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THE SIGNS OF AN ATHEISTIC SPIRIT.

BY THE REV. T. WHITE, M.A. Rector of Epperstone, Notts, and Incumbent of Welbeck Chapel, London.

I.

If I were to enlarge upon the subject of atheism, for the purpose of exhibiting and confuting the folly of those (if any such there be) who really are persuaded that there is no God, I should only repeat what has been often far more ably said by others. The demonstration which has been made of the existence and attributes of the Deity, by Bentley, Paley, Gisborne, and many others, even before the publication of those admirable treatises to which the benefaction of the late Earl of Bridgewater has given occasion, may be sufficient to satisfy the utmost desires of those who wish for arguments on the subject. But, surely, we can need no argument, if we lift up our eyes to the heavens, and contemplate the display which they make of the glory of God; if we attentively survey the earth, and observe its various productions and inhabitants, the suitableness of the one to the other, and the evident marks of power, wisdom, and goodness, which pervade the whole; nay, if, without looking beyond ourselves, we reflect on the admirable construction of our own bodies, and the wonderful endowments of our minds, too often indeed perverted, but capable of such vast acquirements, and such continual advancement. Whoever exercises his faculties fairly and honestly in such contemplations must be convinced that it would be the greatest of all folly to doubt the existence and perfections of our great Creator. When chance can make a

VOL. VIII.-xo. CCIX.

PRICE 1d.

time-piece or construct a building, then will we believe that the regular rotation of the planetary orbs, which measure time and regulate the seasons, or that the glorious fabric of the universe, resulted from a fortuitous concourse of atoms, existing from eternity without a maker or a guide.

Difficult, however, as I trust it would be to establish any case of speculative atheism, I fear that practical atheism is fearfully prevalent in this nominally Christian country. It will be my endeavour, therefore, in this essay, to point out the signs too generally exhibited of an atheistic spirit.

When Satan tempted our first parents to wish that they might be as gods, knowing good and evil of themselves, he in fact taught them to cast off the authority of the true God. They separated themselves in that moment from the only source of holiness and happiness; their nature became in consequence corrupt, and they could transmit no other than a corrupt nature to their descendants. The history of the antediluvian race, the history, in truth, of mankind in every age, but too plainly describes the consequences. Of the heathen St. Paul declares that they were atheists in the world. They worshipped, it is true, gods many and lords many; but their glorious Creator they neither knew nor reverenced. It pleased God, indeed, to sanctify to himself a chosen seed in every period; so that Noah, Enoch, Abraham, and others, walked with him; yet these holy men would have been the most ready to declare the proneness of their nature to depart from God, and their utter incapability of doing good without his aid. Since the Gospel has given us a fuller revelation of his infinite perfections and amaz

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ing goodness towards us, it might have been expected that all who heard the joyful sound would have welcomed it, and have rejoiced to walk in the light of his countenance. But is this the fact? Is it not true that the larger proportion even of professing Christians appear intent on banishing God from their thoughts, rather than on setting him always before them? If we observe the ordinary conversation in society, is there not an evident shrinking from the avowal of religious sentiments? Whilst the Mahometan continually appeals to his prophet, and the idolater invokes the succour of his imaginary deity, do not those who call themselves the servants of Jehovah, for the most part, seem ashamed to confess his name, to express their trust in his providence, to speak of his revealed will as the standard of truth and righteousness? How few are the houses in which all assemble, morning and evening, for the social worship of their common Father! how few the tables where his blessing is invoked on the provisions of his bounty! If an attempt be made to introduce religious conversation, how seldom is it successful! It seems to cast a gloom over countenances which would be lighted up by topics far less exhilarating than the amazing goodness of our reconciled God, and his constant kindness to a world of sinners. Such subjects, it will be said, are too sacred for ordinary discussion-they should not be treated lightly, nor made too familiar. Certainly they should not be treated lightly, for they are of infinite importance; but how can they be too familiar to our minds? how can they fail to excite the liveliest interest in creatures circumstanced as we are? The apostle teaches, that whether we eat or drink, or whatever we do, we should do all to the glory of God; and when we consider, that in him we live and move and have our being, that his eye is ever upon us, that he gives every blessing, and is our only guardian and protector-surely the more we think of him, the happier we should be, and should delight in every thing and every person who made us more sensible of his presence with us.

