of instances, relative to the Christian religion, the most violent and perpetual contentions have arisen, of which some have b 2

4 UNIVERSAL PRACTICE OF CHRISTIANS-

issued in persecutions but little inferior in bitterness and ferocity to those by which the progress of Christianity was at first marked in lines of blood by Pagan jealousy and superstition; nor can perfect, absolute uniformity of opinion, on any topic of discussion, be expected, whilst human nature remains what it is. But here, amongst those who have been the most intrepid opponents of the established systems of the day, as well as the advocates of those systems themselves, through all the contentions by which the Christian world has been agitated from the beginning, there has been, and is still, as near an approach to unanimity as the history of ecclesiastical affairs can supply. The practice of social prayer has been as general as the belief in a providence, the resurrection of the dead, and the final judgement of the world. — How is this circumstance to be accounted for?

Reasoning upon a principle universally admitted, where is the cause of this great, extensive, and permanent effect among Christians of every name, if social prayer receive no sanction from the religion of Jesus Christ? How comes it to pass, that all parties of Christians, however wide have been their differences on other subjects, and however bitter their animosities, have agreed here in so far mistaking the nature of their Master's instructions, and the design of his religion, as to adopt universally a practice which he himself disapproved, if he did not absolutely forbid?

UNIVERSAL, PRACTICE OF CHRISTIANS. D

The corruptions of Christianity have all been traced to their sources, and their progress has been described with sufficient correctness; but where is the origin of social worship among the followers of Christ, if it be not found in the Scriptures, and how can the history of its progress be separated from that of the Christian religion ?

We know, indeed, it has lately been affirmed — and but lately by professed Christians — that all this mischief, as it is considered, is to be attributed to priestcraft; to the more than magic influence of hireling, ambitious, designing, hypocritical, interested, bigoted, fanatical priests, who, if public worship, or social prayer, were not in use, would lose the craft from which their g;ains are extracted; but who, as ecclesiastical affairs are now managed, make a trade of religion sufficiently profitable. Bat what does this supposition imply ? In the first place, that men who possess superior means of moral and intellectual improvement, and who, generally at least, are in the habit of making considerable use of the advantages which they enjoy; who are consequently distinguished above other classes of the community by their mental acquisitions ; whose stated occupation moreover is calculated to employ their attention constantly on the nature and obligations of moral and religious duties, and who are therefore usually allowed to possess habits of general integrity; — that these men, thus gifted and thus distinguished by religious advantages and in-

6 UNIVERSAL PRACTICE OF CHRISTIANS.

tellectual endowments, many of whom also deservedly hold the highest stations in the scientific and literary world, in this instance conspire to render themselves deserving of universal abhorrence and contempt by practising the grossest of all impositions on mankind ; by assuming the profession of religion in its most sacred form, as a cloak to cover the basest of purposes, which in comparatively few instances can have any rational hope of success, in a worldly view, worth regarding. Even among the ministers of " the church established by law/' the number is a minority, who can have any well grounded hope of really bettering their temporal circumstances by assuming an office directly opposed to every thing that is hypocritical and sordid. And among Dissenters, the opponents of the established systems of faith and discipline, who is there that does not know, that of all schemes for worldly advancement, that of assuming the office of religious teacher is one of the most hopeless ? How few are the instances of the profits of the profession affording a compensation at all adequate to the labour and talents that are necessary to success ! If there be instances of this kind, so limited is their number as to supply no motive sufficiently powerful to influence the conduct of men possessing common discernment and common discretion. And for the great body of dissenting ministers, who is so ignorant of their situation as not to admit, that there is not the slightest prospect of temporal emolument and

