In the year 111, Pliny the Younger goes to Bithynia (Turkey) to persecute Christians and reports back to Roman Emperor Trajan on his efforts.

Denarius of Trajan.

Pliny is unsure how to handle the Christians

The Younger Pliny Reproved, colorized copperplate print by Thomas Burke (1749–1815)

It is customary for me, sir, to refer to you in all matters wherein I have a doubt. Who truly is better able to rule my hesitancy, or to instruct my ignorance? I was never present at examinations of Christians, therefore I do not know what is customarily punished, nor to what extent, nor how far to take the investigation. I was quite undecided; should there be any consideration given to age; are those who are however delicate no different from the stronger? Should penitence obtain pardon; or, as has been the case particularly with Christians, to desist makes no difference? Should the name itself be punished (even if crimes are absent), or the crimes that go with the name?

How he conducted his examinations, and reaction to his policy

Trial of Justin The Philosopher (1447-1450) by Fra Angelico.

Meanwhile, this is the method I have followed with those who were brought before me as Christians. I asked them directly if they were Christians. The ones who answered affirmatively I questioned again with a warning, and yet a third time: those who persisted I ordered led [away]. For I have no doubt, whatever else they confessed to, certainly [this] pertinacity and inflexible obstinacy ought to be punished. There were others alike of madness, whom I noted down to be sent to the City, because they were Roman citizens. Soon in consequence of this policy itself, as it was made standard, many kinds of criminal charges occurred and spread themselves abroad. A pamphlet was published anonymously, containing the names of many.

The examinations turned up a number of lapsed Christians

By Jeff Dahl (2007).  Ancient Egyptian pharaohs were worshipped as god-kings.

Those who denied that they were or ever had been Christians, when they swore before me, called on the gods and offered incense and wine to your image (which I had ordered brought in for this [purpose], along with images of the gods), and also cursed Christ (which, it is said, it is impossible to force those who are real Christians to do) I thought worthy to be acquitted. Others named by an informer, said they had been Christians, but now denied [it]; certainly they had been, but had lapsed, some three years ago, some more; and more than one [lit. not nobody] over twenty years ago. These all worshiped both your image and the images of the gods and cursed Christ.

The former Christians told him about the group's customs



Sabbath Eve by Alexander Johnston (1815–1891).

They stated that the sum of their guilt or error amounted to this, that they used to gather on a stated day before dawn and sing to Christ as if he were a god, and that they took an oath not to involve themselves in villainy, but rather to commit no theft, no fraud, no adultery; not to break faith, nor to deny money placed with them in trust. Once these things were done, it was their custom to part and return later to eat a meal together, innocently, although they stopped this after my edict, in which I, following your mandate, forbade all secret societies.

Pliny was unsatisfied, and sought further information by torture



Faithful Unto Death (1888) by Herbert Schmalz.

All the more I believed it necessary to find out what was the truth from two servant maids, which were called deaconesses, by means of torture. Nothing more did I find than a disgusting, fanatical superstition.

Pliny hoped to squelch this dangerous superstition


The Torches of Nero (1876), by Henryk Siemiradzki. According to Tacitus, Nero used Christians as human torches.

Therefore I stopped the examination, and hastened to consult you. For it appears to me a proper matter for counsel, most greatly on account of the number of people endangered. For many of all ages, all classes, and both sexes already are brought into danger, and shall be [in future]. And not only the cities; the contagion of this superstition is spread throughout the villages and the countryside; but it appears to me possible to stop it and put it right. Certainly the temples which were once deserted are beginning to be crowded, and the long interrupted sacred rites are being revived, while food from the sacrifices is selling, for which up to now a buyer was hardly to be found. From which it may easily be supposed, that what disturbs men can be mended, if a place is allowed for repentance.

Source: Pliny, Letter 10.96 to the Emperor Trajan, translated by the School of Tyrannus, 1998, http://www.tyrannus.com/pliny_let.html (accessed November 27, 2014).

Saint Basil the Great of Caesarea (330 - 379) documents the breach in the church 1,700 years ago from Arianism.

 

Russian icon of Saint Basil the Great of Caesarea (330 - 379)

The Arian schism as a war full of hatred on a battlefield and as a shipwreck in a storm

The Council of Nicaea, with Arius depicted beneath the feet
of the Emperor Constantine and the bishops.

Now, go with me from the image to the evil reality.  Not long ago, how did the Arian schism, set apart as an adversary, seem on its own to set itself over and against the Church of God as if it were aligning itself for battle?  When they advanced from a long and painful quarrel to an open struggle against us, the war fractured into many parts in myriad ways, so that an irreconcilable hatred belonged to everyone because of common enmity and peculiar sort of suspicion.  Now this disturbance of the churches is stormier than a wave of the sea, in which everyone of the fathers' boundaries has been removed, and every foundation -- even if it is a doctrinal fortress -- has been shaken.  Everything that rested on unsound footing is in confusion and cast down.  We attack each other, and are overturned by each other.  Even if the enemy did not hit us first, the comrade wounded us; and if someone was hit and fell, his comrade stepped on him.

Be warned about enemies

The Wreck, by Knud-Andreassen Baade c.1835

We have in common with each other that we hate our common opponents, but whenever the enemies leave, we then harm each other as enemies.  In such cases who could count the number of shipwrecks, some sinking because of the enemies' attack, others, because of the treachery of allies, and still others because of the inexperience of the helmsmen?  Wherever the churches, men and all, were destroyed by being dashed against heretical trickery as if it were an object hidden under the sea, others, who hated the suffering of the Savior, took the helm and suffered shipwreck in the faith.

