I. THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT, WITH THE PARALLEL PASSAGES IN ST. LUKE’S GOSPEL. II. THE TEN COMMANDMENTS FOR CHRISTIANS. III. THE DUTY OF THE CHURCH WITH REGARD TO DIVORCE. APPENDIX I | THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT | PARALLEL PASSAGES FROM ST. LUKE.89 | | AND seeing the multitudes, he went up into the mountain: and when he had sat down, his disciples came unto him: and he opened his mouth and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are they that have been persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye when men shall reproach you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. | St.Luke vi.20–49. And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed are ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh. Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake. Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy: for behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the same manner did their fathers unto the prophets. But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation. Woe unto you, ye that are full now! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you, ye that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep. Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for in the same manner did their fathers to the false prophets. | | Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost its savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and trodden under foot of men. Ye are the light of the world. Acity set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a lamp, and put it under the bushel, but on the stand; and it shineth unto all that are in the house. Even so let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. | xiv. 34, 35. Salt therefore is good: but if even the salt have lost its savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned? It is fit neither for the land nor for the dunghill: men cast it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. | | Think not that Icame to destroy the law or the prophets: Icame not to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily Isay unto you, Till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass away from the law, till all things be accomplished. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For Isay unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven. | St.Luke xi.33. No man, when he hath lighted a lamp, putteth it in a cellar, neither under the bushel, but on the stand, that they which enter it may see the light. xvi. 17. But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away, than for one tittle of the law to fall. | | Ye have heard that it was said to them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgement: but Isay unto you, that every one who is angry with his brother shall be in danger of the judgement; and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council; and whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of the hell of fire. If therefore thou art offering thy gift at the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee, leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way, first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art with him in the way; lest haply the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. Verily Isay unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou have paid the last farthing. | xii. 58, 59. For as thou art going with thine adversary before the magistrate, on the way give diligence to be quit of him; lest haply he hale thee unto the judge, and the judge shall deliver thee to the officer, and the officer shall cast thee into prison. Isay unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou have paid the very last mite. | | Ye have heard that it was said, Thou shalt not commit adultery: but Isay unto you, that every one that looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. And if thy right eye causeth thee to stumble, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not thy whole body be cast into hell. And if thy right hand causeth thee to stumble, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not thy whole body go into hell. It was said also, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: but Isay unto you, that every one that putteth away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, maketh her an adulteress: and whosoever shall marry her when she is put away committeth adultery. | St.Mark ix. 43–48. And if thy hand cause thee to stumble, cut it off: it is good for thee to enter into life maimed, rather than having thy two hands to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire. And if thy foot cause thee to stumble, cut it off: it is good for thee to enter into life halt, rather than having thy two feet to be cast into hell. And if thine eye cause thee to stumble, cast it out: it is good for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell; where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. | | Again, ye have heard that it was said to them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths: but Isay unto you, Swear not at all; neither by the heaven, for it is the throne of God; nor by the earth, for it is the footstool of his feet; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, for thou canst not make one hair white or black. But let your speech be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: and whatsoever is more than these is of the evil one. | St.Luke xvi. 18. Every one that putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and he that marrieth one that is put away from a husband committeth adultery. | | Ye have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: but Isay unto you, Resist not him that is evil: but whosoever smiteth thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man would go to law with