ARICLE IV.-DOCTRINAL THEOLOGY FOR CHRISTIAN PASTORS.*

BY REV. ALVAH HOVEY, D. D., PROF. IN NEWTON THEOLOGICAL INSTITUTION.

It is said by the Apostle, Ephesians iv:11, that Christ, having ascended up far above all heavens, gave to his people several kinds of office-bearers, and among them "pastors and teachers." These two words describe men holding one and the same office, but by an allusion to different aspects of their work. In other passages of the New Testament, they are called bishops or elders. Thus, in the twentieth chapter of the Acts, we are told that Paul sent from Miletus to Ephesus, and called the "elders of the church," while, in his address to these men, he denominates them "overseers," or bishops of the flock. It will be interesting to compare the words of his letter to the Ephesian Christians with his parting charge to their elders. "He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that He might fill all things. And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ; till we all come, in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." "Take heed, therefore, unto yourselves, and to all the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which He hath purchased with his own blood," etc.

It may be assumed that nearly all who are looking forward to the work of preaching the gospel in a Christian land, expect to do this in the pastoral office. And a large share of those who are called to enter the ministry will spend their days in such a land. They ought, *A Discourse preached before the New York Baptist Union for Ministerial Education, May 13, 1863, at Rochester.

therefore, to be qualified for the pastoral office; and to be qualified for this office they ought, according to the language of the Apostle which I have repeated, to be not only zealous and of ready speech, but also sound in the faith, well-instructed, and able rightly to divide the word of truth. As guides and teachers they should be enriched with knowledge, scribes ready in the law, prepared to instruct the people of God, to feed the flock of Christ with heavenly food. The treasures of sacred learning should be at their command; and whatever study may be necessary to secure this should be cheerfully undertaken. In the best sense of the expression, pastors should be learned as well as devout.

This position is still controverted by some of our brethren, and hence both duty and inclination lead me to offer a plea at the present time in favor of ministerial education. I cannot, however, discuss the topic in all its breadth, but must restrict myself to a part of the field; and it is natural for me to choose a part with which my daily thoughts are occupied. Yet this is not the chief reason which has led to the topic soon to be stated. For besides the objections which are still urged by certain persons to ministerial education in general, weighty considerations are sometimes said to lie against the study of doctrinal theology in particular. This part of a "regular course" is supposed, by not a few ministers and laymen, to turn away the mind from the oracles of God, to beget a philosophizing spirit, to form a cautious and negative habit of thinking, to quench the flame of Christian zeal, and to render the style dry, cold and tame. It has been thought to foster speculation, and open the door to heresy, tempting some to leave the solid ground and sail through the upper air—a grief to wise men and the admiration of fools. I have, therefore, deemed it suitable to lay before you at this time a few thoughts on the study of doctrinal theology in preparing for the pas toral office. These thoughts will afford, if not a formal, yet, I trust, a substantial answer to the charges just mentioned.

The course of study which I propose to justify, may be described as a patient and faithful endeavor to ascertain the principal doctrines of Christianity, and their relations in

Scripture and reason to one another. The word of God, like the natural world, gives one aspect of a truth here and another there, one relation of it in this passage and another in that, now picturing it to the eye in symbol, and then illustrating it in history; and the course of study to which I call your attention seeks, in the first place, to obtain a clear view of every separate aspect and relation of this truth; and in the second, to unite the different phases of it into one full-orbed doctrine; and lastly, to find the place of this doctrine in the great system of Christian truth, that all parts of the same may stand together before the mind in visible harmony, revealing the matchless wisdom of God. Such a course of study, even though the end which it contemplates be not fully reached, will do much to prepare him who takes it with a reverent spirit for the work of a Christian pastor. This statement may be vindicated by showing, 1st, That a knowledge of doctrinal theology is exceedingly desirable for pastors; a proposition which may be justified by the following considerations:

It meets a want of their rational nature, a deep-seated and universal desire, given with the reason itself and sanctioned by the creative act. When Consentius wrote to Augustine, laying down the position that in matters of religion "reason should not so much be consulted as rather the authority of holy men be followed," the bishop of Hippo replied: "Correct your position, not indeed by saying that you will repudiate faith, but that you will seek to see in the light of reason those truths which you now hold by the grasp of faith. Far be it from God to hate in us that by which He has made us to excel other creatures. Far be it from us to believe for the sake of not accepting or seeking a reason for the truth; since we could not even believe did we not possess rational souls.” And while he asserts that "faith has, as it were, eyes of its own, by which in a certain way it sees that to be true which it does not yet see," he distinctly affirms that "whoever now understands by true reason what he once merely believed, is surely in advance of him who is yet desiring to understand what he believes, and, still more, of him who is ignorant of the true office of faith, and does not even long to comprehend

those things which may be known." While he contends that faith ought many times to precede reason, he also shows that there must be a rational ground in every instance for this order. "If it is reasonable," he argues, "that as to certain great truths which we cannot yet compass, faith should anticipate reason, without doubt so much of reason as persuades us of this does itself go before faith."

In other words, man has a rational nature, made for the apprehension of truth as evidently as the lungs were made for the reception of air; and the possession of this nature by the proper act of God is warrant enough for its use and culture. Reason is not a disease of the soul brought on by apostacy. It was in man from the first, and took rank with his noblest faculties. Its health is no less essential to the proper life of the soul than health of the lungs is to the life of the body. But the aliment of sound reason is truth, and the higher its character, the purer its moral beauty, the more august its relations and offices, the better is it fitted to fill up the growing capacities of reason with light and power. For the Christian there is but one way to answer the cry of his rational nature, but one way to appease the hunger of his soul for knowledge. By the study of divine things, by a diligent inquiry after the vital truths of our holy religion, by a prayerful endeavor to obtain a distinct view of the Sun of righteousness with all the circling orbs of spiritual light which go to make up the system of Christian truth, and to ray out before an intelligent universe the glory of God, may he satisfy the just claims of a God-given reason without injury to faith; but in no other

way.

Let it also be remembered that, in the Christian, knowledge and faith are homogeneous and inseparable. It is no more possible for them to exist apart from each other, in the present life, than it is for a renewed soul to have faith without love, or love without faith. They pass into each other like the colors of the rainbow, and the presence of one proves the existence of the other. The point where faith ends and knowledge begins can never be fixed; for all warranted belief is grounded in moral reason or intuition, while

the clearest knowledge resting upon moral evidence is but faith strengthened into assurance. Hence, to believe God, and to know God, are almost equivalent expressions in the Bible.

And let it further be remembered, for it is an axiom, that related truths must belong to a system; they cannot stand apart in solitary grandeur, like the pillars of a ruined city; nor can they disagree and wage relentless war with each other; but by their very nature they must stand together, and each be stronger for the union. It is therefore impossible to comprehend any one of them without seeing its connection with the rest, and noting the points which unite it with other members of the system. The relations of doctrine must be studied in order to know the strength of the Christian edifice, or even the firmness of a single pillar in this spiritual temple. And so it comes to pass that an axiom of reason adds its voice to the claim and hunger of our rational nature in favor of doctrinal study.

Nor is it easy to resist their united influence. Indeed, we are permitted to acknowledge, with thanks to the Author of all good, that some, who scout systematic theology in word, honor it in action. A sound mind compels them to sanction in substance what a misconception leads them to condemn in name. They are borne on by the deep under-current of their rational nature to seek that very knowledge which they sincerely profess to shun. Hence, none better than they maintain the "form of sound words," or more distinctly than they see the sacred truth, which fills the form, and flashes through it and from it in beams of light. But whether all who decry a "knowledge of the doctrines" have secured, though unwittingly, any appreciable amount of this treasure, is a question which I forbear to press.

It appears from what has been said, that a knowledge of doctrinal theology is desirable for pastors, because it meets a great want of their rational nature.

But this is not all. Let us make a step in advance and say, that it meets a want of their moral nature. The Christian religion exalts the idea of duty. It proposes divine rectitude