{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_52757/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_52757","id":"gutenberg_52757","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/52757","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Church of England -- Customs and practices","Church of England -- Doctrines","Ritualism"],"text":"Transcribed from the 1872 William Hunt and Company edition by David\nPrice, email ccx074@pglaf.org\n\n\n\n\n_THE PROPORTIONS OF TRUTH_.\n\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                  BY THE\n                         REV. EDWARD HOARE, M.A.\n              _Vicar of Trinity Church_, _Tunbridge Wells_,\n                   _and Honorary Canon of Canterbury_.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                 LONDON:\n                        WILLIAM HUNT AND COMPANY,\n                     HOLLES STREET, CAVENDISH SQUARE;\n                  AND ALDINE CHAMBERS, PATERNOSTER ROW.\n\n                            PRICE THREEPENCE.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                       _The Proportions of Truth_.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                  BY THE\n                         REV. EDWARD HOARE, M.A.,\n              _Vicar of Trinity Church_, _Tunbridge Wells_,\n                   _and Honorary Canon of Canterbury_.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n\n\n\nThe Proportions of Truth.\n\n\nAMONG the many wise sayings of Paschal there is one that deserves our\nmost attentive study: viz., that few heresies have their origin in simple\nerror, but that all that have ever attained to power have originated in\nthe exaggeration of truth.  Without that element of truth there would be\nno power in the error.  This principle is in perfect harmony with all we\nsee around us.  In everything there are certain proportions, and nothing\ncan compensate for their loss.\n\nIn art the painter may mix his colours in the most perfect combination;\nhe may bring out each feature with all the power of a Rembrandt, but if\nthe head is twice too large for the body, or the nose for the face, his\nbeautiful painting becomes nothing better than a ridiculous caricature.\n\nIn nature God has fitted the parts of each tree in beautiful proportion.\nEach part\u2014the root, the stem, the branch, the leaf,\u2014does its work in\nperfect harmony.  And many a beautiful tree bears nothing, simply because\nan ignorant gardener, by what he calls pruning, has disturbed the\nproportions of its parts.\n\nIn music it is the same, and Shakespeare knew it when he wrote,\n\n                   \u201cHow sour sweet music is\n    When time is broke, and no proportion kept.\u201d\n\nBut there is no illustration more perfect than that of light.  In pure\nwhite light there are many parts, but all in perfect harmony.  Let any\none colour be left out, or its strength be diminished, and the pure white\nis seen no more.  If we wish for purity in light we must have the whole\nspectrum, and have it just as God has given it.  Let man disturb it in\nany way whatever, let him keep back any colour, because it does not suit\nhis taste, or isolate any other colour, because for it he feels a special\npreference, and the result will be that he will no longer look on the\npure bright light of heaven.  He need not introduce any new element; all\nthat he has to do is to keep back a part and to disturb the proportion,\nand by that simple and easy process he can substitute a colour of his own\ndevising for the pure brightness of the sunbeam.\n\nI believe it to be just the same with the truth of God.  It is clearly so\nwith _the Lord Himself_.  As He is perfect in every detail, so is He\nperfect in the proportions of His attributes.  Every attribute is in its\nplace, and every attribute perfect; and all are so beautifully fitted\ntogether, that the highest desire of the heart thirsting for God is to\ncome \u201cto the perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fulness of\nChrist.\u201d\n\nSo it is with _the faith_, or God\u2019s great plan of life, continued and\ncarried out in His own boundless love, for the salvation of His people.\nOf course in this plan there are many parts,\u2014incarnation, life,\natonement, resurrection, mediation, etc.  There is the work of the\nFather, the work of the Son, and the work of the Holy Ghost; and, besides\nthat, there is the act of the believer,\u2014seeking Christ, receiving Christ,\nand living to His glory.  And of the whole it may be most truly said, \u201cAs\nfor God.  His work is perfect.\u201d  The whole plan, and every part of it, is\nDivine.  