i. Thus human personality, in its perfected form, implies a state of

_harmony_. As each element in human nature will be preserved in its appropriate condition, so each will fulfil its rightful function[589]. The relation between body and spirit will be that which is ethically the highest conceivable. In man will be represented, as in a microcosm, a state of being in which the first creation has been appropriated by, and made the organ of the Divine Spirit[590]. The material body will become one perfectly subservient to, and expressive of, the free movements of a purified spirit[591]. And to this state of personality will belong a final harmony between moral law and freedom. Human beings will have become 'partakers of the Divine Nature,' so far as to experience in themselves the union of liberty, holiness, and love:

Indulging every instinct of the soul There where law, life, joy, impulse, are one thing[592].

ii. Perfection further implies a state of _glory_; a word which, whether used of Christ Himself or of His followers, seems in the New Testament to mean the outward manifestation of a holy character. The gradual assimilation to God, which is the law of true human development on earth, is the law of an unending progress. But in the perfect state, character will find due splendour of outward expression. Man's bodily frame will pass through successive stages 'from glory to glory,' to a semblance faithfully reflecting the inward supernatural life[593]. And in the marvellous union of outward with inward recreation consists the 'glory,' of which human nature is capable.

iii. Perfection is consummated by blessedness. The conception of _bliss_ as transcending _happiness_ (εὐδαιμονία) is peculiar to Christian Ethics. Happiness is a word of earth, and represents a good which may be attained independently of life in God. Bliss is inseparable from a living relation to God. It implies union with God.

But though it is true that 'man possesses the plenitude of his perfection in God,' the analogy of the present dispensation points to a further element in 'blessedness,' namely, that of fellowship in a moral community: the redeemed 'have fellowship one with another,' in an 'indissoluble life[594].' In fact the perfection of the individual, according to God's separate ideal for each, demands that of the moral community. Blessedness thus means that state wherein, by a society of renewed personal beings, 'the Highest Good is loved and enjoyed[595].'

This community of free and perfected beings, with God as its Centre, is the revealed ethical consummation of our race. And as the manifestation of God's kingdom is to Christians the supreme object of aspiration, and the highest matter of prayer, so the effort to advance and extend its sphere is the worthiest task that can be embraced by the will. The conception of such a kingdom, to be made actual through the exertion of human faculties co-operating with the invincible energy of the Divine will, is the greatest thought that ever enriched mankind. In the attempt to further the limits, or promote the welfare of this kingdom, man finds his truest happiness, and his noblest field of activity. For he is engaged in the same work as God Himself[596]: he has the same interest in its accomplishment. He has found the absolutely good sphere of effort and desire; all else in which men busy themselves can only be ethically _good_ in proportion as it bears on, or hastens the approach of, that 'one far off Divine event.'

VI. _Conclusion._

It is our Lord's method to present to men an ideal, before He descends to the requirements of practical life. The Sermon on the Mount describes the life of 'blessedness' before it treats of duty; and from duty, passes to the means of holiness. Such an example suggests one or two concluding reflections.

First we may recall the true bearing of a methodical inquiry into Christian Ethics. The kingdom of God stands in contrast with, but in special relation to, all modes and products of social activity. It makes use of all the material which human life offers, or human faculties supply, so far as it is capable of serving a Divine purpose, or revealing any aspect of the Divine Life. For that Life having once for all intervened in history, continues ever to appropriate and hallow all that comes within the wide range of Its outflow; Education, Criticism, Science, Art; Industry, Wealth; Law, Polity--all these are capable of becoming ethical forces, of ministering to man's true end, of contributing something to the highest life. Into the Holy City the kings of the earth bring their glory and honour: and to a Christian Church are addressed the far-reaching words, 'All things are yours[597].'

There is in fact a 'world-appropriating' element in Christianity, as the ethical religion; and it is essential that the significance of this fact should be grasped, if Christian morality is to be rightly apprehended, or fairly presented in systematic form.