The war continues with those who deviate from the right teaching of true religion

Russo-Polish war, Battle of Orsha in 1514, Attributed to Hans Krell

The confusion that has been brought on by the rules of this world overturns men more violently than any kind of storm or squall.  Indeed, a downcast and abhorrent darkness possesses the churches since the luminaries of the world, which God established to illuminate the souls of the people, have been put out.  They refuse to recognize their excessive desire to fight with one another, and already there is an impending fear that all may be lost.  Personal hostility deteriorates into general and public warfare, the glory of lording it over opponents is preferred to the common ground of all, and the present delight in ambition is preferred to rewards stored up for later.  On account of this, all raise murderous hands against each other insofar as each is able.  Harsh is the cream of those clashing and arguing against each other, and unintelligible shouting and the sound of unending indecipherable groans has already filled almost the whole Church with the excesses and defects of those who deviate from the right teaching of true religion.  Some are carried away into Judaism by confusing the persons, others, into Hellenism by setting the natures in opposition.  Inspired Scriptures cannot mediate between these two, and apostolic traditions arbitrate the disputes that they have with each other.  The one limit of friendship is to speak as one pleases; and a lack of agreement in beliefs is a sufficient motive for hatred.  Similarity of error is a more trustworthy indication of party-communion than any oath.  Everyone is a theologian, even those who have stains on their souls.  Thence, for the innovators there is an overabundance of people to join in the faction, and so, self-selected men eager to hold office obtain leadership positions in the churches and set aside the economy of the Holy Spirit.  Already the ordinances of the Gospel have been altogether confounded by the disorder, and there is an unspeakable struggle for positions of honor, as each of the self-promoters is constrained to install himself into office.  Moreover, a dreadful anarchy rushes on the people because of this lust for power.  Hence the bidding of the authorities is unavailing and vain, since every man madly and stupidly thinks that it is owed to him that he rule others rather than listen to someone else.

The most cruel war is waged against our own kin and love grows cold

The Battle of Waterloo by William Sadler II

And so, I posited that silence was more useful than speech, since a man's strong voice is not heard over the noise.  For, if the words of Ecclesiastes are true, that "the words of the wise are heard in stillness" (Eccl 9:17), to speak about such things in their current state would be very inappropriate.  That verse of the prophet restrains me, "The prudent shall keep silent in that time, for it is an evil time" (Amos 5:13).  At present, some trip and fall, while others applaud, but there is no one who out of sympathy extends a hand to the one who has fallen.  Even still, according to the Old Law, he who passes by his enemy's beast of burden when it has fallen under its load stands condemned.  But this sort of beneficence does not exist now.  Why?  In everyone love has grown cold, and fraternal communion, destroyed.  Even the name of unity is unknown, and loving correction has disappeared.  Nowhere is there Christian mercy; nowhere, a sympathetic tear.  There is no one who receives "the weak in faith" (Rom 14:1), but rather there is such an hatred kindled up between members of the same race, that each rejoices more in a neighbor's faults than in their own perfections.  Just as happens in acts of compassion during a plague, when those who lead a disciplined life suffer the same illnesses as the others since they were infected with the illness by their association with the sick, so also we all have become similar to each other.  We have been carried away to the imitation of evil by the contentiousness that possesses our souls.  So then, the judges of those who fail are merciless and harsh, while the critics of the upright are senseless and hostile.  So great an evil is seemingly established in us, that we have become more irrational than beasts -- they at least herd with their own kind, while for us the most cruel war is waged against our own kin.

Source: St. Basil the Great. On the Holy Spirit. Translated by Stephen Hildebrand. Yonkers, New York: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2011, 30.77-30.78, pages 104-106.

Who is right and who is wrong? The tide of de-christianization in Canada has proven irresistible.

The present flag of the governor general, adopted in 1981

"A historical snapshot illustrates the contrasts over time with which I am concerned." - Mark Noll, University of Notre Dame

1959: "May Almighty God in his infinite wisdom and mercy bless the sacred mission which has been entrusted to me by Her Majesty the Queen and help me to fulfill it in all humility."

Major Georges P. Vanier of the 22nd Battalion became Canada's 19th Governor General,

serving from 1959 to 1967.…

On September 15, 1959, Georges Vanier was installed as Canada's 19th Governor-General, the Queen's formal representative in her Canadian dominion.  Vanier, a much-decorated general, diplomat, and active Roman Catholic began his acceptance speech like this: "Mr. Prime Minister, my first words are a prayer.  May Almighty God in his infinite wisdom and mercy bless the sacred mission which has been entrusted to me by Her Majesty the Queen and help me to fulfill it in all humility.  In exchange for his strength, I offer him my weakness.  May he give peace to this beloved land of ours and, to those who live in it, the grace of mutual understanding, respect, and love."

2005: Canadian history "speaks powerfully about the freedom to invent a new world."

Jean presiding over Remembrance Day ceremonies in Ottawa, 2007.

Fifty-six years later, on September 27, 2005, Michaëlle Jean, became Canada's 27th Governor-General.  Jean, a multi-lingual, Haitian-born film-maker and journalist, offered a forward-looking address that stressed, as had Vanier's, the importance of mutual toleration for Canada's social well-being.  Otherwise, however, there were no themes in common, for Jean's primary concern was the exaltation of individual liberty; for her, Canadian history "speaks powerfully about the freedom to invent a new world."  In this speech there was no mention of the deity.