thee, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go one mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. | | Ye have heard that it was said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy: but Isay unto you, Love your enemies, and pray for them that persecute you; that ye may be sons of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust. For if ye love them that love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the Gentiles the same? Ye therefore shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Take heed that ye do not your righteousness before men, to be seen of them: else ye have no reward with your Father which is in heaven. When therefore thou doest alms, sound not a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily Isay unto you, They have received their reward. But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: that thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret shall recompense thee. | vi. 27–36. But Isay unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you, bless them that curse you, pray for them that despitefully use you. To him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and from him that taketh away thy cloke withhold not thy coat also. Give to every one that asketh thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again. And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise. And if ye love them that love you, what thank have ye? for even sinners love those that love them. And if ye do good to them that do good to you, what thank have ye? for even sinners do the same. And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? even sinners lend to sinners, to receive again as much. But love your enemies, and do them good, and lend, never despairing; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be sons of the Most High: for he is kind toward the unthankful and evil. Be ye merciful, even as your Father is merciful. | | And when ye pray, ye shall not be as the hypocrites: for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily Isay unto you, They have received their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thine inner chamber, and having shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret, and thy Father which seeth in secret shall recompense thee. And in praying use not vain repetitions, as the Gentiles do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him. After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. | St.Luke xi. 1–4. And it came to pass, as he was praying in a certain place, that when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, even as John also taught his disciples. And he said unto them, When ye pray say, Father, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins; for we ourselves also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And bring us not into temptation. | | Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may be seen of men to fast. Verily Isay unto you, They have received their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thy head, and wash thy face; that thou be not seen of men to fast, but of thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall recompense thee. | | Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust doth consume, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth consume, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: for where thy treasure is, there will thy heart be also. The lamp of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is the darkness! No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore Isay unto you, Be not anxious for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than the food, and the body than the raiment? Behold the birds of the heaven, that they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not ye of much more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit unto his stature? And why are ye anxious concerning raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: yet Isay unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God doth so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, Oye of little faith? Be not therefore anxious, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the Gentiles seek; for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first his kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Be not therefore anxious for the morrow: for the morrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. | St.Luke xi. 34–36. The lamp of the body is thine eye: when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when it is evil, thy body also is full of darkness. Look therefore whether the light that is in thee be not darkness. If therefore thy whole body be full of light, having no part dark, it shall be wholly full of light, as when the lamp with its bright shining doth give thee light. xvi. 13. No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. xii. 22–34. Therefore I say unto you, Be not anxious for your life, what ye shall eat; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. For the life is more than the food, and the body than the raiment. Consider the ravens, that they sow not, neither reap; which have no store-chamber nor barn; and God feedeth them: of how much more value are ye than the birds! And which of you by being anxious can add a cubit unto his stature? If then ye are not able to do even that which is least, why are ye anxious concerning the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they toil not, neither do they spin; yet Isay unto you, Even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God doth so clothe the grass in the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven; how much more shall he clothe you, Oye of little faith? And seek not ye what ye shall eat, and what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: but your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. Howbeit seek ye his kingdom, and these things shall be added unto you. Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell that ye have, and give alms; make for yourselves purses which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief draweth near, nor moth destroyeth. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. | | Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgement ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured unto you. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me cast out the mote out of thine eye; and lo, the beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye. Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast your pearls before the swine, lest haply they trample them under their feet, and turn and rend you. | St.Luke vi. 37–42. And judge not, and ye shall not be judged: and condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: release, and ye shall be released: give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, shall they give into your bosom. For with what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you again. And he spake also a parable unto them, Can the blind guide the blind? shall they not both fall into a pit? The disciple is not above his master: but every one when he is perfected shall be as his master. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me cast out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote that is in thy brother’s eye. | | Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, who, if his son shall ask him for a loaf, will give him a stone; or if he shall ask for a fish, will give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? All things therefore whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, even so do ye also unto them: for this is the law and the prophets. | St.Luke xi. 9–13. And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. And of which of you that is a father shall his son ask a loaf, and he give him a stone? or a fish, and he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he give him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? | | Enter ye in by the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many be they that enter in thereby. For narrow is the gate, and straitened the way, that leadeth unto life, and few be they that find it. | xiii. 24–27. Strive to enter in by the narrow door: for many, Isay unto you, shall seek to enter in, and shall not be able. When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, open to us; and he shall answer and say to you, Iknow you not whence ye are; then shall ye begin to say, We did eat and drink in thy presence, and thou didst teach in our streets; and he shall say, Itell you, Iknow not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity. | | Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves. By their fruits ye shall know them. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but the corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. Agood tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Therefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy by thy name, and by thy name cast out devils, and by thy name do many mighty works? And then will Iprofess unto them, Inever knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Every one therefore which heareth these words of mine, and doeth them, shall be likened unto a wise man, which built his house upon the rock: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon the rock. And every one that heareth these words of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and smote upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall thereof. And it came to pass, when Jesus ended these words, the multitudes were astonished at his teaching: for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes. And when he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him. | vi. 43–49. For there is no good tree that bringeth forth corrupt fruit; nor again a corrupt tree that bringeth forth good fruit. For each tree is known by its own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. The good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth that which is evil: for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh. And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which Isay? Every one that cometh unto me, and heareth my words, and doeth them, Iwill show you to whom he is like: he is like a man building a house, who digged and went deep, and laid a foundation upon the rock: and when a flood arose, the stream brake against that house, and could not shake it: because it had been well builded. But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that built a house upon the earth without a foundation; against which the stream brake, and straightway it fell in; and the ruin of that house was great. | APPENDIX II
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS FOR CHRISTIANS IT has been noticed above in the exposition of St.Matt. v.21–48 that different moral principles are brought out by our Lord in His treatment of the different commandments. Thus in His treatment of CommandmentVI (vv. 21–24) the moral requirement is deepened in its application below the act to the words of the lips and the thoughts of the heart. In the treatment of CommandmentVII, not only is the outward scope of the sin of adultery enlarged by a stricter law of marriage (vv. 31–32), but also the deliberate intention of sin is shown to be, without proceeding further, the moral equivalent of the outward act of sin90 (vv. 27–28); from the recognition of which principle there follows the need of an augmented moral discipline (vv. 29–30). In the treatment of CommandmentIII, starting from the prohibition to violate any oath made in the name of Jehovah (v. 33), our Lord augments the prohibition by forbidding oaths generally (vv. 34–36), and turns the requirement from the negative to the positive and