UNIVERSAL PRACTICE OF CHRISTIANS, 7

worldly gain from their employment? Who can doubt, that, whilst the same abilities and the same industry exerted in other professions, or in trade and commerce, would be productive of far more comfortable and even independent circumstances, a large proportion of them devote their lives, if not to penury and distress, at least to the miseries of dependence ; and dependence too of the worst kind; the dependence of one, whose office and education ought to render him the superior, upon many, whose limited knowledge and variety of tempers, prejudices, interests and failings, will frequently render his situation in a worldly view truly deplorable ? Such then are the allurements which are held out to men of sense as the barter for conscience, — the pay for the prostitution of their principles and their talents, whatever they may be. It is for this that persons who have greatly superior advantages for intellectual and religious improvement, and whose habits are necessarily on the side of morality, are supposed by the imputation to render themselves the basest of characters, and by the constant practice of religious imposition to become as despicable for their weakness and folly as for their total want of integrity ! None can believe that to be the case with large bodies of mankind but those whose discernment is annihilated by their prejudices, or bigoted attachment to favourite opinions.

Again : What does the supposition that the whole Christian world has been hitherto deluded

8 UNIVERSAL PRACTICE OF CHRISTIANS.

by priestcraft, or the interested bigotry of priests, into the practice of social prayer, imply, but, in the second place, that the people themselves are as blind, as ignorant, or as criminal, in submitting to religious imposition, as their ministers are unprincipled and weak in carrying it into practice ? The satire falls as severely upon the one as the other ; and goes to show, that from the earliest ages of Christianity until now, they who have been taught have as little understanding and integrity as those who have been employed to teach ; that the great body of Christians have as yet been, and still are, either knaves or dupes, or both; and that the number who may take it for granted that they alone are possessed of sense and principle united, is so small as scarcely to be perceptible. What moreover do the people gain by the imposition? Do they receive payment for giving it encouragement and support by their example and attendance ? or are they universally contributing to the maintenance of what by opening the New Testament they might easily know to be the grossest deception ? Our opinion of mankind bowever is not sunk thus low ; and we consequently infer, that the universal agreement of Christians, in all ages, in favour of social prayer, explicitly declared as it is by their practice, is a presumptive argument of no inconsiderable force in its support, as a practice equally approved by reason and the Scriptures. The whole current coin of a country cannot be counterfeit, neither can the uniform

ItEASOiNABI.UNESS 0¥ SOCIAL WORSHIP. 9

and universal practice of Christians originate in fraud, and total ignorance of the Scriptures.

It will still however be said, and why should it not ? that we have the Bible, containing the rule of faith and duty, in our hands, and by examining the Scriptures for ourselves, as we have an unquestionable right and as it is our duty to do, we can discover whether or not social prayer is a practice which Christ and his apostles approved and encouraged. By this test we have not the slightest objection that the question should be tried, and have no fear for the result.

Previously however to entering upon this inquiry, the reasonableness and utility of social prayer have some claim upon, our attention, as well as the practice of the ancient church of God under the Mosaic dispensation.

SECTION II. The Reasonableness and Utility of Social Worship

On this part of the subject I shall beg leave, in the first place, to remind the reader of the just remark, that the Christian religion is the religion of nature explained, illustrated, extended, and enforced by higher sanctions and by motives more powerful and efficacious. In the former there is nothing inconsistent with the latter: and if there were, it could not be true ; for as the light of reason is as much the gift of God for the direction of b 5 his accountable creatures as revelation, they cannot be opposed to each other. Were there any thing in Christianity inconsistent with reason, then Christianity would be an irrational religion, and consequently would be unfit for man, who is a rational being. We have in fact no means of ascertaining, whether the religion of the New Testament be true or false but the use of reason; and, with whatever contempt and ingratitude some persons may speak of this first, best fruit of their Creator's beneficerce, it is by this faculty alone that they themselves do in fact judge of the nature of the doctrines and duties which the gospel inculcates, as well as of the other evidences of its divine origin a . Hence it follows, If we can prove that social prayer is a reasonable practice, then it is at least consistent with the Christian religion, and ought to be used.