2005: Contrast with the United States' 2004 Presidential Election

George W. Bush

John Kerry

The contrast with the United States is striking.  Vanier's straightforward invocation of God could be likened to the prayer with which Dwight D. Eisenhower began his presidential inaugural in January 1953.  And Governor-General Jean's stress on the theme of freedom certainly echoed emphases in the presidential inaugural of George W. Bush in January 2005.  Yet her sphere of discourse was far removed from both Georges Vanier's 1959 address and the speeches that John Kerry and George Bush made during the 2004 presidential campaign, when talk of God and more general religious matters was noticeably more prominent than it had been in Eisenhower's day.

1982: Canada's New Constitution

Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and Queen Elizabeth II

The proclamation of the Constitution Act, 1982, signed by Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada

 A second example underscores a similar contrast.  Until the recent past Canada's constitutional existence had been enfolded in the common-law traditions of the British parliament before which Americans, with our penchant for thinking that a constitutional democracy requires a written constitution, stand in clueless bemusement.  Yet in 1982, after painstaking exertions by Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Canada, with the relieved cooperation of the British parliament, finally took control of its own constitution.  Even at that relatively late date public theism remained prominent in Canada's new Charter of Rights and Freedoms.  In a complex drafting history, Trudeau first proposed including one off-hand reference to God in the new constitution, which was taken from an earlier Canadian Bill of Rights written during the administration of Conservative leader, John Diefenbaker.  That reference was removed because of pressure from members of Trudeau's own Liberal party.  But then the issue resurfaced when a broad ecumenical coalition lobbied for formal recognition of Canada's traditional Christian posture.  As a result of its pressure, the new Charter was amended to include the following assertion in its preamble: "Canada is founded upon principles that recognize the supremacy of God and the rule of law."  The inclusion of such an affirmation in the Charter did not, however, presage a resurgence of traditional Christianity, for under the new Charter, Canadian legislation and jurisprudence have increasingly privileged principles of privacy, multiculturalism, enforced toleration, and public religious neutrality, even when such moves de-christianize public spaces in which religious language was once commonplace.

Education from 1948 to Today

1950 Canadian School Train. Pupils attend classes at Nemegos near Chapleau, Ontario.

Education provides another example of significant cultural change.  Ontario public schools long included a major place for confessional Christian instruction, even as the province also funded a separate system for its Catholic citizens.  This well-established practice, however, came to an end in the recent past.  In the words of R. D. Gidney and W. P. J. Millar, "The centrality of Christian doctrine in Ontario's public schools, albeit in a nondenominational Protestant form, was alive and well in the mid-twentieth century; still alive, though less well, as late as the mid-1960s; and, even in the last third of the century, finally ousted only through a prolonged, contested process."  But the result of this recent change in unmistakable: "In this particular part of the public arena ... Christianity has not only been disestablished but banished."  Inherited religious traditions lasted longer in Quebec and Newfoundland, where virtually all education has been effectively under church supervision until the 1990s.  But even in Quebec, which has enjoyed more than two centuries of Catholic educational dominance, and in Newfoundland, which entered the Dominion in 1948 with an explicit guarantee for its government-funded but denominationally-administered school system, the tide of de-christianization has proven irresistible, and education has been secularized.

Source: Noll, Mark A.  What Happened To Christian Canada?, Vancouver, Canada: Regent College Publishing, 2007, pages 8-12.

Saint Basil the Great of Caesarea (330 - 375) documents early non-scriptural traditions including the sign of the cross, turning East for prayer, and the oil of chrism

Icon of St. Basil the Great (330 - 375) from the St. Sophia Cathedral of Kiev.

The solemnity of the mysteries: Non-Scriptural teachings include the sign of the cross, turning east for prayer, blessing the water of baptism and the oil of chrism, etc.

Chrismatory for ritual oil from Germany, 1636 (silver-gilt, Victoria and Albert Museum, London).

Of the dogmas and proclamations that are guarded in the Church, we hold some from the teaching of the Scriptures, and others we have received in mystery as the teachings of the tradition of the apostles.  Both hold the same power with respect to true religion.  No one would deny these points, at least no one who has even a little experience of ecclesiastical institutions.  For if we attempt to reject non-scriptural customs as insignificant, we would, unaware, lose the very vital parts of the Gospel, and even more, we would establish the proclamation merely in name.  For instance -- I will mention the first and most common -- who has learned through the Scriptures that those who hope in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ are marked with the sign of the cross?  What sort of scriptural text teaches us to turn to the east for prayer?  Which saint has left us a scriptural account of the words of the epiclesis at the manifestation of the bread of the Eucharist and the cup of blessing?  We are not satisfied with the [Eucharistic] words that the Apostle or the Gospel mentions, but we add other words before and after theirs, since we have received non-scriptural teaching that these words have great power in regard to the mystery.  We bless the water of baptism and the oil of chrism in addition to the very one who is to be baptized.  By what Scriptures?  It is not by the secret and mystical tradition?  But why?  What scriptural authority teaches the annointing itself of oil?  Where does a man being immersed three times come from?  How much of the baptismal ritual is for the renunciation of Satan and his angels, and what scriptural text does it come from?  Does it not come from this secret and unspoken teaching, which our fathers guarded with a simple and unprying silence, since they were well taught that the solemnity of the mysteries is preserved by silence?  Such matters must not be seen by the uninitiated, and how is it appropriate that this teaching be published abroad in writing?