If, quitting the social circle, we look abroad into the world at large; if we observe the conduct of our statesmen, our merchants, our literary characters; does there not appear amongst them a lamentable, I was almost ready to say, a wilful forgetfulness of God? Where are the public acts of humiliation for national sin, or thanksgiving for national mercies, which were so frequent in former times? How seldom do we find a solemn recognition of the dominion of Providence over the affairs of communities and individuals! how seldom is God implored to guide

the deliberations of our senators! Amongst the pernicious doctrines of the present day, none can be more dangerous than that which would separate religion from civil polity-as if communities were not as responsible to God, and as much bound to act according to his will, as individuals. The Jews, it is acknowledged, were under a theocracy; but Christians are left to themselves, to make their own good or their own evil; they have no need to acknowledge that lesson which a heathen prince was taught by painful experience, that "the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will." Painfully as he learned the lesson, he felt the profit of it; and it would be well for England and her rulers, if they should acquire the wisdom taught to Nebuchadnezzar, without his chastisement.

There was a time when all ships were chartered, and voyages undertaken, in the name of God. No business of any importance was entered upon without solemn prayer for his blessing. But now our merchants have become wiser than Solomon, who asserted that "the blessing of the Lord it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it."

If our attention is directed to the literature of the age, amongst the myriads of publications which issue from the press, how few indicate any thing like reverence for God, any consciousness in their authors that their abilities are his gift, and ought to be used for his glory!

The proper object of education is to train up immortal beings for the discharge of their duties in the present life, and for the attainment of eternal happiness in a better. Yet in how few of our schools is this object kept in view! where a regard for it is pretended, how scanty and inadequate are the means employed! An acquaintance with literature and science cannot be conveyed, it is admitted, without careful and assiduous instruction; but the knowledge of God and of his revealed will may steal into the heart as it can, for no pains are in general taken to introduce it.

But it is far less profitable to enter into the examination of other men's principles and conduct than to make a careful scrutiny of our own. Let us then seriously ask ourselves whether we indeed believe in God-the God revealed in the Bible; and whether we delight in the contemplation of his character, and cordially devote ourselves to his service. Truly to believe in God, is to receive with perfect conviction his testimony concerning himself; that he is infinite in power, wisdom, and goodness; that in the unity of the divine essence. there is a Trinity of persons, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, who all concur in operation, and who are engaged in covenant for the redemp

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tion of lost mankind. It is not the mere acknowledgment of a great First Cause; but it is the acknowledgment of the all-perfect and unchangeable Jehovah, of the eternal and coequal Son, of the Spirit of truth and wisdom. If we truly believe that he was manifest in the flesh; that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, we shall believe and approve his perfect abhorrence of evil, even though it involves our condemnation, his inflexible justice, his spotless purity, his perfect truth. We shall also believe that God is love-love in the essence-love even when he most severely chastens sinners-nay when we ourselves are made to smart beneath his rod. We shall believe that he sees and governs all things-that not a sparrow falls without his permission-that the very hairs of our head are numbered-and that, in every circumstance, whether great or small, his eye surveys, and his providence rules over us.

And can we contemplate with delight this holy, heart-searching God? can we rejoice in his absolute dominion, and yield ourselves up to it without reserve? Is it our first wish to please him and to enjoy him, to be altogether his, and to dwell with him for ever? If we have this faith, it must be the gift of his Holy Spirit, who has subdued our carnal will, and brought us nigh through the atoning blood of Jesus. But if we have not, let us not deceive ourselves with the notion that we believe in God; for, though we may have formed to ourselves some vain notions of an imaginary Deity, we do not believe the only true God, nor can we cordially rejoice in his existence and perfections.

