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EFFICACY OF OPINION
IN
MATTERS OF RELIGION
BY THE
REV. W. R. WORTHINGTON, M.A.
,
“ Est genus hominum, qui esse primos se omnium rerum volunt
Nee sunt.”
Terence.
---------
•
r
•>_
PUBLISHED BY THOMAS. SCOT£,
MOUNT PLEASANT, RAMSGATE.
1870.
Price Sixpence.
«'
a
�LONDON:
PRINTED BY C. W, REYN ELL, LITTLE PULTENEY STREET,
HAYMARKET, W.
�ON
THE EFFICACY OF OPINION
IN
MATTERS OF RELIGION.
NCE upon a time there was a great controversy
as to the comparative merits of knowledge and
opinion. That controversy has been stirred again in
onr own day ; or rather it has not been stirred at all,
but judgment has been given upon it with but scanty
regard to the arguments. The “ religious world ”
has declared in favour of opinion. Theory rides in
its coach, and Fact trudges on foot. This venerable
error which so long discredited philosophy, and which
it is the crowning glory of philosophy to have got rid
of, is the besetting sin of the science (falsely so called)
of theology, and is doubtless the chief reason why,
with modern thinkers, the profession of theology has
fallen somewhat into disrepute.
Generally speaking, we profess to esteem truth above
everything. If a man is on his trial for murder, the
witnesses are sworn to tell the truth, the whole truth,
and nothing but the truth, to the best of their know
ledge. But if the question is as to the sanity of the
murderer, skilled witnesses are summoned to give
their opinions upon the state of his mind. The value
of their opinions is measured by their capacity to. form
O
�4
On the Efficacy of Opinion
an. opinion, and their capacity is measured by their
knowledge of cases in point. But often their opinions
are opinions only ; they cannot be implicitly relied on;
they are mere makeshifts which the court is compelled
to put up with, so long as perfect knowledge is not to
be had. This is an unsatisfactory state of things • and
in this and similar instances (which are plentiful),
opinion, compared with knowledge, appears to disad
vantage.
Its inferiority may be inferred in other ways. In
some things, e.g., political questions, truth is evolved
from the conflict of opinions ; and, beyond all contra
diction, the end is more precious than the means.
Further, when truth is known and established, all
controversy upon it is at an end; there is no room for
disputing ; men are of one mind about it who were at
odds so long as it was a matter of opinion. The har
monising power of knowledge is a circumstance
greatly in its favour.
Passing into the region of theology, we are sur
prised to find a totally different set of principles at
work. We find opinion to be the ‘ be-all and the end‘ all ’ there,—dissent from the reigning opinion counted
for a crime—knowledge studiedly depreciated or valued
only as it is subservient to opinion—reason, as it is
absurdly cried down on the side where it is strongest,
as absurdly cried up on the side where it is weakest—
the oracle of society not the well-informed scholar,
the shrewd observer, the original thinker, the candid
reasoner (a kind of men who have a strong aversion
to hazarding opinions), but the voluble man of ortho
doxy, who for anything anybody knows belongs to no
school,
But that where blind and naked Ignorance
Delivers brawling judgments, unashamed,
On all things all day long :
and we naturally ask, “ How can such things be, and
�in Matters of Religion.
$
« what can orthodoxy have to say for itself? ” Its de
fence will take some such line as this : That Revela
tion is not like other things, and not to be judged ot
by ordinary rules. That religious opinions, not being
capable of demonstration, belong to the province not
of knowledge, but of faith. That right faith and con
sequently right opinions, are essential to holiness ot
living. We will take these propositions in order.
I From the position that Revelation, being a thing
sui generis, is not subject to ordinary laws to the posi
tion that it is subject towhatever laws orthodoxy may
please to impose upon it, is but a step. Fruits of this
doctrine we see every day. Who has ever attended to
a controversial sermon or perused a controversial trea
tise, and not been completely bewildered with the
amazing arbitrariness that characterises them. t e
violent associations of ideas, the axioms that are axio
matic in nothing but their insusceptibility of proof,
the foregone conclusions wrung from worse than
doubtful premisses, the fallacious demonstrations of
the truth of “the Gospel,” the imaginary exposures
of the folly or the knavery of the captious objector r'
Leaving such absurdities, let us ask these questions :
Given that Revelation is a thing sui generisin what
does its distinctive character consist, and how does
that distinctive character affect the value of opinion
as such ?