Basil argues that the non-scriptural traditions come from the Law of Moses



Jewish High Priest wearing Hoshen and Ephod in the Holy of Holies.  Illustrators of the 1890 Holman Bible

What did the great Moses intend when he made it so that all the things of the sanctuary were not accessible to everyone?  He made the profane to stand outside of the sacred precincts, he gave those who were purer access to the first courts, and he judged the Levites alone worthy of being ministers of God.  He assigned sacrifices, holocausts, and the rest of the holy work to the priests and admitted only one of all of them  who was chosen to enter the Holy of Holies, and not even this one at any time, but on only a single day of the year.  He established a fixed hour of this day for the priest's entry, so that astonished by its strangeness and unusualness he may behold the Holy of Holies, and not even this one at any time, but on only a single day of the year.  He established a fixed hour of this day for the priest's entry, so that astonished by its strangeness and unusualness he may behold the Holy of Holies.  Moses saw well and wisely that disdain readily belongs to what is trite and easily understood, while that which is much desired is somehow naturally coupled with retirement and scarcity.

Basil explains that the apostles and fathers claim the same authority as Moses

Adriaen van de Venne's Fishers of Men. Oil on panel, 1614.

In the same way, the apostles and fathers ordained from the first the matters of the Church and guarded the solemnity of the mysteries in secrecy and silence, for what is made known for a public and casual hearing is no mystery at all.  This is the reason for non-scriptural traditions, that knowledge of dogmas not be neglected or despised by the many because of familiarity.  For doctrine is one thing, and proclamation is another.  One is kept in silence, but proclamations are made public.  Now, obscurity is a form of silence used in Scripture, which makes the meaning of dogmas difficult to see for the benefit of the readers.  Because of this we all look to the East for prayers, but few of us know that our ancient fatherland, the paradise that God planted in Eden, was in the East.  We say our prayers standing of the first day of the week, but not all  know the reason why.  By standing for prayer we remind ourselves of the grace given to us on the day of the resurrection, as if we are rising to stand with Christ and being bound to seek what is above.  Not only this, it also seems somehow to be an image of the age to come.  On account of this, although it is the beginning of days, Moses names it not "first" but "one."  For it is written, "There was evening, and there was morning, one day" (Gen 1:5), as if the same one often repeated.  Now, "One" and "Eighth" are the same, which indicates of itself that the really "one" and true "eighth" which the Psalmist mentions in some titles of psalms -- are the state of after this time, the unceasing, unending, perpetual day, that never-ending and ever-young age.  Necessarily, then, the Church teaches her foster children to pray standing on this day, so that we would not neglect the provisions for our journey to everlasting life by a constant reminder of it.  And the whole of Pentecost is a reminder of the resurrection to come in eternity, for that "one" and first day, multiplied by seven seven times, fills up the seven weeks of sacred Pentecost.  It begins on the first day and ends on the same day, revolving fifty times through similar days in between.  Eternity is like a circular movement, beginning from the same points where it ends.  The ordinances of the Church well taught us to prefer to stand at prayer on this day, as if we were leading our minds from the present to the future.  With each going down on the knee and rising up we indicate in deed that we have fallen through sin to the earth and are called up to heaven by the love of our creator.

Source: St. Basil the Great. On the Holy Spirit. Translated by Stephen Hildebrand. Yonkers, New York: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2011, 27.66, pages 104-106.

The Book of Proverbs provides a picture of the ideal wife from 3,000 years ago.

Proverbs 31:28-31

Her children arise and call her blessed;
    her husband also, and he praises her:
“Many women do noble things,    
    but you surpass them all.”
Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;    
    but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
Honor her for all that her hands have done,    
    and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

Her children arise up, and call her blessed: her husband also, and he praiseth, her.  'Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all.' Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates.

Charles Bridges, MA (1794-1869) was a preacher and theologian in the Church of England before women had the right to vote (or many men for that matter). Bridges explains:

The virtuous woman is subservient to her own interest puts her family's interests ahead of her own


De Koekvrijer (1633-1635), Jan Steen

The virtuous woman is obviously subserving her own interest. For what greater earthly happiness could she know, than her children's reverence, and her husband's blessing? We may picture to ourselves her condition--crowned with years; her children grown up; perhaps themselves surrounded with families, and endeavouring to train them, as themselves had been trained. Their mother is constantly before their eyes. Her tender guidance, her wise counsels, her loving discipline, her holy example, are vividly kept in remembrance. They cease not to call her blessed, and to bless the Lord for her, as his invaluable gift. No less warmly does her husband praise her. His attachment to her was grounded, not on the deceitful and vain charms of beauty, but on the fear of the Lord. She is therefore in his eyes to the end, the stay of his declining years, the soother of his cares, the counsellor of his perplexities, the comforter of his sorrows, the sunshine of his earthly joys. (Ecclus. xxxvi. 23, 24. (i.e. Sirach 36:23-24 from the Apocrypha)) Both children and husband combine in the grateful acknowledgment,-- Many daughters have done virtuously; but thou excellest them all.

External beauty is not part of this portrait because it is a fading vanity and is not connected with happiness

Mona Lisa (1503-1506), Leonardo da Vinci

But why--it may be asked--do external recommendations form no part of this portrait? All that is described is solid excellence; and favour is deceitful. A graceful form and mien often end in disappointment, more bitter than words can tell. Often do they furnish a cover for the vilest corruptions. And then beauty--what a fading vanity it is!* One fit of sickness sweeps it away. (Ps. xxxix. 11.) Sorrow and care wither its charms. (Ib. vi. 7. P. T.) And even while it remains, it is little connected with happiness. It proves itself the fruitful occasion of trouble, the source of many hurtful temptations and snares; and, without substantial principle, to a well-judging mind it becomes an object of disgust rather than of attraction. (Chap. xi. 22.)

The virtuous woman fears the Lord and has lovely features



The Promulgation of the Law in Mount Sinai (1728)
Figures de la Bible, Gerard Hoet (1648–1733).