NOTES ON THE STATE OF THE CHURCH,
Previous to the Schism between the East and West.
BY THE REV. CHARLTON LANE, M.A.
Minister of St. Mark's, Kennington.
No. III.

HAVING noticed the mode of worship which, with singular attempt at uniformity, prevailed through the first four centuries of the Christian era, it may be useful to remark

1st, Upon the places in which divine worship was celebrated.

2dly, On the diffusion of the Christian faith; and 3dly, Upon the officers of the Church.

1. At first we find the Christians attending the temple and the synagogue. It is to be remembered, that the religion which the apostles were introducing

Acts v. 20: "The angel of the Lord said, Go, stand and speak in the temple all the words of this life." See also iii. 1; xxi. 16 xxii. 17; xxiv. 12-18; xxvi. 21.

+ Acts ix. 20; xiii. 5; xiv. 12: "But when Paul and his company departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath-day." xvii. 1, 2: "Paul, as his manner was, went into the synagogue, and three sabbath-days reasoned;" xvii. 10; xviii. 4, 7, 8, 17, 26.

was not a new religion, opposed to the former, so much as a development and completion of the old. "The Old Testament" (says our Church, in her VIIth Article,)" is not contrary to the New; for both in the Old and New Testament everlasting life is offered to mankind, by Christ; wherefore they are not to

be heard, which feign that the old fathers did look only for transitory promises." Hence the apostles, and their assistants, being Jews, would naturally, until driven from the synagogue, continue to frequent these assemblies for the national worship, and there proclaim, "to the Jew first," the unsearchable riches of Christ. The time came when, as their divine Master had foretold, they were 66 'put out;" but even before this event took place, the disciples were accustomed to assemble among themselves, and break bread from shippers took place in the "upper rooms," most prohouse to house. These assemblies of Christian worbably the highest room in the house, which appears to have been the largest,+ and most inhabited.

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In the second century, we still find "the Church" assembling in private houses, or in houses not differing in external form from private dwellings. These structures, consecrated by such employment, received the titles of synagogues or conventicles, i. e. places of assembling together-oratories, and kyriakai, or houses of the Lord. It is from the last (Greek) term, that the Saxon term kirche is derived; thence the Scotch kirk, of which our English word church is a corruption. Persecution often drove the worshippers to meet in crypts, or hiding-places, or even in scattered groups among the tombs.

In the beginning of the third century, the tombs of martyrs were held in veneration: here their memorials were celebrated, and the narrative of their actions read aloud; and hence the term legends (legenda) of the saints.

The accession of the great Constantine, at the commencement of the fourth century, introduced a vast improvement in the external prosperity of the Church of Christ; and one very signal mode in which that great nursing-father of Christianity proclaimed his own adhesion to the cause of the Lord and of his Christ, was in causing numerous temples to be constructed. These first Christian edifices were built, for the most part, after the pattern of the Jewish temple, and were consecrated according to a defined ritual (certis ritibus, Lampe).§ 1. There was an external court, surrounding the building, afterwards converted into a cemetery, or churchyard. 2. Vestibule, or porch, wherein assembled the catechumens. 3. The temple itself, into which the faithful, or initiated, were admitted, the men being seated apart from the women... 4. The presbytery, or choir, where were the seats for the clergy, and where also was the altar, or communion-table.||

John xvi. 2.

+ Acts i. 13; xx. 8; and Parkhurst, v. gway; and Facciolati, v. cœnaculum.

James ii. 2 (marginal version): "If there come unto your synagogue" (Greek). A similar term occurs in the Greek of Heb. x. 25.-See Bloomfield and Parkhurst.

§ "Rosenmüller observes, that the synagogues themselves of the Jews were sometimes dedicated to Christian worship. But this must have been rare, and only when nearly all the congregation had become Christians."-Bloomfield on James ii. 2. Η 1. έμβολος, ambitus; 2. πρόναος seu ναρθηκ; 3. ναός ; 4. βήμα seu θυσιαστήριον.

