right to pray not to be led into trial, it is our duty to avoid trial so far as we may:1 it is a sin to rush, as too many, especially elder boys, are apt to do into situations of moral danger for the sake of the brag of being able to resist and it is still more a sin to take any part in alluring others into such situations. In this matter it is emphatically our duty to do to others as we would that they should do to us: if we do not wish to be brought into perils ourselves, we must not do anything to bring others into them. This is a point on which the teacher will do well to insist. iii. Reference to our Lord's prayer in the garden of Gethsemane serves to bring out clearly the connection of the two clauses of this petition. Our Lord prayed that the cup might pass from Him, and then added, Nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt (Matt. xxvi. 39). So it is here. We pray that God will not bring us into any trial, but inasmuch as we know that trial is the lot of man in this world, that it is the method of moral training which God employs, we add the words beginning with but whatever trials God may send we pray that we may be delivered from that which alone can make the trial a real evil, the power of the evil one. iv. This last word brings us to an important point in the second clause. There can be little doubt that the Revised Version is right in replacing evil by the evil one. It is true that, inasmuch as the Greek forms for the masculine and neuter of the genitive case are the same, the original will bear either meaning, but in every instance in the New Testament where the phrase (ò πovηpós the evil one) occurs in a case where the masculine and neuter differ, it is in the masculine, and in those passages where, as here, it is ambiguous, the masculine gives much the more forcible meaning. (Cf. especially 1 John v. 19.) Here the gain to the meaning is 1 This statement is undoubtedly true, but it does not afford any excuse to cowardice. Danger, spiritual or bodily, may result in evil, and is therefore to be avoided, but if the part of danger becomes a duty, if by risking ourselves we can do anything to help others out of danger, then as always the thought of others must take precedence of the thought of self, we must be ready to suffer for the sake of others. It is by losing our lives in this way that in truth we save them. This principle will account for our Lord's going into the wilderness for the purpose of suffering temptation (Matt. iv. 1), and S. Paul's insisting on going to Jerusalem in spite of the clear warnings of the dangers which awaited him there (Acts xxi. 11-14). 2 On this point see the letters which Bishop Lightfoot wrote to The Guardian in 1881, and which are reprinted in the 3rd Edition of his book, On a Fresh Revision of the New Testament, pp. 269-323. These letters may be taken to have settled the point. A still fuller and more complete discussion is given by Chase : The Lord's Prayer in the Early Church, chap. vii. very clear. Trial results in evil when by yielding to it we are brought more under the dominion of Satan. The man that yields to trial, the man that sins becomes thereby the slave of the devil. The devil does his best to use every trial to increase his power: we pray that from that power we may be delivered. Whatever trials may come to us, many or few, great or small, we pray that in them all we may be protected from the power of him who would ensnare us, who would use them as the means of reducing us to slavery. any hesitation, because His desire is that the This last petition we can offer without we know that it is God's will to grant it. trial may purify us and make us more truly His children, not that we may fall and become the servants of Satan. Cf. also 'There hath no temptation taken you but such as man can bear; but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation make also the way of escape, that ye may be able to endure it' (1 Cor. x. 13). v. The paraphrase does not follow at all closely the words of the petition. It omits entirely the idea of not being led into temptation, and substitutes that of defence when dangers have already arisen. This latter is of course involved in, but is not the whole of the prayer. It marks, however, and that rightly, the important fact, that what we need deliverance from, and defence against, includes both spiritual (ghostly) and bodily dangers. The second clause of the paraphrase includes the idea of the evil one, as that from which we need deliverance, but it does not mark the truth that sin and wickedness in man flow from him as their ultimate source, that it is by alluring men into these, that he establishes his rule over them. The result of yielding to Satan is marked by the closing words everlasting death. This phrase is remarkable. We are so accustomed to regard death as a ceasing to be, as a fact finished in a moment, that it may, at first sight, seem almost a contradiction in terms. The true view of death, however, is that it is the opposite of life. Bodily death is the opposite of bodily life, so everlasting death is the opposite of everlasting life. This latter, as we have seen, consists in the knowledge of God. As we come to know God more and more fully, so we realise more and more truly our eternal life. In contrast with this, as we become alienated from God, as sin gaining the dominion over us estranges us from our Father, our eternal life waxes faint, and we fall into a state of