The portrait, here pencilled by divine inspiration, begins with the touch of a virtuous woman, and fills up the sketch with the lineaments of a woman, that feareth the Lord. (Verses 10, 30.) For the lovely features described--her fidelity to her husband, her active personal habits, her good management and diligence in her family, her consideration for the necessities and comforts of others, her watchfulness of conduct, her tenderness for the poor and afflicted, her kind and courteous behaviour to all--this completeness of character and grace could only flow from that virtue, which is identified with vital godliness. They are the good fruit, that "prove the tree to be good." (Matt. vii. 17.) They are such fruit, flowing from a right principle, as the natural corrupt stock of man could never produce.

The virtuous woman does not seek the praise of men and does not seek commendation for her pious labours but is praised for her good deeds



Visitation (1434-1435), from the St Vaast Altarpiece by Jacques Daret.

The virtuous woman seeks not the praise of men. Content to be known and loved within her own circle, she never presses herself into notice. But as a public blessing, she cannot be hid. (Acts, ix. 39.) And if she has no herald to sound her praise, all will say--Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her own works praise her in the gates. 'Let every one'--says Bishop Patrick (Bishop Symon Patrick (1626-1707))--'extol her virtue. Let her not want the just commendation of her pious labours. But while some are magnified for the nobleness of the stock, from whence they sprung; others for their fortune; others for their beauty; others for other things; let the good deeds, which she herself hath done, be publicly praised in the greatest assemblies; where, if all men should be silent, her own works will declare her excellent worth.' Add to this--as her works praise her in the gates, so will they "follow her. The memory of the just is blessed." (Rev. xiv. 13. Chap. x. 7.) All will see in her the light and lustre of a sound and practical profession; that the promises of godliness are the richest gain, the grace of God the best portion, and his favour the highest honour.

Religion does not slacken attention to temporal duties but renders you scrupulously exact in household obligations

Good Housekeeping is one of several periodicals related to homemaking.

If this picture be viewed as an exhibition of godliness, we observe that religion does not slacken attention to temporal duties. It rather renders a woman scrupulously exact in all her household obligations, in everything within her province; careful not by her negligence to bring reproach upon her holy profession. Why should she be careless or slovenly, putting her important duties out of time and out of place? Of her it is specially expected, as the summing up of all her practical exercises, that "she should have diligently followed every good work." (1 Tim. v. 10.)

Virtue, not vain beauty, should be the primary object as it leads to true happiness

Georgiana Seymour, Duchess of Somerset was crowned the 'Queen of Beauty' at the Eglinton Tournament of 1859, the first known beauty pageant.

How valuable also is this picture, as a directory for the marriage choice! Let virtue, not beauty, be the primary object. Set against the vanity of beauty the true happiness, connected with a woman that feareth the Lord. Here is the solid basis of happiness. 'If'--says Bp. Beveridge (Bishop William Beveridge (1637-1708))--'I choose her for her beauty, I shall love her no longer than while that continues; and then farewell at once both duty and delight. But if I love her for her virtues; then, though all other sandy foundations fail, yet will my happiness remain entire! (Beveridge, Resolution II) The external choice was the cause of the destruction of the world. (Gen. vi. 2-7.) A flood of iniquity came into a godly man's family from the self-pleasing delusion. (2 Chron. xviii. 1 ; xxi. 5, 6.) The godly choice is uniformly stamped with the seal of divine acceptance.

We should go to Scripure and determine what God wants us to do

Jephthah's daughter laments - Maciejowski Bible (France, ca. 1250)

In fine--'if women'--says pious Bishop Pilkington (James Pilkington (1520-1576))--'would learn what God will plague them for, and how; let them read the third chapter of the prophet Esay. And if they will learn what God willeth them to do, and be occupied withal, though they be of the best sort, let them read the last chapter of the Proverbs. It is enough to note it, and point it out to them that will learn.' That which is last to be done'--concludes an old Expositor—‘ is to mark it well and let every woman strive to make it agree to herself as much as she can. Let every man be ashamed, that any woman shall excel him in virtue and godliness.' (Michael Jermin or Jermyn (1591-1659))

'Thus--and once more'--says pious Matthew Henry (1662-1714), in his quaint style--'is shut up this looking-glass for ladies, which they are desired to open and dress themselves by; and if they do so, their adorning will I be found to praise, and honour, and glory, at the appearing of Jesus Christ.

Source: Bridges, Charles. A Commentary on Proverbs. New York/Pittsburgh: R. Carter, 1847, pages 626 to 629.

Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.

Proverbs 29:25

Fear of man will prove to be a snare,    
    but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.

The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe. (Marg. set on high.)

Charles Bridges, MA (1794-1869) was a preacher and theologian in the Church of England. Bridges explains:

Do not soften down, modify, or explain away unpopular doctrines.  Do not fear man.

The Yellow Christ (1889), Paul Gauguin
"The Minister faints under the cross; and to avoid it,
compromises the simplicity of the Gospel."

A snare brings a man into straits. He is not master of himself. Here Satan spreads the snare, and the fear of man drives into it. And a fearful snare it is, and ever hath been to thousands. Many, once entangled, have never escaped. It besets every step of the pathway to heaven, every sphere of obligation. The king turns aside from strict integrity. The judge wilfully pronounces an unrighteous sentence. The Minister faints under the cross; and to avoid it, compromises the simplicity of the Gospel. There is a timidity in acting out an unpopular doctrine. The people cannot bear the full light. The Sun of righteousness is therefore exhibited under a mist; but dimly visible; shorn of his glowing beams. The strictness of the precepts is unpalatable. It must therefore be softened down modified, or explained away. Or inconstancy of profession must be quietly dealt with, lest the good opinion of some influential man be forfeited. Such is the power of evil shame! Such low thoughts, not only of God, but of immortal souls, and usefulness to our fellow-sinners! This time-serving shews a manpleaser, not a true "servant of God" (Gal. i. 10), and brings a blast alike to his work and to his soul.