Further, in advancing a claim to mould and regenerate human society, the Christian Church can only continue to rely on her traditional instrument,--the recreation of individual character. The social movements which an enlightened Christian judgment approves, are those gradual and irresistible changes which result from the slowly-reached apprehension of some neglected moral truth, as it gradually commends itself to individual consciences. And such movements are to be judged as they display, or bear upon character. If for example a Christian mistrusts the extravagant schemes of some forms of Socialism,--it is not because he is insensible to the wrongs and miseries which suggest a violent remedy, but because all such sweeping proposals would merge the individual life, would repress and mar the fulness of that organized social life which gains elements of richness and diversity from the free play of individuality.

The study of ideals will also have suggested the relation which the Church bears to modern life. The Church, we have seen, is the school of human character; the nurse, therefore, of such civil and social virtues as give stability to human institutions. In her midst, Divine forces are really and manifestly at work, tending to bring about the regeneration of mankind. And in connection with this view of the Church, we need to observe the power of character; the practical 'supremacy of goodness,' or at least its tendency to be supreme; its capacity to control and modify the pressure of circumstance. A condition of all true thinking about the social future will surely be a just estimate of _character_ as a social and industrial force; it is a growing sense of this truth that is doing much to revolutionize our economic theories. We are learning perhaps that manfulness, mercy, self-control, pity are among the forces which must be taken into account by social science.

And if the Church is a gift of God to mankind, and there be but one end of all His gifts, namely, the restoration of His image in man, we must believe that the fairest fruits of Christianity, and the many-sided fulness of Christlike character, can appear only in those who live loyal to the moral discipline of the Church, who are ruled by her wisdom, chastened by awe of her beauty, penetrated by her spirit. The kingdom of God is more--infinitely more--than an ideal condition of human society; but we know that the kingdom, even in this limited sense of the word, will be the heritage only of a nation 'bringing forth the fruits thereof.'

[456] 1 S. Pet. i. 21 ὥστε τὴν πίστιν ὑμῶν καὶ ἐλπίδα εἶναι εἰς θεόν.

[457] Heb. i. 1.

[458] See Dorner, _Syst. of Christian Ethics_, § 35.

[459] Eph. i. 4.

[460] Cp. Plato, _Tim._ xxix. E.

[461] Athan. _de Incarn._ x.

[462] Clem. Alex. _Quis Dives_, etc. vii. ἀρχὴ καὶ κρηπὶς ζωῆ, ἐπιστήμη θεοῦ, τοῦ ὄντως ὄντος ... ἡ μὲν γὰρ τούτου ἄγνοια θάνατός ἐστιν, ἡ δὲ ἐπίγνωσις αὐτοῦ καὶ οἰκείωσις, καὶ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀγάπη καὶ ἐξομοίωσις, μόνη ζωή.

[463] Aug. _de moribus Eccl._ xii.

[464] Athan. _cont. Gentes_, iii. describes the aversion of man from God as beginning in 'self-contemplation' (ἑαυτοὺς κατανοεῖν ἤρξαντο).

[465] Ath. _c. Gent._ ii.

[466] Wace, _Boyle Lectures_, ser. 1, Lect. vii. Cp. Col. i. 28.

[467] 2 Cor. v. 4, 5 ὁ κατεργασάμενος ἡμᾶς εἰς αὐτὸ τοῦτο θεός.

[468] Lactant. _Div. Inst._ iii. 12, 'Haec vita praesens et corporalis beata esse non potest, quia malis est subjecta per corpus.... Si cadit _beatitudo_, ergo et _immortalitas_ cadit in hominem, quae beata est.'

[469] Eph. v. 1. Ep. _ad Diog._ x.

[470] Bp. Butler's sermons emphasize this side of the doctrine of conscience, esp. the _Preface_. Cp. Flint, _Theism_, lect. vii.

[471] See Phil. i. 9, and Heb. v. 14 (the Greek).

[472] Rom. i. 21. Athan. _cont. Gentes_, iii-xi.

[473] Wace, _Boyle Lect._, ser. 1, Lect. II.

[474] Anselm, _Cur Deus Homo_, I. xii. 'Libertas non est nisi ad hoc quod expedit aut quod decet.'