from the occasional to the universal (v. 37), by simply enjoining truthfulness or sincerity in all utterances. In His treatment of the prohibition of unrestricted revenge (vv. 38–42), and the principle of limited love (vv. 43–48), the same two principles emerge—the transition from negation or prohibition of evil to injunction of positive good, and from the partial or limited duty to the universal and perfect. These principles admit of general application to each of the commandments. Thus— I. Thou shalt have none other gods before [or beside] me. Whatever be the original limitation of this precept, it becomes, and indeed in the teaching of psalmist and prophet which prepared for the Christ had already become, a universal injunction upon men to recognize the one true God in every faculty of their being, in every act and moment of their lives. “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart (or will), with all thy soul (i.e. with thy whole sum of faculties), with all thy mind (or intelligence), and with all thy strength (i.e. with a vigorous and active service).” This includes (1)the recognition of God’s supremacy and fatherhood; the putting Him first in all things; the acknowledgement that our life with all its faculties is a trust to be made the best of, for His honour: (2)humility, considered as the recognition that we are utterly dependent upon God; that our only wisdom and happiness lie in correspondence with Him; that any claim of independence of God, or vanity on account of His gifts entrusted to us, is not only wickedness but folly:91 (3)the glad acceptance of His disclosure of Himself as Father, Son, and Spirit; the acknowledgement and public confession of His name both in speech, conduct and worship. II. Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image, etc. This negative commandment becomes the positive injunction to worship God aright, as He has revealed Himself to us, “in spirit and in truth”; or in other words, according to the spirit of the Lord’s Prayer and of the Eucharist, which are of Christ’s institution; or in the spirit of His own worship. This involves earnestness and effort of will in prayer: reasonable method, and use of the body with its faculties or instruments: the action of the intelligence meditating on the word of God so that we may have right ideas about God: systematic prayer for others—the Church, humanity, various classes and individuals—as well as for ourselves: public prayer and private: adoration and thanksgiving, as well as making requests—i.e. a life of worship of which the two hinges are the Eucharist (St.Luke xxii.19) and secret prayer (St.Matt. vi.6). This positive injunction involves negatives. Thus though the old prohibition to make any visible representation of God is modified by His incarnation, it still remains a duty which the Church has often neglected to guard against idolatry. It is idolatry to let our worship (1)be directed towards persons lower than God, as mediators, because they seem easier to approach and less awful; or (2)rest upon circumscribed objects so as to imperil the omnipresence of God; or (3)be moulded by false conceptions of God, as when the worth of prayer is estimated by the place where it is offered, or by some measure of length, contrary to the principles expressed in St.John iv.21ff., St.Matt. vi.7. III. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. This limited prohibition of perjury becomes the positive and universal injunction of truthfulness, i.e. the injunction to live and therefore to speak as in God’s presence, so that our words represent the reality, so far as we can know it, whether those words be promises, or statements (a) personal, (b) historical or scientific. This duty of truthfulness extends into all regions of life, political, commercial, controversial, as well as the private and domestic sphere, i.e. we are never justified in deceiving others for our own interest or that of our Church or party.92 This commandment, as deepened by our Lord, also prohibits all other kinds of speech which by their character ignore the reverence we owe to an omnipresent God, i.e. blasphemous or unmeaning oaths and expressions derogatory to God’s honour, irreverent or “foolish talking and jesting which are not convenient,” etc. IV. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is a sabbath unto the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. This commandment lays down three laws for human life. 1. The law of work, which—though the kinds of work are various, as of body, mind, character, spirit, suffering—lies upon all men alike. “If any man will not work, neither let him eat.” 2. The law of rest, like God’s rest. God works, as in creation, redemption, the establishment of the kingdom; and then rests in contemplation of His finished work; see Gen. i.31, Matt. iii.17, Rev. xxi.2: or, as otherwise stated by our Lord (St.John v.17), God works continually and yet rests in working, as is exemplified in our Lord “semper agens, semper quietus.” Thus man is to share God’s rest, by resting in God (Ps. cxxvii), and the sabbath was intended to help to this end. The sabbath however was a day of rest from physical labour, which only secondarily became a day of worship. The Christian Lord’s day, on the other hand, was originally a day of worship, which became secondarily a day of rest from labour. The primary object of Sunday is that men by taking time and thought for worship should learn the true rest, which is rest in God. The secondary object is that all men equally should have the opportunity for physical rest and recreation. All questions as to Sunday observance are to be judged by their relation to those two objects in their right order. 3. The law of fellowship. This fellowship of all men (and even of men with beasts) is developed in the New Testament into the principle that each man has a right to equal consideration, that each man counts for one, and nobody for more than one. Cp. above, p.182. V. Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. By this “commandment with promise” honour to parents, which is the principle of family life, is made also the basis of national prosperity (cf. Deut. v.16). It is enlarged in all the “wise sayings” of the Book of Proverbs about family life. It receives its completion in the principle of mutual duty between parents and children, husbands and wives, masters and servants, which are enunciated in such passages as Eph. v.22–vi.9; Col. iii.18–iv.1. It receives a natural extension, so as to include the whole principle of mutual subordination in Church and State: cf. Hebr. xiii.17; Rom. xiii; 1Pet. ii.13–iii.7. It involves towards the Church the duty, not only of loyal obedience, but of generous support. “Give to thy mother what thou wouldst allow to ev’ry corporation.” VI. Thou shalt do no murder. This commandment is developed by our Lord so as to prohibit hatred or contempt in thought and word as well as in deed. Translated from the negative into the positive it becomes an injunction to do all that lies in one’s power to promote the life of others, physically and spiritually—to “love thy neighbour as thyself”—and to do this with a good will even towards enemies. VII. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Our Lord deals with this commandment partly by an increased strictness with regard to the marriage law which brings under the head of adultery a number of remarriages after divorce hitherto tolerated under the Jewish system; partly by making the indulged intention to sin equally guilty with the sin itself. On another occasion our Lord gives “adulteries, fornications, lasciviousness,” a conspicuous place among the sins which “proceed out of the heart” or “from within,” as though to emphasize the necessity in regard to this class of sins in particular of cleansing the inner springs of action and feeling. If we make the injunction positive and general instead of negative and partial, we arrive at the “law of liberty,” the duty of subordinating the flesh to the spirit, in respect of eating and drinking, as well as of the sexual passions; and the necessity of self-discipline or fasting as a means to that end (see above, pp. 120 f.). VIII. Thou shalt not steal, converted from the negative into the positive, becomes “Thou shalt labour, working with thine hands the thing that is good, that thou mayest have to give to him that needeth.”93 It is, in another form, the loving one’s neighbour as oneself: the having the same care for his goods as for one’s own: the same anxiety that he should have proper wages for labour as oneself. From the Christian point of view this commandment is broken, not only by stealing in the ordinary sense, but also (1)by fraudulent dealings in business or trade, whereby our fellow man receives for money given something less, or other, than he had a right to expect: (2)by “sweating” or requiring others to work for inadequate wages: (3)by giving or receiving bribes or, in other ways, defrauding an employer of the best service of the employed: (4)by expecting others to work for us without doing our own fair share of work: (5)by neglecting or inadequately performing the duty of almsgiving. And in our generation we specially need reminding that association in “companies” leaves the moral responsibility for commercial dealings still resting on each member of the company, at least in the form of a duty to vote for directors who will have righteousness in view: to discountenance all unrighteousness as far as possible: to refuse gains for unrighteous dealing, when known. In all cases the Christian must prefer to suffer wrong rather than to do it. IX. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. This commandment, converted from the negative—the prohibition of wilful slander—to the positive, becomes an injunction to make the law of love the motive of all our speech, with as tender a regard to others’ reputation as to our own. We may have to speak painful truth against others, to rebuke, to accuse, to punish, etc., but the motive of all speech is to be a deliberate good will. X. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, etc. The ten commandments, as has been remarked, began and ended with an injunction bearing not upon the outward conduct, but upon the heart. This one affords no discouragement to our vital instinct of making the best of ourselves, but it bids us have regard to what we can ascertain of the divine intention for ourselves. We are to realize God’s purpose for us, and to desire that every one else should do the same. Thus this commandment prohibits envy or jealousy at another’s success or abilities: discontent with what God has allowed us: ambition properly so called, i.e. the desire to compass greatness, without regard to the will of God. The New Testament even tends to make us personally prefer the humbler to the higher place, and obedience to authority. But, on the other hand, it says all that is possible to encourage a “divine discontent” with the disorder of the world, which is the work of evil wills resisting the will of God, that sort of discontent which makes a man a fellow-worker with Christ for the realization of the kingdom of heaven.