Each part is complete, and each of these complete parts being\nfitted together in complete proportion, form, when thus fitted, a grand,\na perfect, an harmonious whole.\n\nJust so it is with _Sacred Scripture_.  Some people speak of that sacred\nBook as if it consisted of several detached fragments, accidently\npreserved and indiscriminately grouped; whereas those who know it best\nand study it most, see in it a perfect and harmonious revelation of a\nperfect and harmonious salvation.  No one denies for one moment that it\nwas written by many authors, and that the fragments, as they are called,\nwere written at intervals, extending on the whole over more than 1500\nyears.  No one denies that in the several writings you discern the\nseveral minds and characters of the several writers.  No one denies that\nthe historical accuracy of one man, the poetic genius of another, the\naffectionate pastoral earnestness of a third, and the argumentative\nfaculty of a fourth, are all employed, and all appear with undisguised\nindividuality.  But our point is that there is no appearance of accident\nor confusion, but that all these various authors have been employed to\nbring out one perfect whole; that the historian, the poet, the\nbiographer, the letter writer, and the logician, have all their exact\nplace, and have all, by God\u2019s inspiration, exactly filled it.  What some\nmen regard as a difficulty we regard as the wonder of the Book.  We see\nmany rays in the spectrum, but all are blended so as to give one perfect\nlight, and when we think on the beautiful and perfect proportions of the\nwhole, we are prepared to exclaim, with Dryden,\n\n    \u201cWhence, but from heaven, could man unskilled in arts,\n    In several ages born, in several parts\n    Weave such agreeing truths?\u201d\n\nNow if all this be true it must follow that our great object must be not\nmerely to preach a selection, however well made, of detached truths, but\nto declare the whole counsel of God, and so to declare it that the\nproportions of God\u2019s revelation may be preserved.  It is not enough that\nwe exhibit certain of God\u2019s attributes,\u2014His righteousness, _e.g._,\nwithout His mercy, or His mercy without His love; or one side of our\nLord\u2019s nature and character,\u2014His Godhead, _e.g._, without His manhood, or\nHis manhood without His Godhead.  Nor is it enough that we teach certain\nportions of the plan of life,\u2014as atonement without repentance, or\nrepentance without atonement.  Our great desire must be, as faithful\nstewards, to declare the whole: not to select any favourite colours in\nthe spectrum, but to exhibit without partiality the perfect light of the\ntruth of God.\n\nBut in the application of this principle one caution has been suggested\nto me by a very thoughtful friend: viz. this,\u2014that in an endeavour to\nattain to the proportionate place of any particular truths, we must take\ninto consideration not merely the frequency with which they are repeated,\nbut the urgency with which they are pressed upon our attention.  There\nare some subjects in which our opinions are formed from historical\nreference to the practice of the early Church, such as Episcopal\nGovernment and infant baptism, and however important they may appear,\nthey must clearly be put in a different category from those where we have\nthe clear command of God, or the clear declaration that they concern the\nessentials of life eternal.  Again some subjects may cover a greater\nspace in Scripture, and still be of less importance than other short\npassages which have been solemnly uttered as containing the very\nessentials of salvation.  The broadest band in the prism is not the\nbrightest, and the brightness of the one is quite as important as the\nbreadth of the other.  The historical books of the Old Testament, _e.g._,\nmust none be neglected; but, though they occupy nearly one-third of the\nwhole Book, they do not outweigh in importance that single sentence of\nour blessed Redeemer: \u201cTruly, truly, I say unto thee, Except a man be\nborn again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.\u201d  Some portions again are\nonly preparatory to the final development of the perfect plan of life,\nand they clearly occupy a position of different proportionate importance\nto the plan itself.  Each portion of God\u2019s truth has its own place in the\ncomplete plan, and the importance attached by the inspiring Spirit to\neach part, and to the place of each part, is that which we really want to\nascertain.  We want to take a comprehensive view of the great salvation\nas complete in the finished work of our blessed Redeemer, and the\noutpouring of the Holy Ghost at Pentecost.  