[475] See Martineau, _Types of Eth. Theory_, vol. i. 93; ii. 39 [Ed. 2]. Holland, _Creed and Character_, Serm. X.

[476] Aug. _de mor. Eccl._ xxi. '[Deo] solo dominante liberrimus.' Observe that as freedom grows, the choice becomes more restricted by the law πάντα ἔξεστιν, ἀλλ᾽ οὐ πάντα συμφέρει (1 Cor. x. 23). Cp. Pet. Lomb. _Sent._ ii. xxv. 7.

[477] Cyp. _de op. et eleem._ i. 'Pater Filium misit ut _reparare_ nos posset.' Such language is usual with the Fathers.

[478] The whole subject of sin, guilt, punishment is germane to our subject, but for present purposes must be left on one side.

[479] Iren. iii. 18. 7 [Stieren] ἔδει γὰρ τὸν μεσίτην θεοῠ τε καὶ ἀνθρώπων διὰ τῆς ἰδίας πρὸς ἑκατέρους οἰκειότητος εἰς φιλίαν καὶ ὁμονοίαν τοὺς ἀμφοτέρους συναγαγεῑν, καὶ θεῷ μὲν παραστῆσαι τὸν ἄνθρωποω, ἀνθρώποις δὲ γνωρίσαι τὸν θεόν.

[480] Heb. iii. 1. Cyp. _de idol. van._ xi. 'Quod homo est, esse Christus voluit, ut et homo possit esse quod Christus est.'

[481] Bern, _de consid._ v. 1, 'Quid quod et inferioribus eges?... Nonne praeposterum hoc et indignum? Plane superiorum quaedam injuria est inferiorum operam desiderare: a qua injuria nemo hominum perfecte vindicabitur nisi cum quisque evaserit in libertatem filiorum Dei.'

[482] S. Matt. vi. 33.

[483] S. Luke xvii. 21; S. Matt. xiii. 45 foll. (Parable of the Pearl). Cp. Rom. xiv. 17 ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ ... ἐστιν ... δικαιοσύνη καὶ εἰρήνη καὶ χαρὰ ἐν πνεύματι ἁγίῳ.

[484] Wace, _ubi sup._ Lect. VIII. Ambr. _de off. min._ ii. 3, 4.

[485] Aug. _de mor. Eccl._ xiii. 'Bonorum summa Deus nobis est; Deus est nobis summum bonum.' _Ib._ xviii. 'Secutio Dei, beatitatis appetitus est; consecutio, ipsa beatitas.'

[486] Thom. Aquin. _Summa_, i. iiᵃᵉ. Qu. i. 2, 'Illa quae rationem habent seipsa movent ad finem, quia habent dominium suorum actuum per liberum arbitrium.... Illa vero quae ratione carent tendunt in finem propter naturalem inclinationem quasi ab alio mota, non autem a seipsis, cum non cognoscant rationem finis; et ideo nihil in finem ordinare possunt, sed solum in finem ab alio ordinantur.'

[487] See Godet, _Comm. on 1 Corinthians_ [Clark], vol. i. p. 236.

[488] S. Matt. xix. 28; S. Luke xxii. 30.

[489] S. John iii. 16.

[490] S. John iii. 33. See Dorner's _System of Ethics_ [Clark], § 47.

[491] 2 Cor. iv. 8; vi. 10. Cp. Rom. viii. 28.

[492] S. Matt. v. 48. Butler, _Serm._ 3 'Your obligation to obey this Law is its being the Law of your nature.... The correspondence of actions to the nature of the agent renders them natural.'

[493] Cp. Bp. Ellicott, _The Being of God_, p. 120.

[494] Rom. ii. 18 (γινώσκεις τὸ θέλημα) implies that when a man knows God's _will_, he knows his _duty_.

[495] S. John ix. 4; iv. 34. Cp. vi. 40; S. Luke iv. 43. See also Rom. xii. 2; Eph. v. 17, etc.

[496] The case of the young man (S. Matt. xix. 21) shews how obligation is extended by contact with Christ, i.e. by closer relation to God. The general principle is that each is bound to follow the law of his personal perfection as it unveils itself to him. See Bengel _in loc._ and cp. S. Luke xvii. 10.