2. It may not be impertinent to this brauch of our inquiry, to mention the chief places in which the Gospel was propagated in the apostolic age. We have already said, that the first subjects of conversion were the Jews; but within twelve years from the crucifixion, the door of faith was opened to the Gentiles (Acts x.), in the conversion of the Roman Cornelius. The Church of Antioch (Acts xi.) was the second to that of Jerusalem, preceding those of Rome and Alexandria. Corinth, Philippi, Colosse, and Thessalonica, are made known to us by the epistles of Paul, the apostle to whom was specially entrusted the conversion of the Gentile world (Gal. ii.). Hence the glad news of a universal Saviour, and of a Catholic creed, were speedily spread throughout the flourishing regions of Asia Minor, Cappadocia, Pontus, Galatia, and Bithynia. The seven churches of Asia proved the acceptation in which the new religion was held by cities remarkable for their civilisation; and in truth, looking at the map of the then world, we are struck by the observation, that the provinces of the Roman empire became the chief settlements of the Christian Church.

Of the respective labours of the apostles we have little handed down for our curiosity to rest upon with satisfaction. Paul is the most prominent of the ambassadors of Christ; and in whatever light or passage of the holy writings we find him mentioned, whether with Barnabas at Lystra, or with Peter at Antioch, he is still "the chief speaker" (Acts, xiv. 12; Gal. ii. 16). Of Peter, it is still a question, whether this apostle ever came to Rome; but it is far more generally agreed, that he did not arrive there till subsequently to Paul's release from his first imprisonment. Under such circumstances, it may be gratifying to some of our Protestant readers to be reminded, that not only is it no doctrine of Scripture that Peter was bishop of Rome, but it is certain that if he ever were there, he was successor, or assistant, to Paul, the real founder of that Church; and thence to be assured there is no danger in withholding their assent from the following tenet of the papal religion—" I acknowledge the holy, catholic, and apostolic Roman Church, the mother and mistress of all Churches; and I promise and swear true obedience to the Roman bishop, the successor of St. Peter, prince of the apostles, and the vicar of Jesus Christ." "The beloved" John finished his life full of holiness and of years at Ephesus. It is remarkable that the acts of such men as the patriarchs of the spiritual Israel have been imperfectly handed down for the admiration of after-ages; but they are "written in heaven." It is probable, that as did Jehovah in the hiding of the burial-place of Moses, so the same Lord of the new Church sought, in the obscurity which he hung over the acts of his first followers, to allow no opportunity for that sub-idolatry which is too apt to arise out of an extreme veneration for human excellence. We may remark, in general, of the three disciples, Peter, James (the less), and John, that the first opened the door of life unto the Gentiles; the second was bishop of Jerusalem; and the third, the beloved disciple, here attained the crown of martyrdom by his sufferings, survived to be last of the apostles, and to proclaim, in the clearest terms, the divinity of Christ.

3. We now arrive at a more interesting topic, be

cause, on the fidelity, or truth, of any statements respecting this, will ever depend much of the harmony and subordination which should prevail among Christians,—we mean, the mode of conducting and governing the Church.

It seems generally conceded, that the first officers of the Church were, like other portions of the infant institution, extraordinary. Our Lord, in the second year of his ministry, elected (Luke vi.) and sent forth (chap. ix.) the twelve, emphatically called apostles. In the following year (chap. x.) he commissioned the seventy disciples; being more than two years previous to the ordination of deacons by the hands of the apostles. There was no arch-apostle: each exercised an equal power of regulating, legislating, and ordaining. The primacy attributed to Peter by the Church of Rome, who claims that apostle for her founder and first bishop, derives its only ground from the prominent zeal of that apostle, and from misconstruction of two texts of Scripture.*

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The seventy disciples were evangelists, not rectors, or pastors," of certain congregations, but itinerant missionaries, who preached and baptised wherever their services were required. The proto-martyr Stephen was supposed to have been one of the seventy. His being deacon also (Acts vi.) seems to shew that the seventy disciples were not to be considered as strictly presbyters in the later and appropriated meaning of this term. The other extraordinary officer peculiar to the infant state of the Church, was the prophet, i. e. a person endowed miraculously with a power of interpreting hidden, mysterious, and future things.

