Ἦν ἄρα ὡς ἔοικε πάντων μέγιστον μαθημάτων τὸ γνῶναι αυτόν· ἑαυτὸν γάρ τις ἐὰν * BOM.S.ALOYS MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED 1908 RICHARD CLAY AND SONS, LIMITED First Edition, October 1894. Reprinted, December 1894, 1895, 1896, 1898, 1899, 1902. Sixpenny Edition, 1903, 1905, 1908. EXTRACT FROM THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF THE LATE REV. JOHN BAMPTON, CANON OF SALISBURY "I give and bequeath my Lands and Estates to the Chancellor, Masters, and "Scholars of the University of Oxford for ever, to have and to hold all and singular the "said Lands or Estates upon trust, and to the intents and purposes hereinafter mentioned; "that is to say, I will and appoint that the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford for "the time being shall take and receive all the rents, issues, and profits thereof, and (after "all taxes, reparations, and necessary deductions made) that he pay all the remainder to the endowment of eight Divinity Lecture Sermons, to be established for ever in the said University, and to be performed in the manner following: 66 "I direct and appoint, that, upon the first Tuesday in Easter Term, a Lecturer may be "yearly chosen by the Heads of Colleges only, and by no others, in the room adjoining to the Printing-House, between the hours of ten in the morning and two in the afternoon, to 'preach eight Divinity Lecture Sermons, the year following, at St. Mary's in Oxford, "between the commencement of the last month in Lent Term, and the end of the third "week in Act Term. "Also I direct and appoint, that the eight Divinity Lecture Sermons shall be preached upon either of the following Subjects--to confirm and establish the Christian Faith, and to "confute all heretics and schismatics-upon the divine authority of the holy Scripturesupon the authority of the writings of the primitive Fathers, as to the faith and practice of "the primitive Church-upon the Divinity of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ-upon the Divinity of the Holy Ghost--upon the Articles of the Christian Faith, as comprehended in "the Apostles' and Nicene Creed. 66 66 66 "Also I direct, that thirty copies of the eight Divinity Lecture Sermons shall be "always printed, within two months after they are preached; and one copy shall be 'given to the Chancellor of the University, and one copy to the Head of every College, and one copy to the Mayor of the city of Oxford, and one copy to be put into the “Bodleian Library; and the expense of printing them shall be paid out of the revenue "of the Land or Estates given for establishing the Divinity Lecture Sermons; and the "Preacher shall not be paid, nor be entitled to the revenue, before they are printed. "Also I direct and appoint, that no person shall be qualified to preach the Divinity "Lecture Sermons, unless he hath taken the degree of Master of Arts at least, in one of the two Universities of Oxford or Cambridge; and that the same person shall never preach the "Divinity Lecture Sermons twice." 66 PREFACE AN apologetic preface is always apt to savour of unreality, as it naturally invites the criticism that what requires an apology need never have been printed. Yet it is difficult to publish anything upon a serious subject without some expression of one's sense of its inadequacy. I will merely say, therefore, that the following lectures make no claim to originality; they are simply an attempt to arrange and summarize what has already been expressed with greater amplitude and fuller authority elsewhere; in the hope of attracting some, whose leisure in these eager days may be limited, to reconsider the important question with which they deal. Their main contention is that, whereas physical science has nowise weakened, critical philosophy has distinctly strengthened the claim-the immemorial claim— of human personality, to be a spiritual thing; and, as such, the highest category under which we can conceive of God. And as this conception would lead us to expect a progressive revelation, the evidence of such a revelation is briefly traced, and its culmination in the Incarnation vindicated. Such notes have been appended as may serve to illustrate and emphasize the main position of the lectures, by reference to authorities where their various issues are more adequately discussed. |