[497] Wace, Lect. II.

[498] S. Matt. xvi. 25, 26. The discussion of 'Christian consolations,' by Mr. Cotter Morison, _Service of Man_, overlooks the fact that Christ's object was not to 'console' men, but to set before them the truth, and the law of their own perfection. The 'consolations' of Christianity can be won only if they are never made the _object_ of life. They are a _reward_, but never, in the higher forms of Christian consciousness, an _aim_. See _Church Quart. Rev._, Jan. 1888, p. 268.

[499] Witness the discussions on _fear_ commonly found in mediaeval theology. Bruce, _Parabolic teaching of Christ_, p. 359 foll., has some good remarks on this point. 'The parabolic form of instruction does not afford scope for the play of the highest class of motives. It is essentially popular wisdom, and it is the way of that which aims at teaching the million, _to make action spring from homely motives_.'

[500] Butler, _Analogy_, i. 5.

[501] See H. S. Holland, _Creed and Character_, Serm. XVIII. Cp. S. Matt. xxv. 21, Heb. xii. 2. Thom. Aquin. _Summa_, ii. iiᵃᵉ, xxviii.

[502] Sidgwick, _Outlines of the Hist. of Ethics_, chap. 3.

[503] Iren. iv. 16, § 3 [Stieren]. God appears in the decalogue 'praestruens hominem in suam amicitiam ... et ideo [verba] similiter permanent apud nos, extensionem et augmentum sed non dissolutionem accipientia per carnalem Eius adventum.' Thom. Aquin. _Summa_, i. iiᵃᵉ. Qu. c. Art. 3, 'Omnia praecepta [moralia] legis sunt quaedam partes praeceptorum decalogi.'

[504] Rom. vii. 14.

[505] S. Matt. xxii. 37. Cp. Aug. _de mor. Eccl._ xviii-xx; _de doc. Christ._ i. 29.

[506] Aug. l.c. 'Maxime Ei propinquat [homo] subjectione ista qua similis fit.'

[507] Thom. Aquin. _Summa_, i. iiᵃᵉ. c. 5, 'Principi communitatis tria debet homo, fidelitatem, reverentiam, famulatum.' Cp. Butler, _Analogy_, pt. ii. 1.

[508] Aug. _de disc. Christ._ iii. 'Proximus est omni homini omnis homo,' etc.

[509] R. W. Dale, _The Ten Commandments_, p. 241. Cp. Thom. Aquin. _Summa_, i. iiᵃᵉ. c. 6; Martineau, _Types_, etc., ii. 26.

[510] _Summa_, i. iiᵃᵉ. c. 5, 'Dilectio sui ipsius includitur in dilectione Dei et proximi; in hoc enim homo vere se diligit quod se ordinat in Deum.' _Ib._ ii. iiᵃᵉ. xix. 6, 'Homo se propter Deum, et in Deo diligit.' Aug. _Serm._, ccxvi. 8, 'Amate quod eritis: eritis enim filii Dei.' Pascal, _Pensées_, Art. xviii. 15, 'Que l'homme _s'aime_, car il a en lui une nature capable de bien.' Cp. Butler, _Serm._ i. etc.

[511] Sidgwick, _Outlines etc._, p. 108. Cp. Dorner, _System, etc._, p. 459 [Clark].

[512] Aug. _de Civ. Dei_, xiv. 28.

[513] See Ex. xxi. 33 foll.; Deut. xxii. 9 foll.; Levit. xix. etc. _Summa_, i. iiᵃᵉ. i. 2, 'Tota irrationalis natura comparatur ad Deum sicut instrumentum ad agens principale.'

[514] Consider Gen. ix. 10. Cp. Gen. viii. 1; Prov. xii. 10, etc.

[515] Martensen, _Special Ethics (Indiv.)_, p. 278 [Clark].

[516] See Trench, _Mediaeval Church History_, Lect. XXVII. Cp. Plato, _Phileb._ 64 E foll.

[517] _Ecce Homo_, c. x. Cp. S. John xxi. 25.