We want not merely to look at\nthe completed system, but at all that God appointed to prepare the way\nfor it, and then without reserve, and without preference, yield ourselves\nto the Divine teaching, and make it our earnest prayer that in all His\nproportions, and in all His perfections, we may be taught of God to\nexhibit Christ.\n\nAnd now, having said enough on the general principle, let us begin by\napplying it to the variations which exist amongst us with reference to\nthe great principles which lie within the circle of Evangelical truth,\nand in which we are in the main agreed.  I hear a good deal of the\ndisunion of the Evangelical body, but I do not believe it.  I am fully\nalive to our defects in organization, and I believe you will always find\nsuch defects amongst persons trained as we are to think for ourselves,\nand to act on our own responsibility; but I believe there is a vast\namount of real loving Christian brotherhood amongst us, and I doubt\nwhether in the whole world you would find five hundred thinking men more\ncompletely of one heart and one mind than that loving band of brethren\nwho meet year after year in this hall, under the presidency of our\nvenerable friend.  Still we have our variations, and I venture to suggest\nthat these variations, such as they are, arise much more from our losing\nsight of the proportions of truth, than from error as to truth itself.\nSome, _e.g._, of us who are deeply interested in prophetic inquiry, may\ncarry the subject too far, and become too much absorbed by an intense\ninterest of the study; while other dear brethren have been so much\nimpressed by our mistakes, that they think it wiser to neglect the\nsubject altogether; and thus it comes to pass that the proportion of\ntruth is missed by us both.  Is it not possible that some of us are so\nimpressed with the grandeur of the universal offer of a free salvation in\nChrist Jesus, that we scarcely give sufficient prominence to the doctrine\nof election; while others have our hearts so filled with the deep sense\nof electing love, that we feel some difficulty in making a universal\noffer?  And in such a case does not the difficulty arise much more from\nour losing sight of the relative position of two truths, than of either\nparty being in error as to either one?  Each can prove his point, but the\nquestion is, Do they preserve the proportion of truth?\n\nSo again, is there not a danger of those amongst us whose own mind is\noccupied by the Jews, seeing everything in Jewish light, and forgetting\nthe election from the Gentiles; while those who are absorbed in Gentile\nwork are in equal danger of withholding his proper portion from the Jew?\n\nOnce more, is it not a question whether, as a body, we are giving quite\nsufficient prominence to the sacrament of Baptism?  If I were to draw any\ncomparison between the two sacraments, I think I must come to the\nconclusion that the sacrament of Baptism occupies in Apostolic teaching a\nmore prominent place than the Lord\u2019s Supper; but I am not at all sure\nthat the proportion is not reversed in my own ministry, and that much\nmore importance is not attached to the Holy Communion than to our Baptism\ninto the body of Christ.  The same may be said of the Second Advent, and\nmany other subjects.  We may be perfectly sound upon each point, and able\nin the most satisfactory manner to prove each point from Scripture, but\nstill while maintaining truth we may be exhibiting a partial view of\ntruth: we may be presenting only certain colours of the spectrum, and\nfailing to produce the perfect light; we may be playing only the bass\nnotes, and so losing the harmony of our music.\n\nIf this be the case, we shall not be drawn together by an eager\nmaintenance of our own particular subject, but by fixing our thoughts on\nthe whole.  I am not arguing against men taking up particular subjects\nand becoming absorbed in them.  I believe that if this were not done\nnothing great would be accomplished, for no one mind is big enough for\nthe whole.  But I am anxious that we should remember that other person\u2019s\nsubjects have a place in God\u2019s system as well as our own; that \u201cthe eye\ncannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to\nthe feet, I have no need of you;\u201d but that we all remember that \u201cGod hath\ntempered the body together;\u201d and that our earnest desire must be, as one\nunited band of brethren, to exhibit before the world in all its\nproportions the whole counsel and the perfect mind of God.