Clues #21-30
Clues of the Maze: Honest Faith - #21-30
21. The Sneer
Sneers are poor, paltry things; they are not born in good men's bosoms, and most wise men despise them when levelled at themselves. They break no bones, and men of backbone smile at them. Yet with the weaker sort they are terrible weapons of war, and the dread of them has made more cowards than the roar of cannon. When faith in God is sneered at, the exhibition is a wretched one, verging upon the utmost degree of imbecility. To trust a quack is excused, but to trust the Almighty is reviled. Persons who never question their own wisdom, laugh to scorn those who rest in the wisdom of the Lord. In such a case, it ought to be easy for a man of common-sense to bear himself bravely. Laugh at a creature for believing his Creator? It is to despise the plainest argument of reason, to dispute an axiom, to assail a truism. As well ridicule a man for mathematical accuracy, for honesty, for learning: as well despise an engineer for trusting to the laws of gravitation, or a farmer for depending upon the return of the harvest! Of course, if men like to be slaves, they will pay attention to the jeers of the foolish; but we write for men who can each one say from his heart—
"I had as lief not be, as live to be In awe of such a thing as I, myself."
22. More Knowledge of God desirable
However willing a man may be to put his trust in God, his faith must largely depend upon his knowledge. It is almost impossible to have confidence in a Great Unknown. The variety and breadth of our knowledge of God will help faith in exercising herself upon matters which a narrow knowledge would exclude from the list of practical objects. What we perceive in Creation might well cause us to rely upon God's power, if we could be sure that it would be exerted on our behalf; but what if there be a doubt on that point? What we observe in Providence may reasonably cause us to depend upon the divine goodness, unless we shall in any way have rendered it necessary for that goodness to withhold itself. This a conscientious man may not consider to be altogether improbable. If our knowledge of God be confined to his greatness, goodness, and wisdom, we are already in an awkward condition, for we have not yet met with that divine quality which can satisfy a certain uneasiness of which we begin to be painfully conscious. Having upon our heart a suspicion that we are not all that we ought to be, we need to know far more of God if we are to enjoy a comfortable confidence in him.
23. How is more to be known?
All probability goes to show, upon the face of it, that the more we know of God, the more easy it will be for us to put our trust in him. The quality of goodness so preponderates in the known that we expect the like to pervade the unknown. But how is more knowledge to be obtained? Can we go from Nature up to Nature's God? Perhaps. But it would be a far more effectual business if Nature's God would come down to us, and be his own Expositor. No man can be altogether known by his works, much less can God. God's universe is so immense that if it can be proved to be a full revealing of himself, it is too vast for our mental grasp. How can we know all that the universe would teach? The works of God are too many for us to know them all: how then can we learn the many-sided wisdom which they would reveal? If they were replicas we might learn all from one; but as they are infinitely various our capacity is overflooded, and there is urgent need that divine condescension should make an abstract for us, and communicate it in a manner suited to our nature.
24. God revealing Himself
If it be a most natural thing that the intelligent creature should trust in his Creator, and if it be necessary to that trust that he should have more knowledge of the Creator than he can gather by observing his works, is it not reasonable to suppose that the wise and beneficent Creator will enable his intelligent creatures to know him, at least so far as may be required for the purposes of faith? If it were essential to the well-being of his subjects that a king should be personally known to them, we cannot conceive of a good monarch shutting himself up entirely from public view, or refusing to address his people. True, the glory of God does not need man's observation, nor may we suppose that God's motive could be selfish in seeking to be known; but since man's feeble condition needs a divine revelation, it is not unreasonable to hope that One who is supremely good would of his own accord make himself known. For rocks and trees and animals, the manifestation of God in his works of Providence, by giving them stability, fruitfulness, or food, is abundantly sufficient, and more than sufficient; but for intelligent minds there must be a manifestation of God to the soul and spirit, or else faith under many forms must be impossible, and the soul will be left in a forlorn condition. Such a forsaking of the work of his own hands we do not expect from the Infinitely Good.
25. A Word-Revelation
Language is the best means of communication between one mind and another: it is, therefore, natural that God should use the best means of communication, and that, therefore, he should converse with men in words. Language reduced to writing becomes at once more accurate and more permanent; and hence, again, it is in every sense most probable that when the Infinite God communicates with finite men it should be in the speech of men, and that this speech should be embalmed in writing. Divine writings do not, therefore, come before us at all out of the expected order of God's procedure; the announcement of their existence does not create in us any overwhelming surprise, neither do we see in the notion of such writings anything forced and abnormal. A mind entirely locked up within itself could hardly belong to an energetic worker: he who makes is pretty sure to communicate, and it seems right to expect that so abounding a Maker as the Most High God would also hold converse with other minds, even though they might be inferior and subordinate, especially upon a topic so needful as his own nature and requirements. One does not expect to hear of a great artist that he is a hermit; the qualities of a great Worker are such as produce a Friend, a Brother, a Father. We may expect the Creator to be communicative. True, a clever workman may never speak, for he may happen to be deaf and dumb; but he that made all ears and tongues is not in such a case.