[518] It is significant that Mr. Cotter Morison in his _Service of Man_ discusses personal types of Christian saintliness.

[519] Dorner, _System, etc._, p. 377.

[520] See some remarks on this tendency in Liddon, _Bampton Lectures_, viii; and an Art. in the _Church Quart. Rev._, July, 1883, on 'Our Lord's Human Example.' For what follows, cp. Martensen, _Ethics (General)_, pp. 242, 256.

[521] Dean Church, Serm. on _Christ's Example_ [_Gifts of Civilization_, Serm. III].

[522] R. H. Hutton, Essay on _the Incarnation and Principles of Evidence_. Cp. the remarkable definition of Lactantius, _Div. Inst._ iii. 9, 'Pietas nihil aliud est quam _Dei parentis agnitio_.' _Ib._ 10, 'Efficitur ut is agnoscat Deum, qui unde ortus sit, quasi recordetur.'

[523] See Trench, _Syn. of the N.T._ § 42 (on ταπεινοφροσ). 'In His Human Nature [Christ] must be the pattern of all humility, of all creaturely _dependence_.... He evermore, as Man, took the place which beseemed the creature in the presence of its Creator.'

[524] S. John xvi. 32.

[525] Martensen, _Ethics (General)_, p. 255. Cp. Job v. 23.

[526] Christ's earthly life and work are described summarily as ὑπακόη, Rom. v. 19. Cp. Phil. ii. 8.

[527] Aug. _de Praed. Sanct._ xxx. 'An ... in Illo non libera voluntas erat, ac non tanto magis erat, quanto magis peccare non poterat?' Quoted by Liddon, _Bampt. Lect._ [ed. 11], note c.

[528] Aug. _de mor. Eccl._ xxiii. 'Fit ergo per caritatem ut conformemur Deo.'

[529] Dorner, pp. 336, 388. Cp. _Ecce Homo_, p. 136.

[530] Arist. _Eth._ vii. 14. 8 remarks that human nature is not simple (ἁπλῆ), adding ἐπεὶ, εἴ του ἡ φύσις ἁπλῆ εἴη ἀεὶ ἡ αὐτὴ πρᾶξις ἡδίστη ἐσται. Διὸ ὁ θεὸς ἀεὶ μίαν καὶ ἁπλῆν χαίρει ἡδονήν, κ.τ.λ. Cp. Bk. x. cc. 4. § 9, and 7. § 8.

[531] _Summa_, i. iiᵃᵉ. Qu. lxii. Art. 1. Cp. S. Matt. xix. 17.

[532] Abp. Trench.

[533] Heb. xi. 6. Cp. 1 S. John iv. 16; Rom. xiv. 23. _Summa_, i. iiᵃᵉ. Qu. lxii. art. 3. 'Quantum ad _intellectum_ adduntur homini quaedam principia supernaturalia, quae divino lumine capiuntur; et haec sunt credibilia de quibus est fides.' _Ib._ art. 4, 'Per fidem apprehendit intellectus ea quae sperat et amat. Unde opportet quod ordine generationis fides praecedat spem et caritatem.'

[534] S. John iv. 34; v. 36; xvii. 4. Cp. H. S. Holland, _Serm._ on 'The Energy of Unselfishness.' With regard to the relation of _Pleasure_ to action, we may observe that pleasure is inseparable from the right and effective exercise of any faculty; and therefore _accompanies_ virtuous activity, but can never be the moral _end_ of action. Cp. Arist. _Eth._ vii. 12. § 3, etc.

[535] See _Ecce Homo_, c. xiii.

[536] Aug. _de mor. Eccl._ xix. 'Id ipsum quo diligimus Deum mori non potest, nisi dum non diligit Deum: cum mors ipsa sit non diligere Deum.' Cp. Cyp. _de Unit._ xiv.

[537] Such classification, corresponding to three cardinal virtues, seems to be implied in S. Paul's words, Tit. ii. 12 ἵνα ... σωφρόνως, καὶ δικαίως καὶ εὐσεβῶς ζήσωμεν.

