'It is absolutely necessary that the threatenings of Almighty God be known and published': a William Paley sermon

That Sermon VII in Volume V of Paley's Works, on the text Matthew 16.26, is entitled 'The Terrors of the Lord', is certainly suggestive of the subject matter: it addresses, as Paley puts it at the sermon's opening, "the positive pain and suffering" known after death, when "happiness and reward" are forfeited. Of the various Paley sermons considered in recent weeks, this is surely the most striking.

We are, after all, talking about a sermon by the great author of Natural Theology, the celebrated divine of the late Georgian Church, assailed by evangelicals and Tractarians alike for embodying the lazy, luke-warm formalism of his era. Once again we see how this caricature - of the man and the church of that age - is nonsense. It is a profoundly serious Christianity heard from Paley in the pulpit. What is more, we know from Louis Coulson's 2011 study To Edify and Delight: Introducing the Sermons of Gilbert White of Selborne - that good Parson White likewise preached on hell. In the words of one of White's sermons:

all impenitent sinners, all who die without having made their peace with God by a due repenting and forsaking all their sins, shall be everlastingly punish'd in the world to come.

Such sermons by Paley and White - the one a celebrated divine, the other a mere country parson - indicate how hell and judgement were certainly not avoided in the preaching of Georgian Anglicanism. As we read this extract from Paley, therefore, the silly caricatures of the Georgian Church are swiped away and we are confronted by the serious Christianity heard from Georgian pulpits:

Now, as to the first point, which is, in other words, the punishment of hell, I do admit, that it is very difficult to handle this dreadful subject properly. And one cause, amongst others, of the difficulty is, that it is not for one poor sinner to denounce such appalling terrors, such tremendous consequences against another. Damnation is a word which lies not in the mouth of man, who is a worm, towards any of his fellow-creatures whatsoever: yet it is absolutely necessary that the threatenings of Almighty God be known and published. Therefore we begin by observing, that the accounts which the Scriptures contain of the punishment of hell are, for the most part, delivered in figurative or metaphorical terms, that is to say, in terms which represent things of which we have no notion, by a comparison with things of which we have a notion. Therefore take notice what those figures and metaphors are. They are of the most dreadful kind which words can express; and, be they understood how they may, ever so figuratively, it is plain that they convey, and were intended to convey, ideas of horrible torment.

... when it was necessary that the punishment of hell should be set forth in Scripture for our warning, and set forth to terrify us from our sins, it could only be done, as it has been done, by comparing it with sufferings of which we can form a conception, and making use of terms drawn from these sufferings. When words less figurative, and more direct, but at the same time more general, are adopted, they are not less strong, otherwise than as they are more general. "Indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil." These are Saint Paul's words. It is a short sentence, but enough to make the stoutest heart tremble; for, though it unfold no particulars, it clearly designates positive torment.

Why I support the ordination of women: a High Church reflection

A number of commenters on this blog have asked about my occasional expressions of support for the ordination of women to all three orders. With some hesitation, I have decided to post a summary of my own views on this matter. The hesitation is because I have sought on this blog to focus on issues and themes which can unify those who identify with or have respect (grudging or otherwise!) for what we might term 'classical' Anglicanism (the Anglicanism of the Formularies and - yes - of the Old High Church tradition). Some oppose the ordination of women (and I have friends and colleagues who do so, Anglo-Catholic, High Church, and Reformed Evangelical). Some of us support it (again, friends and colleagues covering a wide range of theological traditions). Below, I have organised my thinking around 5 points (needless to say, no reference to Dort is implied). 1. The Declaration for Subscription required of clergy in the Church of Ireland states: (6) I promise to submit ...

How the Old High tradition continued

Charles Gore's 1914 letter to the clergy of his diocese, ' The Basis of Anglican Fellowship ', can be regarded as a classical expression of the Prayer Book Catholic tradition. A key part of the letter - entitled 'Romanizing in the Church of England' - addressed the "Catholic movement", questioning beliefs and practices within it which tended to "a position which makes it very difficult for its extremer representatives to give an intelligible reason why they are not Roman Catholics". Gore provides the outlines of an alternative account and experience of catholicity within Anglicanism, defined by three characteristics. What is particularly interesting about these characteristics is their continuity with the older High Church tradition. Indeed, the central characteristic as set out by Gore was integral to High Church claims over centuries: To accept the Anglican position as valid, in any sense, is to appeal behind the Pope and the authority of t...

The Prayer Book's theology of eucharistic consecration: Why individual cups should be rejected

The common cup may now be shared. So says the Church of England's most recent Covid-19 guidance , issued on 25th January, repeating the guidance given in December. It is, therefore, a rather odd time to renew the campaign to allow the administration of the Eucharist by means of individual cups : after all, the Covid-19 restrictions are being eased across society, the bishops have judged it appropriate to restore the Chalice to the faithful, and there is now no pressing need to consider alternatives. Unless, of course, this campaign has never really been about public health concerns but, rather, about altering Anglican eucharistic practice and theology . The Book of Common Prayer 1662 makes clear, explicit provision for what is to happen with "consecrated Elements" remaining after the faithful receive the Sacrament: When all have communicated, the Minister shall return to the Lord's Table, and reverently place upon it what remaineth of the consecrated Elements, coveri...

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