.
T
The knowledge of divine things differs, I presume,
from the knowledge of all other things either (a) in
the method of acquiring it, or (/3) in the nature of the
knowledge acquired—or both.
.
.
(a). The way in which a thing is communicated to
our knowledge has nothing whatever to do with the
character, utility or importance of the thing itself.
Knowledge is knowledge, however we come by it.
Had the law of gravitation been revealed to Moses
�6
On the Efficacy of Opinion
instead of being reserved for the observation of
Newton, it would have played the same part in the
universe, and have afforded the same exercise for men’s
faculties that it does now. Had gunpowder been a
supernatural and not a natural invention, it would
still have been subject to the same conditions, and
have answered the same purposes for good and evil
as^ at this very moment. Opinion gains nothing on
this ground.
.
(/3). What is really distinctive in the knowledge of
divine things is the transcendent importance of divine
t mgs. Their interest is universal and everlasting.
Moses was inspired and Newton was inspired; but
whereas Newton was inspired to teach science, Moses
was inspired to teach religion. The source of their
teaching* was the same ; the channel by which it came
to them may or may not have been the same too ; it is
in the subject-matter of their teaching that we are
conscious of so momentous a difference. Now, in
every concern of life we observe that the value’ of
knowledge rises, the value of opinion sinks, in direct
proportion to the importance of the subject-matter.
In proportion, therefore, as God is supremely great, so
the knowledge of God, which in the intellectual signi
fication of the words is theology, in their moral signi
fication, religion, is not only of infinitely more impor
tance than knowledge of any other subject, but of
infinitely more importance than any opinion on the
same subject. We find then, that, far from annihi
lating the rule I contend for, the peculiar character of
Revelation only intensifies its force. The New Testa
ment speaks clearly enough to the same effect. As re
gards opinion : “ Whosoever killeth you will 77m7>; he
“ doeth God service.” “ I verily thought with myself
that I ought to do many things contrary to the name
of Jesus of Nazareth ”—things for which we read
that the Apostle obtained mercy only because they
�in Matters of Religion.
7
were done “ ignorantly in unbelief.” As regards
knowledge : “ This is life eternal, that they know (1)
“ thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou
hast sent.” 44 Grod will have all men to be saved, and.
“ come to the knowledge of the truth.” The reason why
the unlearned and ignorant men who had been with
Jesus were enabled to smite so effectively the philoso
phies of heathendom was that their conflict was not
between so many sets of opinions, in which they
would possibly have been worsted, but between sets
of opinions on the one hand and a set of facts on the
other. The superior weapon won.
II. The incurable uncertainty of so many religious
opinions, which in the eyes of the philosopher is their
weak point, constitutes, in the eyes of those who are
not philosophers, their principal attraction. . The phi
losopher would argue that an opinion being, as it
were, a temporary implement, an endeavouring after
truth, is good for nothing when it ends in itself, serves
no ulterior purpose, does not further the discovery of
the truth which it relates to, inasmuch as that truth
is beyond the grasp of the human intellect. To the
authority of the Church, in such a case, he would pay
little regard, knowing that all the heads in the
world put together are as incapable as one head of
solving a problem which has been proved to be inso
luble. No amount of gazing will avail to bring the
invisible into sight, and why strain our eyes in vain,
or, what were worse, shut them and pretend to see ?
The religious world will reply, as one man, that these
uncertainties and difficulties and impossibilities were
intended to try our faith; that there is no room for
faith where there is no room for doubt. Which, in the
first place, is a begging of the question; for while
(1) ^lyvdxTKovfft is the preferable reading in John xvii. 3.
�8
On the Efficacy of Opinion
allowing that there is something to be said in my
favour, it supposes the question already decided in
yours: in the second place, the founder of a religion
who designedly leaves difficulties in the way of its
being received must in all reason share the blame of
its being rejected; as the master who leaves money
about to try his servants’ honesty may thank himself
to . some extent if they steal it: and, lastly, about the
things which are really necessary to salvation, there is
no doubt whatever. For religion in general is based
upon certain fundamental principles which are beyond
the reach of dispute; to which the Christian religion
in particular adds certain historical events, the proof
of which is to be looked for not in faith, but in
history.