\n\nBut, leaving these subjects, which may be defined as variations within\nthe Evangelical body, let us pass on to apply the principle to some of\nthose great questions in which the whole body are united in the earnest\nstruggle for the truth of God; and let us begin with that which is\nundoubtedly one of the great questions of the day,\u2014the relative value of\nritual, and reality in religion.  Now let us admit at the outset that it\nis utterly impossible to have reality without ritual.  It is impossible\nfor twelve men to meet together and worship God decently and in order\nwithout a ritual of some kind or other.  Nay, I would go further, and say\nit is impossible for any one, even alone, to pour out his heart before\nGod without a certain amount of ritual or form.  There must be a certain\nritual, or external action, in harmony with the spiritual or internal\nmovements of the soul.  But though you cannot have reality without\nritual, you may have ritual without reality.  You may have an elaborate\nform, notwithstanding the total absence of the weightier matters of the\nlaw.  It becomes therefore a matter of deep interest for us to consider\nwhat is the relative position of ritual in the Christian system, and what\nplace it occupies in sacred Scripture.\n\nNow it was once said to me by an advanced Ritualist, \u201cIf there be an\nelaborate and gorgeous ritual in heaven, and if there was an elaborate\nand gorgeous ritual under the law, may we not conclude that we ought to\nhave the same in this intermediate dispensation?\u201d\n\nBut where do we find any account of a gorgeous and elaborate ritual in\nheaven?  We do, I acknowledge, read of one gorgeous dress \u201cof purple and\nscarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls;\u201d but\nthat was on the harlot.  In all besides there is perfect simplicity.  The\nbride has no dress but \u201cfine linen, clean and white;\u201d and when the elders\nwere honoured with crowns, they cast them at the feet of the Lamb, that\nall eyes might be fixed on Him, and all heaven give Him His honour.  Nor\nwas there any gorgeous ritual under the law.  It is true that the high\npriest wore a dress adorned with precious stones and the most costly\nmaterial that could be procured, but that was for the simple reason that\nwhat he wore was typical of the glorious attributes of our blessed\nRedeemer.  But the dress of the ordinary priests was perfectly simple.\nAnd as for ritual, it was minute because it was prophetic: it was a\npictorial prophecy, and therefore of necessity accurate.  But in other\nrespects we find no directions whatever.  The argument therefore\ncompletely falls to the ground; and we have to consider simply the\nposition occupied by ritual in the New Testament.  And what do we find\nthere?  Absolutely nothing: not even in the administration of the\nsacraments do we find a single direction beyond the name and the water in\nBaptism, and the use of bread and wine in the Lord\u2019s Supper.  Beyond\nthese points not a hint is given.  Whether it should be received\nstanding, sitting, or kneeling; what words should be used, and who should\nuse them; whether there should be a liturgy or extempore prayer, and\nindeed whether there should be any prayer at all,\u2014all these things are\nleft without any notice in the Word of God.\n\nBut I must be careful what I say, for I once had a pamphlet sent me\npurporting to give Scriptural authority for some of these modern\ninnovations.  It maintained that the cloak, the \u03c6\u03b1\u03b9\u03bb\u03cc\u03bd\u03b7, which St. Paul\nleft at Troas, was his chasuble, without which he could not celebrate\nmass at Rome; and that the many lights which sent Eutychus to sleep were\nthe many candles with which the altar at Troas was adorned.  If men\nbelieve that, it is vain to argue with them.  But this much we may safely\nconclude,\u2014that if these be the only arguments that can be produced, the\nmen who urged them must have been very hard up for an authority.  Our\nconclusion therefore remains untouched, that the whole of the New\nTestament is occupied by the great realities of the Gospel of Christ; and\nthat, so far as Scripture is concerned, there is not even a hint as to\nritual.  And what is the grand conclusion?  Is it not surely this,\u2014that\nif we would keep to the proportions of truth we must not allow the\nthoughts to be led off by ritual, but must keep well in view the great\nrealities of life and death, of forgiveness, of purification, new life,\nand everlasting salvation: the great things of the Gospel, the weighty\nmatters revealed in the Word of God.  Even when contending against\ninnovation we must not allow the interest of the contest to draw our\nthoughts from great realities.  