[538] J. Cotter Morison, _The Service of Man_, p. 194 [ed. 3]. See Eph. i. 4; Col. i. 22; S. Luke i. 75.

[539] Rom. viii. 8; 1 Cor. vii. 32; 1 Thess. iv. 1. An instructive contrast might be drawn between the Pagan and Christian use of the word ἀρεσκεία.

[540] _Lacordaire, a biographical sketch_, H. S. Lear, p. 34.

[541] Wordsworth, _The Excursion_. Ep. _ad Diog._ v. πᾶσα ξένη πατρίς ἐστιν αὐτῶν, καὶ πᾶσα πατρὶς ξένη. This spirit does not exclude a true _patriotism_, and other civil virtues. Martensen, _Ethics (Social)_, § 82.

[542] _De mor. Eccl._ xxxvii and xxv. Cp. Bern. _de Consid._ v. 1.

[543] See the chap. with this title in _Ecce Homo_.

[544] S. Matt. v. 44 foll. Leo, _Serm. in Quad._ vii. 'Forma conversationis fidelium ab exemplo venit operum divinorum et merito Deus imitationem Sui ab eis exigit, quos ad imaginem et similitudinem suam fecit.' Cp. Iren. iv. 13. 3.

[545] _Ecce Homo_, c. xxii. Cp. Butler, _Serm._ ix. etc.

[546] Leo, _Serm. in Quad._, passim, esp. v, vi, ix. _Ecce Homo_, c. xxiii. For what follows, see Arist. _Eth._ v. 10. Cp. Eph. iv. 32.

[547] Mozley, _Univ. Serm._ ix. 'Ancient philosophy never opened the mine of happiness which lay in this principle. It was a discovery, like that of a new scientific principle, when it was made; and Christianity made it.'

[548] Rom. xiii. 10. Note the following words of S. Aug. (_de doct. Christ._ i. 29): 'Velle debemus, ut _omnes nobiscum diligant Deum_, et totum quod vel eos adjuvamus vel adjuvamur eis, ad unum illum finem referendum est.... Hinc efficitur ut inimicos etiam nostros diligamus.... _Misereamur_, quia tanto magis nos oderunt, quanto ab illo quem diligimus separati sunt.' Cp. _de disc. Chr._ v. 'Necesse est ut quem diligis tanquam te ipsum, _illuc illum trahas ad quod et tu amas_.' _Ecce Homo_, cc. xvii, xviii.

[549] Tert. _Apol._ 36.

[550] _De mor. Eccl._ lxiii. [Clark] _Obs._ There are duties imposed by our relationship even _to the dead_, _to posterity_, and of course _to the impersonal creature_. See Martensen, _Ethics (Indiv.)_, §§ 116-118. On duties to _posterity_, see a beautiful passage in Ruskin, _Seven Lamps of Architecture_, vi. § 9.

[551] Dean Church, _Disc. of the Christian Character_, p. 101. Cp. _Ecce Homo_ [ed. 13], p. 178.

[552] See Rom. xii. 3; 2 Cor. x. 5.

[553] Wisdom vi. 17.

[554] 1 Cor. vi. 19.

[555] Ep. _ad Diog._ vi. μισεῖ Χριστιάνους ὁ κόσμος μηδὲν ἀδικούμενοσς, ὅτι ταῖς ἡδόναις ἀντιτάσσονται.

[556] See Westcott, Essay on _The Church and the World_ [in his ed. of S. John's Epp.].

[557] Trench, _Syn. of N.T._ § xxxvii. On 'Resentment' see _Ecce Homo_, c. xxi; Butler, _Serm._ viii. Cp. Arist. _Eth._ iv. 5. See also Dale. _The Atonement_, Lect. VIII.

[558] Dean Church, _Gifts of Civilization_, p. 323. Cp. Martineau, _Types of Eth. Theory_, vol. ii, pp. 200-202.

[559] See _Service of Man_, cc. vii and ix. Those objections have been often met. See Dean Church, _Serm._ on 'Christ's Example.' Liddon, _Bampt. Lect._ [ed. 11] p. 130.

