The Christian Conception of Holiness

by Edward Harrison Askwith, M.A.

CHAPLAIN OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE
London MACMILLAN AND CO, LIMITED
New York: THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
1900

This is a study (256+ pages) on holiness. Different aspects and views from different parts of the Bible are examined. Holiness as our Christian duty, as the source of our happiness, in relation to the will of God, the consequences of the fall, and man’s restoration in the atonement, etc.

CONTENTS of  Christian Conception of Holiness

Chapter I. Introductory,
Chapter II. Moral Duty
Chapter III. Virtue, Right, and Good
Chapter IV. Conscience and Reason
Chapter V. Happiness and the Good
Chapter VI. The Old Testament Notion of Holiness 103
Chapter VII. The Kingdom of Heaven and the Divine Fatherhood 125
Chapter VIII. The Gospel of Creation 147
Chapter IX. Pauline Theology 169
Chapter X. The Will 191
Chapter XI. The Fall and the Atonement 217
Chapter XII. The Holy Catholic Church 237

ANALYSIS OF CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY. Purpose of the enquiry, – 3 Scientific and philosophical reason of things, – 4 ‘The need of philosophy, 5 The relation of dogmatic theology to philosophy, 6 The reasonableness of dogmatic theology,7 The human reason, 10 No antagonism between Reason and Faith or between Reason and Authority, 12 The appeal to miracles Paley’s argument, 13 The insufficiency of Paley’s argument due to a defect in his moral philosophy, l5 The need of new evidences appealing to the moral reason, 18 “Moral Governor of the Universe” theory not the Christian philosophy, 18 General plan of this Essay, 19

CHAPTER II. MORAL DUTY. The subject of the science of ethics, 25 The uses of ‘ ought,’ 27 The essentials of ethical propositions, 28 The ‘moral ought.’ Man a moral being the meaning of this, – 2!) The conscience, – – 31 Definition of Moral Duty, – – 33 Moral reason, – 35 The expression ‘ ought to be,’… – 36 Hypothetical oughts. The fallacy of Hedonism, 37 Suggestion of opposition in use of word ‘ ought,’ 38 Recapitulation, – – 39

CHAPTER III. VIRTUE, RIGHT AND GOOD. Instincts of worship and self-respect 43 Self respect the basis of virtue 44 Virtue and virtuous instincts 46 Quotation from W. Wallace to illustrate ambiguous use of terms ‘ duty ‘ and ‘ virtue,’ 47 The notion of Right different from that of Virtue 50 The rightness of divine action 51 Aristotle’s definition of the Good 53 The forming of ideals. The ideal man 55 The epithet good as applied to God 56 The Summum Bonum quotation from Aristotle, 57 Ambiguity in use of term Happiness 58 Need of active and passive factors in the Good 60

CHAPTER IV. CONSCIENCE AND REASON. Conscience a function of moral reason and of reason other than moral, 63 Intuitionism 63 Ethical reasoning, 64 The appeal in St. John’s first epistle based on intuition of gratitude, 65 The ultimate reason of moral duty discerned by moral reason, 66 The moral difficulty in the story of Abraham’s trial to sacrifice Isaac, 67 Murder traced by Christ to its root in hatred 70 The law of communities and the eternal law of God 72 Distinction between what is moral and positive in religion, 76 Reasons of precepts 77 Inappropriateness of term “ positive duties,” 78 The moral reason that whereby we can discern whether God has spoken. 79 Rational self-love must have its basis in the moral reason, – 😯

CHAPTER V. HAPPINESS AND THE GOOD. Darwin’s theory of the conscience 85 Its insufficiency 87 Happiness. Hedonism and Utilitarianism 88 Hedonism not mwally reasonable 89 Utilitarianism only partly so 90 Error in interpreting the Good as Happiness 92 Summary of this and three preceding chapters, 97 The problem to be solved 100 Need of a knowledge of God to understand man 101

CHAPTER VI. THE OLD TESTAMENT NOTION OF HOLINESS. Distinction between ‘ holy ‘ and ‘ common,’ – – – 105 The use of llh 106 The notion of holiness common to Israel and other Semitic peoples 109 Holiness not commonly predicated of God Himself until teaching of the prophets, 111 Holy = Divine, as applied to God 112 Holy = in relation to the Divine, as applied to men and things, 112 Revelation could not start with a disclosure of Divine Character, though that is its end 113 The ‘ holy nation ‘ and the giving of the law, – 114 Function of the prophets to interpret Holiness of Jehovah ethically, 115 “ The Law of Holiness,” 118 Summary, – – 122