And in our own peaceful and parochial\nwork we must not disturb our people by needless changes, even though some\nof them may seem to ourselves to be improvements; and we must take good\nheed that, while all things are ordered as becometh the house of God, the\ngreat law of proportion is observed, and the minds of our young people\nnot drawn off by the form and furniture of worship.  I was deeply\nimpressed not long ago by the importance of this principle in its bearing\nupon missions.  In missions you have a great reality that fills the\nScriptures.  History, prophecy, biography, command, and promise, all\nunite in urging the sacred work of missions.  I was anxious to ascertain\nto what extent the missionary spirit flourished in conjunction with\ncostly ritual; and I thought the best test that I could apply was to\nascertain how much was contributed to the Society for the Propagation of\nthe Gospel by some of those churches that are most renowned for ritual.\nI selected seven, with the names of which I happened to be familiar. {16}\nI then turned to the last report of the Society for the Propagation of\nthe Gospel, in order to ascertain how much they gave for missions, and I\nfound that the aggregate contributions by all seven together to the\ngeneral fund amounted to the amazing sum of \u00a37 13_s._ 2_d._  I ought to\nsay that St. Albans added \u00a35 13_s._ 10_d._ for a special fund for\nHonolulu.  So that, taking into account the gifts to particular dioceses,\nas well as those to the general fund, the total contributed by the seven\nchurches to foreign missions, through the Society for the Propagation of\nthe Gospel, amounted to \u00a313 7_s._  And yet the incumbent of one or them\n(St. Andrew\u2019s, Wells Street) stated in evidence before the Ritual\nCommission, that the cost of his choir alone was \u201cabout \u00a31000 a year.\u201d\nIs it not high time that men lay to heart the proportion to be observed\nbetween ritual and the reality of religion?\n\nBut now let us go a step further, and apply this law of proportion to\nwhat is commonly called the sacramental system.  I heard this well\ndefined not long since, in a very able sermon by an advanced Ritualist.\nHe supposed a person in America anxious to communicate with his friend in\nEngland, and asked the question whether he would do so by direct\ncommunication through the air, or through the medium of the telegraphic\nwires.  \u201cJust so,\u201d said he, \u201cthe question is whether God has been pleased\nto communicate direct with the soul, or has chosen to do so through the\nmedium of His priests and sacraments.\u201d  My own belief is that that was a\nvery fair statement of the point at issue, and I am anxious to bring it\nto the test of the law of proportion, and to ascertain as far as we can\nwhat proportionate place this intermediate system occupies in the Word of\nGod.  But here I meet with a great difficulty, for when I turn to my\nBible the system, as a system, is not to be found.  I know not therefore\nhow to bring it to the balance; all I can attempt therefore is to\nconsider it in detail, and to examine separately the different parts of\nthe telegraphic system.  Let us begin with confession and absolution.\n\nRespecting confession to a priest, not one word is to be found in any\nportion of the New Testament; and with reference to absolution by a\npriest, there is not a passage which can be quoted with any semblance, of\nauthority, except that one most difficult verse in the Gospel of St.\nJohn.  I am not about to discuss that verse, or to endeavour to decide\nwhether the words were spoken to the whole Church or to the Apostles, or\nwhether, if to the Apostles, they describe a gift as one to be\npermanently transmitted, or to terminate with, the Apostleship.  My\nobject is to point out that if they referred to a gift to be transmitted\nthrough the Apostles to priests, if the transmission were to stop at\npriests and not descend to deacons, and if the forgiveness, and therefore\nthe salvation of the whole Church were dependent on the exercise by a\npriest of the transmitted power,\u2014it is to my mind perfectly inconceivable\nthat the revelation of God should be completed and closed, without\ncontaining one single sentence either as to the law of transmission, or\nthe exercise of so tremendous and mysterious a power.  In the Acts we\nhave the record of Apostolic missions.  In the Epistles we have\ntwenty-one addresses to Christian Churches, three of which were\nexclusively devoted to the subject of the ministry; while passages\nbearing on the relationship between ministers and people are perpetually\nrecurring.  From one end of the Book to the other, the great subject of\nforgiveness is mentioned again and again; and yet, with reference to what\nwas termed at Nottingham, \u201csacramental confession and absolution,\u201d though\nthe application of life is supposed to depend on it, not a single hint is\ngiven.