However evil it seems to others, serve the Lord.

Joshua commanding the sun to stand still (1816), John Martin
"As for me and, my house"-- however evil it may seem to others-- "we will serve the Lord." (Josh. xxiv. 15.)

The same deadly influence operates in families. Sometimes even parents shrink from the open protection of their child. (John, ix. 22.) They dare not avow a supreme regard to his primary interests, or profess in opposition to many around them, the Patriarch's godly determination--" As for me and, my house"--however evil it may seem to others--"we will serve the Lord." (Josh. xxiv. 15.)

People exhibit external idolatrous obedience to tyrants

The Adoration of the Golden Calf (1633), Nicolas Poussin

Every class of society exhibits this corrupt principle. Perhaps the highest are bound in the most abject and hopeless chains; and to their tyrant they seem to acknowledge a sort of conscience, or religious obedience. They will set at nought all religion without fear; but such submissive slaves are they to the omnipotency of fashion, that they would "tremble very exceedingly" at the suspicion of godliness attaching to them; thus "honouring" a vain idol above the Lord of heaven and earth. Many would be bold to front danger, who would shrink from shame. They would fearlessly face the cannon's mouth, and yet be panic-struck at the ridicule of a puny worm. Or even if some public excitement roused an impulse of boldness for religion, in the more quiet atmosphere there is a cold timidity of silence. They shrink from the bold consistency of a living witness. They are afraid of the stamp of singularity. They are satisfied with a meagre external decorum, with no spiritual character or privilege. All is heartless delusion.

The young are ashamed to be praying on their knees, to be known as readers of their Bibles

A Prayer for Those at Sea (1879), Frederick Daniel Hardy

 What--again, makes so many, specially among the young, ashamed to be found upon their knees; to be known as readers of their Bibles; to cast in their lot decidedly among the saints of God? They know the Christian to be on the right side; and oft is there a whisper of conscience--'Would that my soul were in his place!' But they have only half a mind to religion. The fear of man bringeth a snare. And therefore they ask--not' What ought I to do?' but, 'What will my friends think of me?' They cannot brave the finger of scorn. And if they seem for a while to be in earnest, 'their slavish fears' (as Bunyan well describes the case), overmaster them. They betake themselves to second thoughts--namely--that it is good to be wise, and not to run, for they knew not what, the hazard of losing all, or at least bringing themselves into unavoidable and unnecessary troubles.' They would rather writhe under their convictions, till they have worn themselves away, than welcome what Moses "esteemed greater riches than the treasures of Egypt--the reproach of Christ." (Heb. xi. 26.)

But how painful to see the children of God entangled in the snare! The father of the faithful twice denied his wife.' His son follows his weak example. "Aaron fashions the golden calf," "The man after God's own heart" sinks himself into the lowest degradation. Hezekiah, distinguished for his trust, gives way to his fear. The ardent disciple, even after the most solemn pledges to his Saviour, and after all act of great boldness in his defence, yields up his courage to a servant girl, and solemnly abjures his Lord. Oh! do we not hear the warning voice against "entrance into temptation--against the weakness of the flesh?"8 Let us run into our hiding-place, and cry--"Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe." (Ps. cxix. 117.) Humbling indeed is the contrast between the boldness of the servants of Satan and the timidity of the soldiers of Christ! Who of us has not cause of painful self-condemnation?

Exhibit godly fear of sin -- the pathway to heaven

Tableau de Johann Heinrich Füssli illustrant les Poèmes de William Cowper (1806-1807)
La Vertu appelant le jeune homme à s'arracher au péché
(Virtue is calling the young man to release himself from sin)

How different is this servile principle from the godly fear of sin which the wise man had lately marked as the substance of happiness! (Chap.. xxviii. 14.) That is a holy principle; this an inlet to sin. That is our keeping grace; this wounds our conscience, and seduces us also from our allegiance. 'By the fear of the Lord men depart from evil; by the fear of man they run themselves into evil.' The one is the pathway to heaven. (Chap. xix. 23.) The other, involving the denial of the Saviour, plunges its wretched slave into the lake of fire. (Mark, viii. 38. Rev. xxi. 8.)

Master your own lusts, passions and temptations


Venus and Adonis, Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640)

But even apart from this tremendous end, observe its weighty hindrance to Christian integrity. Indeed--as Mr. Scott most truly observes--'it is'--often at least--'the last victory the Christian gains. He will master, by that grace which is given of God, his own lusts and passions, and all manner of inward and outward temptations. He will be dead to the pleasures of the world, long before he has mastered this fear of man. "This kind of spirit goeth not out" but by a very spiritual and devout course of life.' The hindrance meets us at every turn, like a chain upon our wheels; so that, like the Egyptian chariots, they "drive heavily." (Exod. xiv. 25.) Oh! for a free deliverance from this principle of bondage; scarcely however to be expected, till we have been made to feel its power!