a We are told, indeed, that the Scriptures cannot be understood without the assistance of the holy spirit, or supernatural illumination \ and on this subject the following comparison has been used : What benefit would you derive, it has been asked, from the contents of a book which you have never read, in a room perfectly dark ? But in the state of this dark room is the human mind by nature with respect to religion ; so that reason, according to this assertion, affords no light whatever on religious topics essential to salvation. This surely is treating this valuable gift of God with sufficient contempt and ingratitude. However, the present is not a proper opportunity for discussing this question. I shall only observe, that a Brothers, a Southcott, and a Huntington, with a thousand other fanatics, have laid equal claim to divine illumination with the whole race of popular preachers of this or former periods, and with equal proof of the justice of their pretensions. What evidence have we, either in the one case or the other, of the

OF SOCIAL WORSHIP. 1 I

With the view, then, of establishing this point, let it be observed in the first place, that public worship and social prayer are perfectly consistent with the social nature and circumstances of man, in conjunction with the relation which connects him with his Creator, and the obligations under which he is laid to divine beneficence.

" Have we not all one Father ? Hath not one God created us ? " Was not the favourite notion of our great Master concerning " his God and our God." that of the Universal Parent, — "his Father and our Father?" And was not this the character in which the apostles, his immediate successors in the great work of propagating the gospel, in their discourses and epistles delighted chiefly to present him to the confidence and veneration of mankind ? And are there any persons now professing Christianity, who retain the ancient Jewish prejudice, and adopt opinions which represent the all- beneficent Creator, God who is love, as exercising the attributes of father towards

existence of such a gift, but the assertion of those who tell us they possess it ? We respect the claims of the apostles to supernatural influence and divine illumination, because they wrought miracles in proof that they were thus highly favoured above the rest of mankind. Let others give the like evidence of the sameexalied privilege, and we will treat them with equal deference and respect. But we are not willing to receive their own assertion merely for proof, well knowing how easy and how common it is for men to mistake the workings of their own imagination and their feelings for supernatural influences 5 and that there is no absurdity, however gross, that may not be, and in fact that has not been, promulgated under this common and always popular pretence of divine illumination.

those only who become proselytes to their system of faith, and whose religious feelings and experience are similar to their own, — to a highly favoured few,— to the elect alone ? When will they learn, that the just and liberal dispensation of the gospel is "glad tidings to all people," and owns no distinction marked with the slightest partiality, but affirms " with God is no respect of persons ?" a Is he the God of the Jews only ? Is he not the God of the Gentiles ? Yes ; of the Gentiles also." Such is the language equally of reason and of the Scriptures. Is there not then a reasonableness, a fitness, a propriety, and even a loveliness, which every mind not dead to moral sensibility must recognise, in the offspring of this common Parent assembling together to express ia unison their grateful sense of obligation to his bounty, their mutual dependence on his universal care, and the need which they all have alike of his paternal support and favour ? May not the rich and poor meet together before Him who is the maker of them all, and with the utmost suitableness and decorum give utterance to those sentiments of filial veneration and love which it is the duty of all to cultivate, as well as to offer their united prayers for those qualifications especially which are necessary to fit them for the enjoyment of his blessing ?