HI. It will be alleged that much of what we have
called the knowledge of God really is resolvable into
opinion; and that so far we must admit opinion to be
conducive to righteousness of life.
Thus we have
said that religion is based upon certain indisputable
principles; e.g., that God is true. Supposing, then,
a man to be of opinion that God is not true, he will,
in all probability, either be a liar or be in a fairway of
becoming one. But that God is true, I contend, is no
more a matter of opinion than that things which are
equal to the same thing are equal to one another is a
matter of opinion. Truth is an attribute of God, which
may have been for any number of ages unknown, butwhich being declared is instantly accepted ; it is seen
at once to be an essential part of his being, an insepa
rable concomitant of his name. To deny it, as to
deny the axiom about equal things above mentioned,
is not heresy but insanity, not to be argued either with
or about. The same may be said in regard of any
other of the divine attributes, justice, mercy, omnipo
tence, omniscience.
The same cannot be said in
�in Matters of Religion.
9
regard of speculative opinions, Arian, Afhanasian,
Sabellian, or what not, about the composition of the
godhead. That which commends itself to the con
science of mankind stands on a distinctly higher level
than that which commends itself only to the intellects
of particular men. In the first chapter of the epistle
to the Romans the apostle denounces those heathen
whose immoral practices had so blunted their moral
sense as to render them indifferent to what by nature
they knew of God. But of their theological opinions,
if any they had, he takes no notice whatever. For
opinions are not faith; “ Believe on the Lord Jesus
“ Christ and thou shalt be saved,” does not and cannot
mean, “ Hold my doctrine of the atonement, or you shall
“ not be saved.” Not in this sense is practice founded
upon doctrine: is it not nearer the truth to say that all
human righteousness is founded upon, in other words,
is a following of, the divine righteousness, by his con
formity or non-conformity to which every child of
man shall be judged ?
Hitherto we have considered what may be called
respectable arguments in favour of opinion. There
are one or two more of a different character behind,
unavowed indeed, but which, in practice, I believe
carry considerable weight.
It is curious to observe how the man who has made
up his mind on a point invariably deems himself
entitled to set at naught the man who keeps his judg
ment in suspense. It is true the hesitation of the
latter may be due to his knowing both sides of the
question, the positiveness of the former to his knowing
only one; but your thorough-going dogmatist does
not care for that. He has his opinion, and with him
opinion is a royal road to moral and intellectual
superiority. All he wants to make him perfectly
happy is to get a number of people about him to
share his ideas, confirm one another’s convictions,
�io
On the Efficacy of Opinion
and enhance one another’s conceit. The conceit of
such cliques—the portrait of them in 1 Corinthians
iv. 6-10 is unmistakable—is as unlimited as it is
ridiculous. Now, the “ religious world ” is simply a
big clique. How it hugs itself in its self-complacency !
how coolly, almost innocently, it passes its censures
on those who are not of it I with what a thrill of
pleasure it welcomes a stranger who unexpectedly
speaks its language ! with what terror and disgust it
listens to arguments tending to a conclusion it has
rejected ! All the while “ understanding what it says
“ and whereof it affirms ” as much as animalcules in a
drop of water understand about the gulf-stream. A'
little sound knowledge would abate its infatuation;
what reason, then, it has to be in love with opinion,
when opinion responds so heartily to its self-love !
There is yet another reason. Dethrone opinion, and
what becomes of the privilege of persecuting ? The
exercise of this blessed privilege is two-fold : as it
pertains to persons in authority and to persons not in
authority. Whenever the State has persecuted, it has
done so for reasons of State. It is an error to suppose
that in the good old times the State kept a conscience,
and in that conscience believed it to be its duty to
punish all who dissented from its religion. Thus in
England, Romanists and Dissenters were persecuted
simply because the State thought it impossible for
Romanists and Dissenters to be loyal and peaceable
citizens. As soon as it began to perceive that they
both might be and were as good citizens as any
English churchmen the persecuting laws were doomed,
notwithstanding the efforts, the too-successful efforts,
of ignorance and bigotry to prolong their sinful and
despicable existence. Now in mental as in bodily
concerns, individuals, like States, obey the same in
stinct of self-preservation. Opinions, existing upon
sufferance, are endangered by the presence of opposite
�in Matters of Religion.