The ordinary ministers of the Church were those which our own reformed communion retained at the Reformation. The bishop and the presbyter were, for some most important purposes of their office, identical:† so much so, that these terms in the New Testament have been construed as synonymous; and we trace the difference rather by inference than from the express and immediate language of the sacred text. Ordination and confirmation, and the presidency among his brethren, were the peculiar duties of one officer to whom was appropriated the title of overseer or bishop. This distinction is treated by some as a mere regulation of the uninspired successors of the apostles: but the fact of no Church having been without a bishop till the Reformation-of every ancient community of Christians having its one bishop at its head, acting with authority delegated to his office by the apostolical person who,

Matt. xvi. 18: "Thy name is Petrus; and on this Petra (i. e. this rock of confession as to my divine nature) I will build my church." The power of binding, or loosing, given to Peter in Matt. xvi. 19, is in xviii. 18 conferred upon the Church at large. + Abp. Potter on Church-Government, c. 8, 4.-" Consecration is a setting apart, as Joseph was separate from his brethren." Hence the distinct terms of consecration and ordination: compare in these two services the addresses to the new bishop and new priest, "Take thou authority,' &c.

Clemens, the fellow-labourer of Paul (Phil. iv. 3), was bishop of Rome, A D. 64-81.-Dodwell. See Hooker, vii. 2, "Bishops, their order ancienter than their (appropriated) name." We find the term episcopus made use of in the Septuagint translation of the Bible (Numb. iv. 16; Nehem. xi. 22), previous to our Saviour's time. It was then a general term, signifying simply "overseer." The term presbyteros, or elder, means both priest and bishop; episcopos, or overseer, is applied simply to the higher functionary. See ABP. SANDERSON's Sermon on Tit. i. 5.

like Timotheus in Ephesus, or Titus in Crete, first ruled his Church, proves, sufficiently for the conviction of every unbiassed mind, the truth of that assertion made by our Church in her Preface to the Ordination Services: "It is evident unto all men diligently reading the holy Scriptures and ancient authors, that from the apostles' time there have been these orders of ministers in Christ's Church, bishops, priests, and deacons." The election of bishop, or presbyter, was made either by the apostles or by the people receiving the sanction of the apostles by imposition of hands.* Their support was derived from the oblations of the faithful.

The other order of deacons, though its functions were exercised by evangelists also (as Stephen and Philip),

was in itself confined at first to providing for the temporal wants of the poor, the widow, and the orphan. They read the Scripture, prepared catechumens for baptism, and aided in administering the Lord's supper. They who exercised these offices well, purchased to themselves a good degree, i. e. an accession to the presbytery. The deaconesses were widows, upwards of sixty years of age, who attended on the sick, and assisted in the baptising of female converts.

Biography.

THE REV. RICHARD DE COURCY.

THE subject of the present memoir was of the very ancient and noble family of Kinsale, of which he was the chaplain, and the head of which, the premier baron of Ireland, enjoys the peculiar privilege of wearing his hat in the presence of royalty. He was born in Ireland in or about 1748, and was educated at Trinity College, Dublin. He soon became known to many religious persons in England. In 1770 he accepted a curacy in Shrewsbury, the Rev. Mr. Stillingfleet being rector of the parish. In January 1774, he was presented to the vicarage of St. Alkmond,† in the same town, by the lord chancellor. His religious views were far from being congenial with those of many of the parishioners. He was -as most of those who held the same views, and uncompromisingly preached the same doctrines, doctrines which he had long cordially embraced-regarded as not sound in the faith, and not sincerely attached to the Church of England; in other words, not orthodox. The consequence was, that the parish was in an uproar. Many were exceedingly alarmed, if not enraged, at the appointment; and the circumstance led to the appearance of a short satirical poem, "St. Alkmond's Ghost." It is a matter for much gratitude, that a vast change in popular feeling, with respect to such appointments, has taken place in later years; and that such an appointment would be hailed, in many instances, with unfeigned gratitude. It is the uncompromising set