If you believe in God, you will not be daunted or hurt by the fury of the King or of the people.  Faith brings victory, liberty, safety, and exaltation.  Obey God rather than man

The Crucifixion of St. Peter, Caravaggio (1571-1610)

Thank God--there is a way of deliverance. Faith unbinds the soul from fear. If fear makes the giant tremble before the worm, trust in the Lord makes the worm stronger than the giant. Neither the fury of the King, or of the people; neither the fire, or the den of lions, daunts and hurts him that "believeth in his God." 'He that fears to flinch, shall never flinch from fear. Faith gives power to prayer. The strength from prayer makes us cheerful in obedience, and resolute in trial. Here is safety, strength, courage, peace. Nothing but faith gives the victory; but the victory of faith is complete. He only, who putteth his trust in the Lord, is prepared, when God and man are at contraries, to "obey God rather than man." (Acts, iv. 19.) A secret union with God is implanted in the soul by this faith; an union as righty, as it is secret; a sacred spring of life--the energy of God himself (Gal. ii. 20); triumphant therefore in the mightiest conflict with the flesh. The man, dependent on the world for happiness, is in bondage. The servant of God is in liberty. It matters not to him, whether the world smile or frown. He is safe, beyond its reach--set on high. Faith brings him to his strong tower. (Chap. xviii. 10.) There he is "kept by the power of God unto salvation." (1 Pet. i. 5.) Fear brings us into the snare. Faith brings liberty, safety, exaltation. Oh! thou God of power and grace, may my soul praise thee for this mighty deliverance, this joyous freedom! May I never be ashamed of my Master! May I be bound to his people, and glory in his cross! (Gal. vi. 14.)

Source: Bridges, Charles. A Commentary on Proverbs. New York/Pittsburgh: R. Carter, 1847, pages 584 to 587.

If every Word of God is pure, what is the Word of God? What is Scripture? Is tradition part of Scripture?

Proverbs 30:5-6

Every word of God is flawless;
    he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
Do not add to his words,    
    or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar.

Charles Bridges, MA (1794-1869) was a preacher and theologian in the Church of England. Bridges explains:

Every word of God is pure (purified, marg.): he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.

Do not learn by reading other so-called "religious" books.  Learn by reading the Holy Bible.

John Locke (1632 - 1704) was a an English philosopher and physician regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers and known as the "Father of Classical Liberalism".  He confessed that the Bible has, "God for its Author, it has truth without any mixture of error for its matter."

Nothing is learned solidly by abstract speculation. Go to the book. Here all is light and purity. Though "secret things belong to the Lord our God; yet the things that are revealed" are our holy directory. Everything is intended to influence the heart and conduct. (Deut. xxix. 29.) How unlike the sacred books of the heathen, or the sensual religion of Mahomet! Here is no license, or encouragement to sin, no connivance at it. All lurking sins, cherished in the dark cavern of pollution, are brought to light, and reproved. Every word of God is pure. Of what other book in the world can this be said? Where else is the gold found without alloy? The word is tried. (Heb.) It has stood the trial, and no dross has been found in it. 'Having God for its Author, it has truth without any mixture of error for its matter.' (John Locke (1632 - 1704)) "The words of the Lord are pure words, as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times."

The whole Scripture is Scripture, and "all Scripture is profitable."

But if every word of God is pure, take care that no word is slighted. How few range over the whole Revelation of God! To take a whole view of the universe, we should embrace not only the fruitful gardens, but its barren deserts, coming equally from the hand of God, and none of them made for nought. To take a similarly comprehensive view of the sacred field, we must study the apparently barren, as well as the more manifestly fruitful, portions. Meat will be gathered from the detailed code of laws, from the historical annals of the kings, and from the "wars and fightings"--the prolific results of "the lusts of men." (Jam. iv. 1.) The whole Scripture is Scripture, and "all Scripture is profitable." (2 Tim. iii. 16.)

Instead of becoming Christian, some become prophetic disciples, experimental religionists, practical, doctrinal, professors, or righteous

Snake handling at Pentecostal Church of God, Lejunior, Harlan County, Kentucky September 15, 1946.
(National Archives and Records Administration). Photo by Russell Lee.

Favouritism however is a besetting snare in the sacred study. A part is too often taken instead of the whole, or as if it were the whole. One is absorbed in the doctrinal, a second in the practical, a third in the prophetical, a fourth in the experimental, Scriptures; each seeming to forget, that every word of God is pure. Some clear defect in the integrity of profession proves unsoundness. The doctrinist becomes loose in practice; the practical professor self; righteous in principle. The prophetic disciple, absorbed in his imaginative atmosphere, neglects present obligations. The experimental religionist mistakes a religion of feeling, excitement, or fancy, for the sobriety and substantial fruitfulness of the gospel. All remind us of our Lord's rebuke--"Ye do err not knowing the Scriptures." (Matt. xxii. 29.)

To avoid heresy, bring out the whole mass of solid truth in all its bearings and glory --
the combined view and testimony of Scripture

The great exercise therefore is--to bring out the whole mass of solid truth in all its bearings and glory. So wisely has God linked together the several parts of his system, that we can receive no portion soundly, except in connexion with the whole. The accuracy of any view is more than suspicious, that serves to put a forced construction upon Scripture, to dislocate its connexion, or to throw important truths into the shade. Apparently contradictory statements are in fact only balancing truths; each correcting its opposite, and, like the antagonal muscles, contributing to the strength and completeness of the frame. Every heresy probably stands upon some insulated text or some exaggerated truth, pressed beyond "the proportion of faith." But none can stand upon the combined view and testimony of Scripture. Nor let it be sufficient, that our system includes no positive error, if some great truths be lacking. Let it be carefully grounded upon the acknowledgment-- Every word of God is pure. Some of us may err in presumptuous familiarity with Scripture; others in unworthy reserve. But If the heart be right, self-knowledge will develope the error, and self-discipline will correct it.

