CHAPTER I.

OF THE USE OF MATERIAL SYMBOLS IN RELIGIOUS WORSHIP.

IT is interesting to the thoughtful mind to notice the care manifested by the Great Ruler of all things to bring His creatures into close acquaintance with Himself; and equally consolatory is it to the true Christian to feel that his heavenly Father has adopted likely means to maintain a connection with his erring creatures. "He knoweth our frame, and remembereth that we are but dust," is not more true or plainly seen in the pardon of sins, or the compassionate oblivion of infirmities, than in the suitable provisions which has been made to prevent the former and remove the latter. The evil, it is true, is seated in the soul, and to the soul the remedy must be applied. But as faith is necessary for practice, and evidence for faith, so we have mercifully provided for our senses certain representations of the unseen spiritualities with which is our chief concern, and, at the same time, "means whereby we receive the same, and pledges to assure us thereof." This is the use of all external symbols in religious worship, and we will briefly consider their nature and their use.

It is not to be supposed that we can ever arrive at any certain conclusion, as to the connection of the end with the means, in any religious ordinances. In all matters of such sort, far more blessed is he who can act because it is commanded, leaving the result to God, than he who will not believe till he has enquired, and pushes his enquiries till he thinks he understands all. Such an one has his faith suspended upon his investigations, instead of upon God's revelation and promises; and the no uncommon result of such a state of mind as this, is eternal instability

and the dissatisfaction of doubts, if not at length confirmed scepticism.

But if evils lie in the way of enquiry, and at last a gulph too broad to be overpassed, and too deep and dark to be scanned, there is much of evil on the other side in unenquiring ignorance and uninformed belief. Enlightened conviction is the most satisfactory basis for faith, both as regards the comfort of the possessor, and the stability of his principles.

There have ever been some differences of opinion, amongst even the wise and good, as to the value and importance to be attached to the use of symbols. It is hardly to be expected that, wherever we find the use of them recorded in God's word, it should be without effect, or without producing the full effect intended. But this is by no means to be assumed as the invariable result when used by inferior hands. In the case of divine interposition, the subject is always a fit one; or the blessing would not be bestowed, nor the external symbol, which is only an outward and visible sign of the boon, whether temporal or spiritual, be used. It is not wise, therefore, to argue from scriptural precedent in this matter, if such exists, to the same result in all cases whatsoever.

Now, while there is no lack of instances* in the Old and New Testament, wherein the medium of a sensible object is made use of; yet we can, perhaps, find no one in which there was any virtue in the symbol, or medium which would a priori, have suggested its use as appropriate; i.e., there was nothing of virtue or power manifestly, or even presumptively, inherent in the visible instrument itself. Thus, it would appear that that which brought death into the world and all our woe, viz., the eating of a fruit,

* I quite agree with Alexander Knox (from whom the substance of much of this chapter has been taken), when he says, "With respect to the Old Testament, I believe it may be asserted, that wherever a divine benefit, or blessing, whether to individuals, or to the whole people, was of such a nature as suitably to admit the intervention of a sensible instrument or medium,-something bearing that character in itself, perhaps, of the humblest nature, was almost uniformly employed. To particularise the various instances would be to transcribe a large portion of the sacred history."-Knox's "Doctrine of the Sacraments."

would have been the means of securing immortality, or of perpetuating it, if man's destiny had been of a happier cast; and the whole scheme of Judaism, as has been before remarked, was one of pictorial representation and of material media. The following extract, from the author above referred to, will give us, in as few words as well may be, a general view of the whole case :-" When, in the great progressive scheme of divine beneficence, Moses was commissioned to work miracles, he was not directed to perform them merely by a word. The shepherd's rod, which, at the moment of the divine call, he had in his hand, was from thence to be, not only the ensign, but the instrument of the power with which he was endued. "Thou shalt take this rod,' said Jehovah, in thy hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs. We accordingly find it afterward denominated the rod of God; and the numerous instances in which it was used, are so many exemplifications of Omnipotence acting through a material medium. There was a profound fitness in this mode of proceeding, else it would not have been adopted. It obviously gave a palpability to the divine interposition, which accommodated it, with peculiar aptitude, to the complex nature of man; while the simplicity of the means evinced the unseen agency by which the effect was accomplished. "" We may also observe, that not only where miraculous acts were to be performed, but even where settled purposes were to be notified, and habitual impressions produced, sensible expedients were equally employed Thus, to give sustenance, through the bodily senses, to the faith and devotion of the heart, the pillar of cloud by day, and of fire by night, accompanied the children of Israel through the wilderness; and thus, when that miraculous token of the divine presence ceased to appear, the ark of the covenant, to which it had been used to attach itself, and which was thereby sealed as the perpetual symbol of God's special residence, became the point of inexpressible attraction to every true Israelite, as the place where God was infallibly to be found, and from whence mercy and goodness were sure to flow forth upon every faithful worshipper.

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The depth of this feeling might be illustrated by numerous examples. The care which God was pleased to take for its confirmation and continuance, at the consecration of Solomon's temple, by the reappearance of the same divine cloud attaching itself to the same ark, in proof that the same presence would reside in the new mansion, unspeakably evinced the value of such a support to faith, and such an excitement to devotion. Its actual influence on minds the most capable of appreciating it, is mani-· fested in the case of Daniel; who so venerated and loved even the desolated spot which had been thus distinguished, that, in defiance of the king of Babylon's edict, he persevered in praying, as he had been wont, three times a day, 'his window being open, in his chamber, toward Jerusalem.'

"It will hardly be said, that the eyes of pious Israelites were directed to the ark, as the pledge and symbol of providential, rather than of strictly spiritual blessings. An expectation of these latter is continually expressed in the devotional language of the Old Testament; and it is everywhere evident that, in the inmost concerns of the heart, access to God was facilitated, reliance on God strengthened, and fixedness and concentration of mind secured and heightened, by the settled assurance of his speciallypresent Majesty.

"But it particularly pertains to the main question to remark, that amongst extraordinary effects produced in the Old Testament times, through material instruments, those of a strictly mental and spiritual nature are not wholly wanting. One instance, at least, of this kind is found in the impression on the mind of Elisha, through the touch of Elijah's mantle. Elijah had been directed to appoint Elisha his successor in the prophetic office. It may, therefore, be concluded, that the general dispositions of the latter fitted him for such a distinction; but he himself seems, at the moment, to have had no apprehension of what awaited him, as he was busily occupied in agricultural labour; but as soon as Elijah cast his mantle upon him, he is drawn as if by irresistible attraction, and only wishes to have time for bidding his father's house