\n\nShould these words be ever brought to the notice of those earnest men\nwith whom we have lately been recommended to cultivate union, I would\nearnestly intreat them to consider whether the Apostles placed absolution\nand confession in the same position that they are doing; and if not, I\nwould suggest to those zealous men the further question, whether the\ndifference may not be explained by their having completely mistaken the\nwords of our Lord.\n\nTurn next to sacrifice.  Now if there be any continuation in any form of\na propitiatory sacrifice for sin we must all admit that it is of the\nutmost possible importance.  If it be God\u2019s institution there is no\ndescribing the loss of those who live without it.  But here I am met with\nthe remarkable fact that, when I look for the theory in the Word of God,\nI find no trace of it.  There is no allusion to a priest, for the\n\u1fd6\u03b5\u03c1\u03bf\u03c1\u03b3\u03bf\u1fe6\u03bd\u03c4\u03b1 of Rom. xv. 16, has manifestly nothing to do with the\nsubject.  There is no altar, unless Heb. xiii. 10, be referred to, which\nvery few are bold enough to attempt to refer to a sacrificial altar in\nthe Church.  There is not a hint as to the persons administering the\nLord\u2019s Supper, which is very strange if all the virtue is really\ndependent on the transmitted priesthood of the sacerdotal sacrifices.\nAnd above all, there is not one word about sacrifice in the words of\ninstitution, unless it be that \u03c4\u03bf\u1fe6\u03c4\u03bf \u03c0\u03bf\u03b9\u03b5\u1fd6\u03c4\u03b5 means, and must mean,\n\u201cperform this sacrifice.\u201d  The whole system hangs on the unproved and\nunsupported sense, arbitrarily given to these two perfectly simple words,\nand I would most earnestly put it to those who believe in the\ncontinuation of propitiatory sacrifice,\u2014is there any evidence for the\ndoctrine which bears the least appreciable proportion to its intense and\noverwhelming importance.\n\nThe same may be said of the real presence.  I am not now speaking of\ntransubstantiation simple, but of the statement that in each element\nthere is present a real true living Saviour,\u2014body, soul, and divinity.\nNow I fully admit that those who believe in this do not make at all too\nmuch of it.  I do not see how it is possible to make too much of it.  If\nthat same Lord and Saviour who was born at Bethlehem and died on Calvary,\nis seated on the communion table, as really, and if I may so speak, as\nsocially, as he was seated at the Paschal Supper, so that we may speak to\nHim there and then, as a person visible before us, I can imagine no\nadoration too profound, no love too deep to be consecrated to such a\npresence.  If I believed it, my present thought is that I could never\nleave the Church and never cease to speak of it.  It seems as though I\nmust be ever telling those that look for Him, that I have found the\nMessiah.  But here I am met with this most extraordinary difficulty,\u2014that\nHis own Apostles and inspired writers never once alluded to the subject.\nThey often spoke, it is true, of breaking bread, and in one Epistle the\nApostle Paul entered fully into the subject of the Lord\u2019s Supper; but the\nonly two texts that I know of as having been ever forced into a\nreference, are: \u201cNot discerning the Lord\u2019s body,\u201d\u2014which has no allusion\nto the living person; and the original words of institution: \u201cThis is My\nbody and this is My blood,\u201d which distinctly teach a separation in the\nparts, as opposed to a union of the whole in the person of a living Lord\nin either element.  But I am not stopping to discuss particular texts.\nLet those who believe the doctrine think what they please respecting\nthem, and I would earnestly ask them to consider two questions.\n\n(1)  Did the Apostles give the same proportionate place to the doctrine\nof the real presence that they are doing?  Did it occupy the same place\nin St. Paul\u2019s teaching as in theirs?\n\n(2)  Is the authority for the doctrine at all in proportion to the\noverwhelming weight of its interest and importance?\n\nTest the matter by the law of proportion, and I have no doubt as to the\nissue.\n\nBut now turn to the other side,\u2014the direct and personal reinstatement of\nthe sinner before God: and here I am as much at a loss as I was before;\nbut not as before to find a text, but because the whole Book of God is\nfull of the subject.  It fills the Scriptures as the air fills the room.\nIt is not here or there, but everywhere.  In the Old Testament it is\npredicted, in the New Testament fully manifested.  