ADVERTISEMENT. THESE Lectures were delivered to a small Class of Students in our Working Men's College at eight o'clock on Sunday mornings. I have not scrupled to tell this Class that I consider the question whether there is a foundation for human morality—or whether it is dependent upon the opinions and fashions of different ages and countries, to be the question in which, as a body and as individuals, we are most interested; the question which most affects our studies and our daily lives. And I have told them also where I find the answer to that question. But I have never used the plural pronoun; I have not assumed to speak except in my own person; and I should be very sorry if my colleagues-no one of whom has heard or read any of these Lectures-were held responsible for the sentiments contained in them. Any Manuals which they may hereafter publish for the use of the Students in their own departments will embody the results of their thought and experience. The present Volume does not profess to be a Manual of Christian Ethics, composed by me. St. John supplies the Manual which I wish my pupils to use; if they study him they will soon discover the feebleness and insufficiency of his interpreter. TUNBRIDGE WELLS, Sept. 14th, 1857. CONTENTS. LECTURE I. INTRODUCTORY. Meaning of the words Ethics and Morals-Whether Christian Ethics and Human Ethics are the same-The Ethics of Aristotle-Their great excellence and utility-They refer all morals to life-Exclusion of theology from the Aristotelian Ethics-They are not Ethics for all men-How Aristotle compels one to ask for that which he does not give-Whether the Scriptures supply what we are in search of-The most perfect book, which is merely a book, cannot supply it— The Bible professes to set forth a Life-Its method as a history considered-St. John gives us the result of its discoveries-The first verse of his Epistle tells us of a human Life-It tells us also of a divine Life . PAGY 1-18 LECTURE II. THE GROUND OF CHRISTIAN ETHICS. What doubts must have arisen in the minds of Christians when they LECTURE III. LIGHT AND DARKNESS: SIN AND PURIFICATION. Use of language drawn from the senses-Its superiority to abstract language Special fitness of the words Light and Darkness in a letter addressed to the Ephesians--The God of Light-How a Jew regarded the worship of Sun and Moon-Christ the Light of PAGE Men-Light enjoyed, not appropriated-What the Apostles said to the worshippers of Light-Connexion of Darkness with Falsehood -Light social; Darkness separating-How we discover the nature of SIN-Cognate words-Sense of Sin awakened by the messaş e that God is Light-Strong in proportion to the strength of that message-Demand for purification-What the purification must reach-The purifying Blood-The Confession of Sin-God's justice St. John and his little children-How the phrase is connected with the business of the letter-The Family-Heathen and Jewish notions of an Advocate-A deeper feeling discoverable at the root of these notions in each-The Representative of the Family -The Representative of Man-Force of St. John's expression, for the whole world'-Heathen and Jewish idea of Propitiation-Deeper feeling latent beneath these notions-How that feeling was brought out in the Jew by his education --St. John's doctrine of a Universal Propitiation-How it redeems Prayer from a false and superstitious The story of the young Ruler in the Gospels-Eternal Life connected with keeping the Commandments-Expression, We do know that we know Him,' illustrated-How we know that we know a man--- Knowledge of God treated by the Apostle as more possible than the knowledge of Men, and as the ground of it-The word keep' illus- trated-Use of a 'keepsake'-Application to the Ten Command- ments-How a Jew could 'keep' each of them-GOD: The Deliverer, Idols, The Name, Rest and Work, Honour of Parents, Murder, Adultery, Stealing, False Witness, Covetousness-St. Paul's lan- guage respecting the Commandments on stone-How he was led to use it-Perfectly consistent with St. John's-The initiated or per- fect man according to certain refined teachers-The initiated or |