HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vera. 2, 8.-The mischief of tradition. I. TRADITION COMES FROM AN INEXPERIENCED ANTIQUITY, 'l'he Pharisees and scribes showed reverence for it because it descended from the elders;. but these elders were only men. It is common to attach the greatest weight to the oldest opinion. Yet it is not correct to look for wisdom in antiquity; because, as Bacon reminds us, we a.re the ancients, and they who lived before us oelonged to the childhood of the race, Under the Divine education of man wisclom should be growing with the ages. We look back with amazement on a multitude of fantastic notions cherished by our forefathers which have become ridiculous in our eyes, There is one thought, however, to be set off against this. Ideas that have stood the test of time win a certain guarantee of their solidity in comparison with ra1v notions suddenly springing from the imagination of a new thinker. But that is only the case when those ideas are being constantly tested by experience and criticism; and it does not apply after tradition has become petrified and has attained the rank of a venerated idol.· , II. TRADITION IB MARKED BY BUMAN DIPEBFEOTION. The enemies of Christ greeted the eld1irs with. reverence; but our Lord replied by calling attention to a greater authority, -They had honoured the elders, but they had dishonoured God. The ,tradition of ·the elders. may deserve some reverence, but it cannot be compared with the commandment of God. Yet it was being preferred to that co=andment. Tradition sometimes claims to be of Divine origin, handed down in the Church from the time of. the apostles in a line of authorized teachers. If its claim could be proved, of course it would· have e.n apostolic authority; but even then how could it be of superior value to the immediate utterances of the apostles recorded in the Scriptures? \Ve he.ve no warrant for believing, a.s the Gnostics taught, that an esoteric teaching of supreme importa.nce has been thus handed down. The extra.vaga.nt pretensions of Romanism, founded on the authority of tradition, which the Council of Trent declared to be of equal ve.lue with that of Scripture, we.rn us against the da.nger of trusting similar cla.ims again. - UJ. TRADITION MAY BEOOME AN EXCUSE FOB UNFAITBFULNEBS TO DIVINE REVELA- TION, Thus it wa.s with the Jews. The revelation they treated with contempt was tba.t of the mora.l law. Parental cle.ims were eluded on the plea of traditional usages. ,Nothing short of horrible hypocrisy was here pra.cti.sed. The plea that what was due to a needy parent could not be given because it had been already consecrated to Go,l was quite fe.lse, inasmuch as the pretended consecration did not prevent the unnatural so11 from enjoying it himself. Thus tradition was a.. mea.ns of rele.:xi.ng moral claims. The tendency to trust in tradition in the Christian· Church has been sometimes associated with a casuistical treatment of simple obligations. The reason of this seems to ba tha.t while God's commandments are "exceeding broad" (Ps. cxix. 96), man's a,lji- tions to them a.re dreadfully narrow. Thus tradition slides down to petty contrivanct"S, and we.stes its resources in misere.blo scruples. Christ would warn us to escape from the lowering and narrowing influence of this system of -me.n's invention, by turning to the large, living, eternal, spiritual truth of the kingdom e.s he has revealeu it to us.- W. F. A; Ver, ll.-2J1e source of defilement.- The religious people in the time of Christ were right in being anxious to avoid d<3filement, but they made a great mistake in their idea as to its source, a.nd therefore they went wrong in their nations of the evil thing itself, I. THE AWAKENED OONBOIENOE DESIBES TO BE FREE FROM DEFILEMENT. 1. On its own accownt. . -Children who he.ve been brought up in the gutter he.ve no idea of cleanliness e.nd no desire for it ; and souls that have habitually wallowed in filth do not perceive their own degradation until a new imd better influence has been brought to bee.r upon them. Nevertheless, man, made in the image of God, cannot attain his true end while the Divine image is corrupted e.nd befouled, and when a gleam of his better· nature awakes he longs .to be pure. The cultivation of the spirituru life brings e. horror of defilement. For its own sake the soul then longs to be clean. 2. Because of the effects of defilement. (1) Sho.me. The first perception of defilement 112 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW. [oH. xv. 1-39,
seen side by side with purity sends a shock of shame through the awakened soul, (2) Banishment from God. Without holiness no one can see God. Nothing unclean can enter heaven, i.e. the presence of God (Rev. xxi. 27), (3) Blindness, The defiled soul is dark ; it cannot perceive spiritual truth. II. THE PERVERTED CONSCIENCE MISTAKES THE SOUROE OF DEFILEMENT, The root- error of the Pharisees was externalism. The prim propriety of demeanour which characterized the professional saints of Jerusalem covered hearts as corrupt as any of the publicans' and sinners'. Yet the Pharisees thought themselves clean. They dreaded contact with a corpse, but they had little scruple in entertaining a corrupt thought. They would stop their ears at the sound of blasphemy, but they would give the reins to their tongues in malignant words. The evil of Pharisaism is by no means extinct to-day. Religious people dread to be found in association with questionable characters. They are anxious to be perfectly correct in the externe.l observances of worship. They do not go to the extreme of the folly of the Pharisees, but they too often manifest the same spirit. ill. Tm!: E~"LIGHTENED CONSOIENOE PEROEIVES THE TROE BOUBOE OF DEFILEMENT WITHIN ITSELF. It is part of the work of Christ to a.rouse e.nd guide the consciences of men. Thus he shows us that the real origin of defilement is in our own hearts. A black fountain will always pour out a black flood, do whe.t we may to cleanse the stream; on the other hand, a spring of pure water will quickly wash awe.y e.ny casual defilement that falls into it. A man is not his environment. It is dangerous to be in the midst of corrupting influences; and yet e. bed of lilies may grow out of foulest mire. .A herd of swine will not be converted into e. troupe of pure virgins by entering a temple; they will only convert the sanctuary into a sty. The corruption of a bad heart will be detected in language and conduct. When these e.re unworthy they will reflect shame on the debased heart from which they come. It is the great lesson of Christ, needed much in our own day, that as the root of all evil in the world is the evil heart of man, the only radical cleansing must be the.t which washes the heart. We must have done with the superficial treatment of mere appearo.nces. Christ's method is to renew th• life within.-W. F. A.