CHAPTER VII. THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN AND THE DIVINE FATHERHOOD. The Kingdom of Heaven a Jewish expectation, – 128 The claims of Jesus to be the Messiah through whom the Kingdom was to be realised 129 Carnal views of the Kingdom 130 Christ’s correction of these 132 The Old Testament idea of Fatherhood, – 133 The Fatherhood of God has for its correlative the Sonship of Men 135 The Perfection of Divine Character set forth for our imitation 136 Eternal Life 137 The question of the young man St. Mat 19:16, St. Mar 10:17, St. Luk 18:18; Luk 18:137 The call to self-renunciation, -… 139 Christ’s teaching of obedience, – – – 140 But Sermon on the Mount not a code of rules, but the teaching of a new spirit, —— 141 Christ’s teaching a fulfilment of Old Testament teaching, – 143 This He fulfilled by a fuller revelation of God Himself, – 144

CHAPTER VIII. THE GOSPEL OF CREATION. Christ’s claim not merely to teach men about the Father but Himself to reveal Him 150 Christ’s life one of perfect self-sacrifice seeking the good of others 151 Thus Christ manifests God as Perfect Love 152 The moral reason demands this 152 GOD’S ABSOLUTE UNSELFISHNESS, – 154 The Good, – 154 Our day a fulness of the time, – – 156 Pain and suffering disciplinary, – – 156 The sinfulness of sin, —– 157 The truth of God able to purge out the self-seeking of men, 157 Opposition between self-love and love of others removed, – 158 The necessity for suffering, —— 159 The doctrine of evolution, – – – – 160 Contrast between the cosmic and moral, – 161 Holiness and Love come to be one, – – – 163 The error of Pantheism avoided by the Gospel of Creation, 164 Is the Creation necessary?- – – 165 The Divine Incomprehensibleness, – 167

CHAPTER IX. PAULINE THEOLOGY. Flesh and Spirit, – 1~1 sarx (sarx) and kosmoy (kosmos) – 172 The allegory of Galations iv, – – – 173 St. Paul’s doctrine of justification, —– 174 Difference between Pauline theology and that of St. John,- 176 Divine economy does not eclipse divine character, – – 17!) ‘The New Man, ——— 179 Sanctification, ——— 180 Holiness and Sanctification in Epistle to the Hebrews, – 186 Christ’s fulfilment of the Divine Will, – 187 Pauline theology not contrary to Gospel of Creation, – – 189

CHAPTER X. THE WILL. The Divine Will, – 193 Will and Character, – 196 St. Paul’s statement of the dualism in human nature, – 197 St. Paul’s determinism not inconsistent with responsibility, 198 Christ’s teaching on freedom,… 199 Responsibility, – – 200 The meaning of human character, 201 Punishment of Offenders, – – – 202 Christ’s Human Will, 203 Summary of points contended for here, – 205 Predestination, —— — 207 No suggestion of doom in “ Election,” – – 210 The Divine Glory, 212 Glorification, – – 214 Need of union of Johannine conception of Divine Character with Pauline conception of Divine Economy, – – 215

CHAPTER XI. THE FALL AND THE ATONEMENT. Story of Fall not historical, – – 219 Permanent truth in story of the Fall, 220 Man only in Eden ideally, – 220 The Fall not unforeseen in Divine counsel*, – – 221 Absence of the Fall in Christ’s teaching, – 221 His doctrine of Marriage, 222 St. Paul’s doctrine of the first and second Adam, 223 Mortality and sin, -… 223 Why did God become man? – 22, 5 The Atonement = Reconciliation, – 226 The wrath of God, ——– 227 Forgiveness of sin must carry with it removal of sin, – 228 The requisites of an Atonement, (1) Knowledge, (2) Life, – 229 The meaning of Sacrifice, ——- 230 The entire absence of the cosmic spirit in Christ, – – 231 The evidence for the Resurrection,… – 232 The Holy Spirit leading men into the truth,… 233 Need of a unification of knowledge, – – 234 The living oracles of God,… 23o Biblical criticism, – – – 23o

CHAPTER XII. THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH. Holiness cannot now be interpreted as separateness, whatever be the root meaning of fdq (shdq)- – 239 The meaning of ekklhsia (ekklesia) Quotation from Hort, – – 240 The Holy Catholic Church, – – 241 The Church and the Kingdom of Heaven, – 242 The laws of the Kingdom,… – 244 Forgiveness of injuries, -… 24o Excommunication, – – – – – 246 The Church an organism the Body of Christ, – – – 247 Christ the Head of the Church, – 248 The treasures of wisdom and knowledge, – – – 249 The Church and the State, 251 In spite of self-will of men and schisms the Divine Spirit has been patiently working and revealing truth, – 255 Return to the thought of God’s Absolute Unselfish Love, – 256

Christian Conception of Holiness