26. The Book should be examined
If there were nothing more than a rumour, floating about respectable society, that a book had been inspired by God as a revelation of his own character, thoughts, and will, an honest man, desirous to be right in his life, would speedily and with great care examine the claims of the much-needed writing. The Book venerated by our fathers, which claims to be the Word of God, has been accepted as such by so vast a number of wise and righteous men that we cannot speak of its appearance as a mere matter of rumour. It has been long before the world, and it has been reverently received by many of the best of our race.
27. Effects of the Book The effect which it has produced upon the nations who have yielded it even a partial obedience is very remarkable: they are now far in advance of those who give it a secondary place, and they are out of sight before those who are unacquainted with it. The result which follows its introduction, in our own day, to the most savage races, is beyond all question exceedingly beneficial. Nobody can doubt that the South Sea Islands have been lifted out of the worst savagery by the teaching of this volume. We have not yet heard of any other book producing such effects, and thus the volume is pressed upon our attention by the undeniable results of its influence, both in former ages and in our own times. It is. very easy to discover persons whose entire character has been changed by reading this Book; easier still to find individuals who assert that it is their comfort under all circumstances, their guide out of all difficulties, and the priceless food of their spirits.
Many other books have been warmly praised by their readers; but we have never yet met with any other volume which has commanded such frequent enthusiasm, and such devoted affection, as the Bible; neither have we heard of one which answers so many and such divers purposes in connection with the lives of men.
28. Seeing for One's self
We are not exacting when we demand that each candid man should read the Bible for himself. In testing a Book, which professes to be the revelation of God's mind, we shall act unworthily if we trust to others, be they who they may. Second-hand information lacks assurance and vividness; a personal investigation is far more satisfactory and beneficial. The highly superior person, who dismisses the whole matter with a final verdict, which closes the argument before it is opened, is probably not so cultured a being as he affects to be. At any rate, he lacks the judicial mind so helpful in the pursuit of truth. Doth our wisdom decide a matter before it heareth it? Nature demands attention, hard and persevering, from those who would be true scientists: the Word of God certainly deserves as reverent an investigation as his Works. Why should not the Scriptures be studied thoroughly? Even as mere literature they will well reward the scholar's care. It is the part of a wise man calmly and earnestly to search those famous writings which are prized by so many master-minds. The voice which cried to Augustine, "Tolle: lege;" was no sound of folly. To take up and read a great and good book cannot be to our detriment.
29. The Reading which the Book deserves
It would be disgraceful to borrow second-hand criticisms, and turn the Bible away unheard. It ought not to be read hurriedly, for that is not fair to any author who is dealing seriously with weighty subjects. A Book which master-minds have reverenced can only be despised by fools. To read the Book is to feel that it is full of power: a man must be wilfully wicked who should refuse this verdict, even if he hated that power.
It has more thought in it than its opponents could have displayed. Their counter-thought is only Bible-truth turned upside down, and therefore it owes its origin to the Book it assails. A singular fact may here be mentioned; it is certain that those who love this Book best are those who have read it most, and, as a general rule, those who rail at it have not attained to more than a scanty knowledge of it.
30. Somewhat more than Reading accorded
Much of the instruction contained in the material universe can be at once discerned by the eye of the thoughtful observer, but a portion of its secrets no man can thus read: for the discovery of much scientific truth experiment is needed. The chemist, for instance, will acquire little knowledge if he does not engage in tests and analyses. We will not, therefore, in the pursuit of truth, restrict ourselves to mere reading: if the Scriptures ask for experiment, or experience, we shall be prepared to perform or to undergo the required processes if at all reasonable. Christian teachers everywhere tell us that the religion of the Bible cannot be known except by experience, and the statement is not more unreasonable than when the chemist sends us to the laboratory and the crucible. To be able to trust God we must know him; to obtain that knowledge we desire a revelation. Given the revelation, it requires us to let it operate upon our mind: shall we draw back? No. If there be a truth to be known, we wish to know it; if there be a life to be received, we would receive it; if there be a perfect way to be found, we would follow it.