spiritual death. When the process is complete, when we are separated from God without hope of return, then we are in a state which may truly be described as everlasting death. It is the state awarded to those who at the last judgment are placed amongst the goats on the left hand. 7. i. Amen=And this I trust He will do, of His mercy and goodness, through our Lord Jesus Christ. And therefore I say, Amen, so be it. It was the custom in the Synagogues for the people to respond with the word Amen to the prayer of the officiating minister. From the Synagogue, the practice passed over into the Christian Church. The Amen of the people is their audible assent to the prayer which has been spoken. The priest acts as the spokesman of the people, but he is not a substitute for them. They, too, must pray, and take their part actively in the service. The paraphrase expands this meaning, and interprets the Amen, no doubt rightly, as involving belief in the answer to prayer. All prayer, of course, assumes this belief, but it is well, in teaching, to bring it out explicitly. Another noticeable point is the phrase through our Lord Jesus Christ. This is, of course, an essential part of the Christian's prayer. It is through Jesus and through Him alone that we venture to draw near the Father. It is as members of His body, as having put on Christ, that we offer up our prayers. It is easy to see, from the circumstances under which it was given, that this could not be explicitly stated in the text of the Lord's Prayer. Our Lord has, however, taught us elsewhere (John xv. 16), that prayer is to be made to the Father in His name, and there can therefore be no doubt that it is well that this phrase is explicitly introduced in the Catechism. ii. The Lord's Prayer in the true text, as may be seen in the Revised Version, ends with the evil one. The doxology, which is added in the Authorised Version and in some places in the Prayer Book, is no doubt a very early addition made to the prayer when used in the Liturgy of the Church. A very similar form is found in The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, a document probably of the first century, which gives instructions as to the method of administering the sacraments, etc. It was, however, never introduced into the Latin Service Books, nor does it appear in the Prayer Book of 1549. In these books the prayer uniformly ends with Amen, just as it does in the Catechism. CHAPTER III. THE SACRAMENTS. I. THE change of style in this section of the Catechism is very apparent. It is much more scholastic in tone than what has preceded, and it must be confessed that while it is easier to get up for examinations, it is not nearly so valuable for the spiritual education of children. The repetition, in a different form, of the teaching on Baptism which was given at the beginning, is no doubt due to the desire to put forth a fairly distinct statement of the doctrine of the Church of England, as opposed to the errors held by the various sects-Romanists, Anabaptists, etc.-formed in England before the close of the sixteenth century. The following analysis will exhibit the contents of this section:- i. The actual number of Sacraments :-two. iii. The marks of a true Sacrament: a. It must possess the necessary parts. b. It must have been ordained by Christ Himself. B. The Sacrament of Baptism :— i. The outward sign, consisting of: a. Water. b. The words of administration. ii. The inward grace, consisting of: a. Death which delivers from the power of sin. b. The commencement of a new life marked by righteousness. iii. The conditions that must precede Baptism :a. Repentance. b. Faith. iv. The reasons for infant Baptism. C. The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper : i. The object with which it was ordained. a. Bread. b. Wine. iii. The inward grace : a. The Body of Christ. b. The Blood of Christ. iv. The benefits received: Spiritual strength and refreshment. v. The needful preparation—self-examination lead ing to : a. Repentance. b. Faith. c. Charity. 2. Sacraments in general. i. There are two or three points in the first question and answer-which deal with the number of the Sacraments—which seem to require notice. a. The form in which the question is put involves the answer to the next question, since it speaks of Sacraments which Christ hath ordained. It does not then deny that there are other rites which might be called Sacraments in a lower sense of the word, but only sets forth that with the meaning put on the word in the Catechism there are but two. b. But it is only of those things that are definitely appointed by Christ that we can venture to say that they are generally necessary to Salvation. What we mean by Salvation has been fully explained before. Here we are taught that the two sacraments are necessary to all who would remain in that state. We cannot, as we have seen, keep God's commandments or walk in His way without His help being given us. Now, Baptism is the means whereby we enter into our true relationship to God. The Lord's Supper is, as we shall see, the means given by God to convey to us the strength required for our daily progress in holiness. The word generally must be taken in the sense which it commonly bore in the theology of the sixteenth century, as the equivalent of the Latin generaliter, i.e. relating to the genus, universally; but we must remember that the teaching of the Catechism is intended for the children of the Church to warn |