God is the Author of every particle of Scripture

John Owen (1616 – 1683) was an English Nonconformist church leader, theologian, and academic administrator at the University of Oxford.
"Upon whatsoever this title and inscription is--'The Word of Jehovah'-- there must we stoop, and bow down our souls before it, and captivate our understandings unto the obedience of faith.

Christian simplicity will teach us to receive every Divine Truth upon this formal ground--that it is the word of God. Though it is not all of equal importance; it will be regarded with equal reverence. We acknowledge implicitly God as the Author of every particle of Scripture, and that every word of God is pure. To reject therefore one 'jot or title is a sufficient demonstration,'--as Dr. Owen (John Owen (1616 - 1683)) admirably observes--'that no one jot or title of it is received as it ought. Upon whatsoever this title and inscription is--'The Word of Jehovah,-- there must we stoop, and bow down our souls before it, and captivate our understandings unto the obedience of faith.' (John Owen's Doctrine of the Saints' Perseverance published in 1654).

Do not look for a source other than the Bible


A painting of Abraham's departure by József Molnár.
"We may take its dictum with undoubting confidence, that he is a shield, as to Abraham of old (Gen. xv. 1),
so to Abraham's children, that put their trust in him."
 

This holy reverence is combined with trust in God. Blessed trust, which brings a shield of special favour over his trembling child! Sometimes indeed is Satan permitted to envelope him in darkness, and to picture, as it were, frightful transparencies upon his prison wall. What would he do in this time of terror, did he not find a shield and a covert in the bosom of his God? Yes--if the word of God be pure, it must be a sure ground of trust. We may take its dictum with undoubting confidence, that he is a shield, as to Abraham of old (Gen. xv. 1), so to Abraham's children, that put their trust in him. In all circumstances from within and from without--when I quake under the terrors of the law, in the hour of death, in the day of judgment--"Thou art my shield." (Ps. cxix. 114.) Nothing honours God, like this turning to him in every time of need. If there be rest, peaceful confidence, safe keeping, here it is. And where is it found beside? Despondency meets the poor deluded sinner, who looks for some other stay. And even the child of God traces his frequent want of protection to his feeble and uncertain, use of his Divine shield.

The Word of God is complete, perfect sufficient, and cannot deceive.  Do not add tradition


Portrait of John Henry Newman by John Everett Millais, 1881.
In 1845 Newman left the Church of England and was received into the Roman Catholic Church.
'Scripture is not the only ground of the faith' (NEWMAN'S Lectures on Roman, p. 369)
'Catholic tradition is a divine informant in religious matters.' (Ib. 329) 'the unwritten word' (Ib. 255)
'We agree with the Romanist in appealing to antiquity as our great teacher (Ib. 47.)
'These two (the Bible and Catholic tradition) together make up a joint rule (of faith). Ib. 327.
Obviously therefore, while the inspiration of Scripture may be admitted,
Tradition claims our equal reverence to its authority.

But the word of God is not only pure, and cannot deceive. It is also sufficient; and therefore, like tried gold, it needs no addition for its perfection. Hence to add to his words, stamped as they are with his Divine authority, will expose us to his tremendous reproof, and cover us with shame. The Jewish Church virtually added their oral law and written traditions. (Mark, vii. 7-13.) The Church of Rome is not less guilty, and as a church has been found a liar; adding to the inspired canon a mass of unwritten tradition, and apocryphal writings, with all their gross errors, and in despite of the clearest proof of their human origin. (Bridges refers the reader to Thomas Hartwell Horne (1780 - 1862)'s Digest of the Apocryphal Question in his three-volume Introduction to the Critical Study and Knowledge of the Holy Scriptures)  The attempt in our own day to bring tradition to a near, if not to an equal, level with the sacred testimony, is a fearful approach to this sinful presumption. A new rule of faith is thus introduced--an addition to the Divine rule, of co-ordinate authority (Bridges cites Cardinal John Henry Newman (1801 - 1890) who left the Church of England).

These additions of tradition are needless because Scripture is complete

Saint George and the Dragon (1505-1506) by Raphael.

The needlessness of this addition is obvious. For if "the holy Scriptures are able to make us wise unto salvation" (2 Tim. iii. 15), what want we more? And if this were spoken of the Old Testament Scriptures, the sufficiency of a part confirms the larger sufficiency of the whole, while it excludes all reference to any other sufficiency; just as the sufficiency of the early light for all practical purposes, while it precludes the necessity of the light of a candle, establishes the fuller advantage of the light of perfect day. If "Scripture be profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness;" if the man of God be perfected, and throughly furnished by it" (Ib. verses 16,17), what clearer demonstration can be given of its absolute completeness? To reflect therefore upon the integrity of this Divine rule of faith, and to shake confidence in its sole authority, is to bring in a false principle, the source of every evil and corruption of the faith.

The key question: What is, and what is not, the Word of God?



La Purisima Inmaculada Concepcion de Maria con Artista Ribera.
Por la gloria de la Iglesia Santa Romana Catolica.
The Blessed Virgin Mary is highly regarded in the Catholic Church, proclaiming her as Mother of God,
free from original sin and an intercessor.

Never indeed was it so important to clear from all question the momentous controversy--what is, what is not, the Word of God. The Lord has most carefully guarded his pure word from all human admixture. May he preserve his ministers from "teaching for doctrine the commandments of men;" saying, "The Lord hath said it, when he hath not spoken! "What a reverential awe, what godly jealousy, should they exercise, to add not to the pure word by the glosses of false interpretation; not to expound their own minds, instead of the mind of God!

Source: Bridges, Charles. A Commentary on Proverbs. New York/Pittsburgh: R. Carter, 1847, pages 592 to 595.