Again : Who will deny that there is a universal participation of similar feelings, as well as wants and infirmities common to all^ the natural and proper expression of which is strictly social, and such as the virtuous and the good at least in the performance of religious as well as other duties will be readily impelled to exercise in conjunction with their fellow dependents on almighty power and beneficence ? Is it not true, that, in various essential particulars, the Creator " hath fashioned the hearts of all men alike," and that consequently "as face answereth to face, so doth the heart of man to man ?" Notwithstanding the vast difference in sentiments and ability which is the necessary result of different degrees of moral and intellectual improvement, together with difference of constitution, still the leading features of the human mind are always radically the same ; and as mankind in general, by their original conformation, are uniformly disposed to be put into life and action by the same springs, or to be animated by the like motives, so the modes of expression suited to their common sentiments and affections are at once similar and also social. Hence arise not only a sympathy and reciprocation of thought and feeling, which are understood and recognised by all, but a propensity to unite with others in giving utterance to what we think and feel. Without having recourse to innate principles, and admitting the existence of considerable variety in the different mental as well as bodily constitutions of men, and also that both the existence and modification of the moral sensibilities and habits of all depend on the education they receive and the operation of the circumstances through which they pass, under the direction of the great First Cause, yet in every human mind there is, in different degrees, the same propensity to gratitude for benefits received; the moral sense, or the capacity of perceiving the distinction between what is right and wrong in conduct, together with compunction and remorse for what is believed to be inconsistent with duty ; there is, however it may be suppressed by the prevalence of vice, a similar admiration and love of benevolence and virtue, and the desire at least, almost annihilated as it may be in some instances, of carrying: them into effect.

And, as inseparably connected with these, who will deny that the religious principle, or the direction of the best affections and sentiments towards his Supreme Benefactor, is also natural to man ? Or if any one should deny this, would not the history of all nations immediately refute the calumny ? All we know of mankind combines to show, that no principle is more evidently general, as certainly none is more powerful in its operation, than this. Religion, moreover, when pure and uncontaminated — unfortunately too seldom the case — by superstition and bigoted attachment to human creeds, is of all principles the most benevolent and social. He that loveth God, will necessarily love his brother also. Benevolence, or love to God and man, is the essence of true religion ; and the more its influence prevails, the stronger will be the inclination of which every one will be conscious, to unite with others in giving utterance to their common sentiments of gratitude to the common Benefactor; their penitence for transgressions of his will; and their humble but earnest desire of whatever may be calculated to render them the fit objects of his favour, — to give dignity, usefulness, and value to their being. Will not such a practice prove as acceptable an offering to God as it is congenial with the best feelings and propensities of men ? Why then, in the name of common sense, must these feelings and propensities be suppressed ? If their existence be not endangered, why must their influence be greatly impaired by consigning them altogether to silence and retirement ? For what purpose, moreover, was the faculty of speech bestowed, but to express the sentiments of the heart? And w r here is the use of this faculty, if not in society ? In what again consists spiritual or mental prayer, but in the devout affections and desires of the mind addressed to God ? And if it be right to cultivate such affections and desires, how can it be wrong to express them ? If devotional sentiments are felt in society, what just reason can be given why they should not be uttered in society ? And what tribute of gratitude can be more worthy of a rational being in the relation in which he stands to his supreme Benefactor and his best friend ? If, in every thing else that is virtuous and good, man is allowed to be social and communicative, why in his devotions must he be required to di-

16 KEASONABLENESS AND UTILITY

vest himself of his social nature, and become altogether recluse and solitary ? If there be any who can say they have no religious principles in common with their fellow men ; no benefits to be thankful for, no sins to confess, no wants to be supplied, like the rest of their species ; no feelings of sympathy, no sentiments of devotion in which others may participate; then let them refuse to unite with others in the delightful employment of rendering the social tribute of gratitude and veneration where it is most due, and of making known their wants and requests, together with thanksgiving, to Him who giveth to all liberally and upbraideth not. "O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come. We will enter thy courts with thanksgiving, and thy gates with praise. We will give thanks at the remembrance of thy holiness. O come, let us worship and bow down ; let us kneel before the Lord our maker ; let us call upon the name of Jehovah, for he is our God ; we are his people and the work of his hands."

In the second place, will it be denied, that public social prayer is highly beneficial, that it tends to produce the best fruits of morality and practitical religion ? or will it be maintained, that it is calculated to do more harm than good ? To me at least it appears that the prevalence of religion depends upon its observance, and that without it the influence of Christianity upon society would gradually decay, and in the end become annihilateth Others may think differently ; but we are thankful that we live in an age when the liberty of every one to express his convictions in decent language on religious topics, without restraint and without censure, is admitted. Misrepresentation and abuse, the remaining fruits of the spirit of persecution and bigotry, may continue to exist; but if fire, faggot, and the sword, have no power to silence what appears to be the voice of truth, reproach and calumny certainly will not have this effect. They may greatly injure, but can render no benefit to the cause which they are intended to assist.