11
opinions. Hence the impulse to persecute opposite
opinions.
Persecution and dogma have ever been
brethren in arms. For three centuries, during which
the Church itself was the victim of persecution, the
Christian conscience was satisfied with the apostolic
regvda fidei, which, avoiding abstract dogmas, recited
just such facts connected with the past, and such con
victions respecting the present and the future, as
were profitable for personal holiness. Heretics con
travening the rule were fought with their own
weapons. But in after-days, when the Church had
won its way to empire, and was in a position not
only to teach, but to enforce its teaching by the arm
of the law, then heterodoxy was dealt with in another
spirit, and orthodoxy regulated by other standards.
Inevitable controversy conceived and brought forth
councils, and councils being finished brought forth
definitions of doctrine.
These definitions were
nothing else than encroachments upon common land,
which, once enclosed, could never again be thrown
open. And so, by degrees, the vast system of dog
matic theology grew up, not so much by develop
ment as by accretion, out of which it was as hard for
the inquirer to disentangle the simple truths of the
Gospel of Jesus, as it would be for a Yorkshire
villager of the last century, if suddenly resuscitated in
this, to identify the site of his cottage home in the
stupendous manufacturing borough that has swallowed
up the neighbourhood.
Failing to find what he
wanted, he must go where the authorities sent him.
Failing to obey his orders he was speedily taught what
prayers for magistrates, that they might have “ grace
“ to execute justice and maintain truth,” meant. The
Reformation, while it purged our Church of much
that was Popish in detail, did not purge away what
was worst in Popery, viz., that Popish spirit which
speaks thus: “ Believe as I do, or take the conse-
�12
On the Efficacy of Opinion
“ queuecs.” In the place of one Pope it only set up a
multitude. The result is, that while the State has
abandoned the practice of persecuting, individuals,
with rare exceptions, have not. True they have not
such scope for their energies as they could wish, but
they go manfully to work, considering “ the diversity
“ of times and men’s manners.” If they cannot kill
their brethren by way of doing God service, they can
pick their pockets for the same pious object. If they
cannot hang, they can give bad names. If they can
not visit you with a sentence of the “ greater excom“ munication,” they can send you to Coventry, which
does nearly as well. Now, that a clique, which would
be nothing if not numerous and noisy, should have the
power of subjecting its victims to so much unmerited
annoyance, sometimes to the extent of ruining them
in purse and prospects, is intolerable enough; but
infinitely more intolerable, because so deadly in its
effects, is the tyranny thus exercised over men’s minds.
Right dear in the sight of the clique is the stifling of
inquiry. The intellectual light of the world is put
out in the blaze of its brightness. The intellectual
salt of the earth, in all the freshness of its savour, is
trodden under foot of the vulgar. The branch of
original and independent and healthy and vigorous
thought is by rude hands cut down and cast into the
fire. Everywhere we are confronted with the miser
able spectable of—
art made tongue-tied by authority,
And folly, doctor-like, controlling skill,
which made the soul of Shakespeare weary of his life.
Why ? as Caesar says of the “ great observer ” who
“ thinks too much,”
such men are dangerous.
Danger I danger I is the monotonous cry of the
bigot who, in the same breath in which he professes
�in Matters of Religion.
13
an unbounded confidence in his convictions, unwit
tingly gives his profession the lie.
To conclude. The pre-eminence popularly assigned
to opinion, as it is false in principle, is detrimental in
practice : detrimental to knowledge—for, to take but
one instance, there is no more stubborn impediment
to a right understanding of the Scriptures than a
pre-conceived theory of inspiration; detrimental to
charity—for while opinions are cherished for their
own sake, opinions destined never to become certain
ties, so long on their account will people bite and
devour one another, until they are at length con
sumed one of another. Thus do religious opinions
defeat the purpose of religion 5 which is to lead us to
the “ knowledge of the truth,” and to promote “peace
“ on earth, good-will towards men.”
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On the efficacy of opinion in matters of religion
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Worthington, William Robert
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Place of publication: Ramsgate
Collation: 13, [1] p. 18 cm.
Notes: From the library of Dr Moncure Conway. Printed by C.W. Reynell, Little Pulteney Street, London. Publisher's list on unnumbered page at the end.
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Thomas Scott
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1870
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Theology
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Christianity-Controversial Literature
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