[560] Aug. _de mor. Eccl._ lxiii. 'Tu [Ecclesia] pueriliter pueros, fortiter juvenes, quiete senes prout cuiusque non corporis tantum, sed et animi aetas est, exerces ac doces etc.' Cp. Amb. _de Off. Min._ i. 17.

[561] Wace, _Boyle Lect._ (ser. 1) v. Cp. _Ecce Homo_, c. ix. We may consider how Christ gives a _practical_ turn to speculative inquiries. S. Luke xiii. 23, 24; S. John xxi. 21 foll.

[562] E.g. Clem. of Alexandria. See Bigg, _The Christian Platonists of Alexandria_, p. 80.

[563] S. Luke xiii. 32; Heb. ii. 10, v. 9. Cp. 1 Cor. xv. 45; and see Gal. ii. 20, iv. 19. Also an Art. in _Ch. Qu. Rev._ No. xxxii, on 'Our Lord's Human Example.'

[564] 1 Cor. i. 30. Cp. Rom. viii. 29. For the thought that follows, see Prof. Bruce on Heb. ii. 11-18 in _Expositor_, No. 50.

[565] _Service of Man_, pp. 84, 85.

[566] Chrys. _in Joh. hom._ x. 2 ἄμα δὲ καὶ ἐνδείξασθαι βούλεται ὅτι οὐχ ἁπλῶς οὔδε ἡ χάρις ἔπεισιν, ἀλλὰ τοῖς βουλομένοισ καὶ ἐσπουδακόσι, κ.τ.λ.

[567] See Tit. ii. 11, 12 ἡ χάρις ... παιδεύουσα ἡμᾶς S. Matt, xxviii. 19, 20. Aug. _de disc. Chr._ i. '_Disciplinae domus_ est Ecclesia Christi.' Butler, _Analogy_, pt. ii. c. 1.

[568] Consider Col. i. 28; Eph. ii. 10.

[569] _Lyra Apostolica_, No. xxxvii [signed δ].

[570] Consider Phil. ii. 2, where the description of the Christian example and character is prefaced by an impressive appeal for Unity. The moral guilt of _heresy_ partly lies in its being a principle of disunion. Cyp. _de Unit._ xxvi. complains of particular ways in which disunion injures Christian character.

[571] Bruce (_Expositor_, No. 50, p. 84). 'God's paternal discipline, our own self-effort, Christ's example, priestly influence and sympathy, all contribute to the same end, persistency and progress in the Christian life.' It is specially instructive to contrast the Christian with the Pagan estimation of _Labour_, as a factor in the formation of character. See Martensen, _Ethics (Social)_, p. 129.

[572] For what follows, see especially the Lenten sermons of S. Leo. Also a very useful book by Canon Furse, _Helps to Holiness_.

[573] 1 Cor. vi. 13. See Cyp. _de orat. Dom._ iv, on the part of the _body_ in prayer.

[574] The particular shape which Almsgiving will assume is obviously to be 'suggested by the special conditions' of the age. See a noble passage in _Ecce Homo_ [ed. 13], p. 184, pointing out the way in which the Christian spirit is likely to regard social problems. Cp. Martensen, _Ethics (Social)_, p. 132. This point seems completely overlooked in the _Service of Man_, c. vii.

[575] Aug. _Enchir._ lxxii. 'Multa sunt genera eleemosynarum, quae cum facimus _adjuvamur_.' See also Cyp. _de op. et eleem._ xxv. Leo, _in Quad._ v. 4; _de Res._ i. 1; _de Pent._ i. 6, etc. Bruce, _Parabolic Teaching_, etc., pp. 371-375, has some striking remarks.

[576] S. Luke xi. 41.

[577] Leo, _in Quad._ xii. 2, 'In caelestibus Ecclesiae disciplinis, multum utilitatis adferunt _divinitus instituta_ jejunia.' Cp. Hooker, Bk. v. § 72.

[578] Ep. _ad Diogn._ vi. κακουργουμένθ σιτίοις καὶ πότοις ἡ ψυχὴ βελτιοῦται.

[579] Serm. _de Pass._ xix. 5. Cp. Martensen, _Ethics (Indiv.)_, p. 160; Martineau, _Types_, etc., vol. ii. 381.