In the teaching of our\nLord, in the sermons of His missionaries, in the letters of His Apostles,\nin all alike you find it.  Present and complete forgiveness, complete\njustification, finished atonement through the perfect sacrifice once for\nall, and the ever living, never changing advocacy of our blessed Redeemer\nnow at the right hand of the throne of God,\u2014these are subjects not\ndependent on forced interpretations of minute texts, but which form the\nsubstance of the whole teaching of God.  They meet you everywhere and you\ncannot avoid them.  I do not quote them, for there would be no end of it.\nIf I wanted, _e.g._, to quote on the doctrine of justification by faith,\nI must begin by quoting the two Epistles to the Romans and Galatians; or\nif on the finished sacrifice and present Priesthood of our Lord and\nRedeemer, I must begin with the whole Epistle to the Hebrews.  We do not\nrely on words only but on chapters, and not on chapters only, but on\nwhole books,\u2014books inspired for this very purpose; and not on separate\nbooks only, but on the whole united testimony of the whole collection of\nbooks which God has interwoven together as an abiding witness to the\nfaith once delivered to the saints.\n\nWe trust to the whole great, grand, aggregate of the Gospel, and from the\nwhole we learn that there is nothing intermediate between us and our God,\nbut that the atonement being complete, the veil of the temple has been\nrent from the top to the bottom, and that now there is nothing left but\nthe deadness of our own hearts to prevent our passing in at once, alone,\nand just as we are, to cast ourselves, in the full assurance of complete\nreconciliation, for all we need, before the mercy-seat of God.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n  London: William Hunt and Company, 23, Holles Street, Cavendish Square;\n                  and Aldine Chambers, Paternoster Row.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n\n\n\nAdvertisement. {2}\n\n\n              _Arrangements for the following Serial Papers_\n\n                               ARE MADE FOR\n                              EVENING HOURS,\n                                  1872,\n              _Edited by the Rev. E. H. BICKERSTETH_, _M.A._\n                       IN MONTHLY PARTS.  SIXPENCE.\n\nTRUE TO THE END.\n\n  (A New Serial Tale, commencing January.)  By the Rev. Dr. Edersheim,\n  Author of \u201cMiriam Bosenham.\u201d\n\nNEW ZEALAND RECREATIONS.\n\n  By Lady Barker, Author of \u201cStation Life In New Zealand.\u201d  With Author\u2019s\n  Illustrations.\n\nNOTES ON THE TRACK OF ISRAEL.  By Francis Gell, B.A.\n\nLIFE AND CHARACTER IN IRELAND.\n\n  By W. Steuart Trench, Esq., Author of the \u201cRealities of Irish Life.\u201d\n  With Author\u2019s Illustrations.\n\nTHE CRUIZE ON THE ZUIDER ZEE.\n\n  By Rob Roy.  With Engravings from Sketches by the Author.\n\nGOOD LAWYERS AND DOCTORS.\n\n  By Rev. F. Arnold.\n\nVISITS TO OUR PHILANTHROPIC INSTITUTIONS.\n\n  By the Rev. Gordon Calthrop, M.A.\n\nHEROES OF THE LAITY.\n\n  By A. C. Ewald, Esq.\n\nRIDLEY, BAXTER, AND OTHER OLD DIVINES:\n\n  Their Lives, Times, and Writings.  By the Rev. J. C. Ryle, M.A.\n\nLIFE IN THE GHETTO.\n\n  By the Author of \u201cBroad Shadows in Life\u2019s Pathway.\u201d\n\nTHE OFFICES OF THE CHURCH.\n\n  By the Lord Bishop of Ripon.\n\nMISSION WORK AMID OUR GREAT CITIES.\n\n  By J. M. Weylland, Author of \u201cThe Man with the Book.\u201d\n\nTHE MINISTRY OF ANGELS.\n\n  By the Rev. E. H. Bickersteth, M.A.\n\nADDRESSES TO PUBLIC SCHOOL BOYS.\n\n  By Public Men.\n\nTHE DRAMA OF LIFE, AND OTHER PAPERS.\n\n  By Hugh Macmillan, Author of \u201cBible Teachings in Nature.\u201d\n\nHYMNODY AND CHURCH MUSIC.  THE SUFFERER\u2019S COUCH, AND OTHER ORIGINAL\nPOETRY.  By J. T. Cooper, Esq., Rev. R. Brown-Borthwick, Hetty Bowman, E.\nS. Craik, J. Threlfall, Rev. R. Wilton, The Editor, etc.\n\nBOTANIC RAMBLES.\n\n  By Mrs. Gordon, Author of \u201cWork: Plenty to do, and How to do it.\u201d\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                    LONDON: WILLIAM HUNT AND COMPANY,\n                   23, HOLLES STREET, CAVENDISH SQUARE;\n                  AND ALDINE CHAMBERS, PATERNOSTER ROW.\n\n\n\n\nFootnotes.\n\n\n{2}  In the printed pamphlet the advertisements are on the reverse of the\ncover page and have been moved to the end in this eText.\u2014DP.\n\n{16} These were St. Alban\u2019s, All Saints\u2019, Margaret Street; St. Andrew\u2019s,\nWells Street; St. Ethelburga, St. Matthias, Stoke Newington; St. Mary\nMagdalene, Munster Square; and St. Paul\u2019s, Walworth.","title":"The Proportions of Truth","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":5435}