I have thought this analysis of the ten commandments in their deepest principles, inadequate as it is, might be worth making, partly because Icannot feel altogether satisfied with such as are commonly current,94 partly because the attempt to make such an analysis deepens in my own mind the conviction that if the ten commandments were not—as our Lord teaches us they were not—perfect, they were none the less, in the truest sense, “the word of God,” for the moral education of His chosen people, and through them of the human race. Their principles are extraordinarily complete and suggestive, and there is no early moral legislation which seems to me to be even comparable to them. ABOVE, in the text of the exposition, it has been maintained (1)that Christ, by a distinct act of legislation, prohibited divorce among His disciples in such sense as allows of remarriage, except in the case of the adultery of one of the parties, in which case He did not prohibit it; but (2)that the Church law and tradition in England, as in the whole Western Church, maintains the absolute indissolubility of the marriage tie. Both propositions, however, are denied, and it is necessary to make some remarks upon the respective denials. 1. The present tendency of those who deny that Christ’s words, as repeated on two occasions in St.Matthew’s Gospel, allow the remarriage of the innocent party after divorce for adultery is—abandoning with good cause the older arguments (1)that p???e?a only applies to prenuptial sin: (2)that the words as quoted in St.Matthew were only intended to apply to the Jews—to lay stress upon the uncertainty of the text in St.Matt. xix where the words occur “and shall marry another.” To this it may be replied (i) that it is strange to find people not generally recognized as very advanced textual critics going, in this single case, further than even Dr.Hort ventured to go, in maintaining the textual authority of the Vatican manuscript, which alone among the great uncials omits the clause; (ii) that it would appear sufficiently obvious that the variation of the text in this passage is due to assimilation to the similar passage in chapterv; (iii) that it is not time to deprive people of the right to appeal to an accepted text until some trustworthy editors have been found to venture to remove it from its place; (iv) that the sense remains the same in any case. For the text, as given in chapterv, or in chapterxix with the words “and shall marry another” omitted, yet carries the liberty to do so, see text given above, pp.72,73. Divorce, as understood by the Jews, meant divorce a vinculo, i.e. divorce with liberty of remarriage. Is any sane man prepared to say that divorce, in the sense of separation of a wife from bed and board, without liberty of remarriage, is only permissible to a Christian when the wife has been adulterous? I do not think then that the obvious force of the passages in St.Matthew can be dissolved. 2. On the other hand, admitting all that can be said as to the difficulty, which is due to the historical relation of Church and State in England, of saying what is Church law pure and simple, it does seem to me that the Western law of divorce, as distinct from the Eastern, was accepted by the English Church and not only never repudiated, but at least assumed to be permanent in the Post-Reformation Canons. What has happened since then is (1)that the opinion of a great number of the best English divines and commentators on St.Matthew has been expressed in favour of allowing the remarriage of the “innocent party” after a divorce for adultery; (2)that the Lambeth Conference of 1888 allowed such remarriage; (3)that statute law in England has recently allowed the remarriage of both innocent and guilty party. But the Lambeth Conference only expresses the opinion (however weighty) of a gathering of Anglican bishops. It cannot legislate for the Church of England. And the legislation which has taken place is purely civil legislation made from a civil point of view and going beyond what the Lambeth Conference would allow. And on such a matter as marriage which lies at the heart of our religious life it seems quite unreasonable to ask Christian people to accept this, as authority sufficient to upset an ancient practice of the Church. Granted then (1)that Christ did not prohibit95 the remarriage of an innocent party after a divorce for adultery, (2)that the unaltered Church law of England does prohibit it, it seems to me that the best course is not, at least in the present state of Church feeling, to alter the Church law on the matter, up to the point which Christ allows, by getting leave for Convocation to make a new Canon—though this would be a course to which no one could take just exception—but to retain and observe the Church law, allowing no remarriage with the rites of the Church, but simply leaving it to bishops to act on the decision of the Lambeth Conference as far as admission to communion is concerned. This refusal to allow remarriage in churches may involve some collision with statute law till an equitable concession to our principles is accorded. But the difficulty is not greater than has been overcome by a little resolution in the case of the Public Worship Regulation Act. If in the process of the controversy the institution of compulsory civil marriage here in England, with the same publicity as in most foreign countries, to be followed by a voluntary religious ceremony, becomes a more likely event, there would be a good many Churchmen who would not regret it. As regards the allowance of remarriage to the innocent party after a divorce for adultery, it is sometimes pointed out that it is only explicitly allowed by our Lord to the innocent husband. But it is, Isubmit, at least competent to the Church to interpret this in the more lenient sense as extending to the aggrieved wife also. It is more often urged that it is illogical to forbid to the guilty party what is allowed to the innocent—that if declared adultery dissolves the marriage tie for either, it does so for both. To this Ishould only reply that our Lord appears on the matter to be legislating rather than laying down a principle. His legislation covers the one exception but not (with any degree of clearness) the other. He appears to be sanctioning in the case of an innocent and deeply aggrieved person a dispensation which violates the logic of the marriage tie on grounds of equity: but this carries with it no necessary consequence of a similar dispensation in favour of the chief offender. |
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