[580] S. Matt. xxiv. 8 ἀρχὴ ὠδίνων.

[581] Rom. viii. 19.

[582] 1 Cor. vii. 31; 1 S. John ii. 17, etc.

[583] Cp. _The Ethics of Socialism_, by E. Belfort Bax, p. 19.

[584] Cp. Bern, _de consid._ v. 11.

[585] Ps. cxlix. 1.

[586] See the Bp. of Exeter's _Primary Charge_ on this subject. On the principle involved in this 'dual classification' see an impressive passage in Martineau, _Types_, etc., ii. 65-69.

[587] 2 Cor. v. 5; Col. i. 28; Butler, _Analogy_, i. c. 5.

[588] S. Luke xx. 36 ἰσάγγελοι ... καὶ υἱοί εἰσιν θεοῦ τῆς ἀναστάσεως υἱοὶ ὄντες. Cp. Leo Magn. _Serm. in Res. Dom._ i. c. 4.

[589] Vinc. Lirin. _Common._ c. xiii. 'Unoquoque hominum sine fine victuro, in unoquoque hominum sine fine necessario utriusque substantiae differentia permanebit.'

[590] Dorner, _System, etc._, § 2.

[591] Aug. _de Fid. et Symb._ xiii. 'Spirituale corpus intelligitur quod ita spiritui subditum est, ut caelesti habitationi conveniat.' The Resurrection of the flesh is thus seen to have vital relation to the idea of moral perfection. Cp. Thom. Aquin. _Summa_, i. iiᵃᵉ. Qu. iv. Art. 6-8.

[592] Iren. iv. 28. 2, 'Hi semper percipiunt regnum, et proficiunt.' Pet. Lomb. _Sent._ ii. xxv. 7, 'Post confirmationem vero ... nec vinci poterit nec premi [homo]: et tunc habebit _non posse peccare_.'

[593] S. Matt. xiii. 43; 2 Cor. iii. 18; 1 S. John iii. 2.

[594] 1 S. John i. 3-7; Heb. vii. 16; Westcott, _Hist. Faith_, p. 147.

[595] Aug. _de mor. Eccl._ iv. ['Beata vita,] cum id quod est hominis optimum, amatur et habetur.'

[596] ἔργα θεοῦ, S. John vi. 28. Cp. S. Matt. vi. 33.

[597] 1 Cor. iii. 22.

APPENDIX I.

ON SOME ASPECTS OF CHRISTIAN DUTY.

The conception of morality as a system of positive Divine Law, and the 'juridical method' which is said to mark early Christian writers on ethics[598], is perhaps attributable to the growth of an imperial spirit in the Church when she found herself confronted with the task of reducing to order the social chaos into which the fall of the Empire plunged Europe. S. Leo may be said to embody this spirit in a majestic personal form. The mark of Roman authority rests on the ordinances of the Church of this period. It may be that her rules of duty wear something of the aspect of a fixed, unvarying code. The moral problems with which she has to deal are comparatively simple; they admit of clear, concise treatment, in accordance with a fixed system of discipline; sharp distinctions are possible: and the Gospel thus presents to the world the features of an external Law.

Be this as it may, widely different conditions seem now to demand a definite system of Christian duty,--a study of 'special' or 'applied ethics.' The main feature of modern life is not social disorganization, but complexity of relationships; and although in the abstract no such thing is possible as a 'conflict of duties;' yet it is clear that duty is not always simple, or obvious. We need in fact something like a system of casuistry; of ethics applied to novel spheres, and special points of obligation. It is indeed reasonable to expect that as civilization advances, and new realms open up which the Christian spirit must appropriate, the Law of duty will be enriched; there will be expansion of its content: e.g. the development of Industry makes desirable the formulation of the 'Ethics of Labour;' the rise of a special class may raise the question whether 'class virtues' are to be recognised, and how they are to be estimated, by Ethics[599].

In this appendix some purpose may be served by noticing a few pressing moral problems of our time; some spheres of duty as to which guidance or development of principles seems called for.