The first appointment rested with the apostles and bishops; but the consent of the people was necessary. Cyprian (lxviii.) says, "In compliance with apostolical usage, the bishops of all the adjoining provinces are to repair to the vacant church; and then a bishop shall be chosen in the presence of the people who have had the knowledge of the life of each one."-Chevallier's translation of Clement's Epistle to the Corinthians, note on § 44. + This church was made collegiate by King Edgar, who endowed it for the support of ten canons, one of whom acted as dean; but the society was dissolved on the establishment of Lilleshall Abbey, to which its revenue was appropriated. The old edifice, a cruciform structure of great antiquity, was, with the exception of the tower and spire, which are one hundred and eighty-four feet in height, taken down, from an apprehension of insecurity, and rebuilt in 1795.-Lewis' Top. Dic.

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ting forth of the grand leading doctrines of the Gospel, which can alone render a ministry efficacious; and as these doctrines are made the very essence of the formularies of the English Church, just in proportion as they are preached, will the Church become rooted in the affections of the people. No enactments for the temporal security of our Zion can be of any avail, if the Gospel, in all its purity, is not faithfully, and without compromise, preached from our pulpits. The grand cure for our political and moral evils will be, the "preaching of the cross." Let the upholders of Christianity, no less than its opponents, bear this in mind, that while there is much at the present day set forth and published calculated to deceive the weak and unstable, and new theories are advanced for man's amelioration, utterly destructive of Christianity-it is gratifying to witness that the friends of religion are not supine; and, by God's blessing, little doubt can be entertained that, by the erection of new churches, the apportioning large parishes into suitable districts, and a sound scriptural mode of education, the machinations of the enemies of the truth will be brought to nought. In 1775 Mr. De Courcy married Jane, only daughter of Mr. Dickson of Wollerton, in Shropshire.

Of Mr. De Courcy, it may truly be said that he was a devoted minister of the Lord Jesus Christ; and that it was his great object and prayerful desire to set forth, in all their freeness and fulness, those doctrines which he had cordially received, and which he had laboured to impress upon others, as the only source of real peace and happiness here below, and as the only sure foundation on which to rest the soul's everlasting salvation. He was, from rational conviction and habitual and prayerful study of God's word, and comparison with that word of the formularies of the Church of England, a conscientious and uncompromising Churchman. If some of its members were inconsistent, clerical or lay, he was the more grieved, but he blamed not the Church for it. It is always of the utmost importance to distinguish between the accredited formularies and requirements of a Church, and the inconsistencies and errors of some of its members; and nothing is more unjust than to argue from the conduct of some individuals who profess to belong to a particular communion, that such communion is utterly opposed to the spirit of the Gospel. Would any of the unfortunately vast variety of sects of professing Christians be willing to he judged of by such a rule? Mr. De Courcy sedulously and actively performed the duties of a parochial minister, at one period conducting three full services on the Sabbath, and one in the week. His sermons were extempore, and remarkable for clearness, persuasion, and deep acquaintance with divine truth; addressed to the understanding, rather than to the feelings of his audience; calculated to make a serious and lasting impression; and, in not a few instances, were remarkably and abundantly blessed to the spiritual, and, it may be trusted, the eternal good of those who were privileged to listen to them.

The period at which Mr. De Courcy was called to exercise his ministry was one most eventful in the annals of our country. The religious and political horizon wore no very pleasing or cheering aspect; and those who felt deeply interested in the cause of true religion, and, as a necessary consequence, of social order (for the real Christian is the most loyal subject), had much cause for depression and alarm. The errors of the Socinian school were now advocated by Dr. Priestley, and embraced by several ministers of the Established Church; and that infidelity to which it has been well remarked Socinianism is the half-way house, had caused many to make shipwreck of their faith. The horrors of the French Revolution also agitated the public mind in this country, and alarmed even those who hailed its commencement as the downfal of tyranny. Mr. De Courcy, both from the pulpit and the press, opposed the spread of Socinianism.

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