/ To the beneficial tendency and high importance of private prayer we give a ready assent : without it, the genuine and habitual influence of religion on the life can scarcely be supposed to exist. Nothing certainly can be more remote from ostentation than real devotion ; humility is essential to its existence, and its principal source at least will always be found in reflection and communion with the Father of spirits, and with our own hearts, when secluded from the world : one of the most valuable benefits of public prayer arises from its tendency to promote that which is private. As both however have their peculiar advantages, so each of them is liable to defects and tendencies to evil peculiar to itself. Private devotion may be more free; less subject to restraint ; better adapted to individual feelings, wants, and experience; and not at all liable to suspicions of deceit and ostentation. But it is also in danger of becoming enthusiastic on the one hand, or destitute of fervour and animation on the other. The thoughts may wander, and the affections grow cold and indifferent. At any rate, its good effects will be confined to one individual. Public prayer is more limited in its subjects, and may have less of personal interest ; and, what is far worse, it may also degenerate into parade and hypocritical formality, and may thus become a cloak for some of the worst of vices : but at the same time its salutary influence is more general and extensive ; its effect will probably be greater; it is calculated to afford more encouragement and strength to religious principle, and especially to cherish the true spirit of general sympathy and fraternal affection, which Christ appointed to be the test by which his followers should be known a .

Who can be a stranger to the influence of society upon his feelings and his motives ? Who that has any sensibility at all, does not know that some of his best emotions are more powerful in company than when alone ? Who is not aware that attention is kept alive, the memory and all the faculties of the mind roused into action, by the presence of others, when in solitude they would become torpid and dull ? And who can be ignorant especially, that by the union and concurrence of the friends of the same cause, unani-

a John xiii, 35.

or SOCIAL WORSHIP. 19

mously engaged in the same occupation, his own mind receives additional encouragement, firmness and support? Why should this advantage be denied to religious exercises whilst it is allowed to those of any other description ? When engaged iu company with his brethren of mankind in presenting to the universal Parent and Benefactor their humble but sincere offering of adoration, thanksgiving, and supplication, every one must be sensible that his devotional sentiments experience a considerable accession of vigour and activity; his faith becomes more powerful in its influence; the satisfaction he derives from the consolations and hopes of Christianity is more lively and exhilarating; his devotedness to God and his service, more cheerful and complete. But above all, the principle of benevolence and Christian charity towards all men can scarcely fail to be drawn forth into its greatest energy and extent, by the union of many in the social exercises of spiritual and true worship, rendered to that Being who is love itself, who stands in the same relation to all, and whose blessing, like the dew which falls equally on the neglected shrub and the stately oak, descends and rests, without distinction, on every upright worshiper. One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one religious profession, one God and Father of all ; the same Christian principles and hopes; the same rule of conduct, and the same glorious expectation of everlasting union and felicity in the like employments of benevolence, intelligence, and devotion in a better state, are the common property of Christians; and when their attention is employed in company with each other by social prayer on these general objects of their religious profession regularly and frequently, dead to the common sympathies of human nature must that mind be, which does not find itself warmed by more fervent affection towards those especially who are engaged in the same reverential worship, drawn into closer connexion with them, and prompted to take a stronger interest in their welfare ; nor will the same cause operate less favourably on the disposition and behaviour towards the rest of mankind. " How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts ! A day spent in thy courts is better than a thousand. 5 ' The house of prayer at least is the abode of peace and love. If contention and discord naturally result in Christian churches from disputation and difference of opinion, the work of social prayer and praise is surely calculated to allay animosities, and to banish antichristian dispositions from those societies who engage in it from pure motives and with right conceptions of its nature.