JT on clergy
THE THIRD EPISTLE OF PETER,
TO ALL PREACHERS AND RULERS OF CONGREGATIONS, A Looking
Glass for the Clergy.
One of the best proofs that a prophecy is what it purports to
be, is its exact fulfilment. If this rule be adopted in relation to the "Third
Epistle of Peter," there can be no doubt that it was written in the true spirit
of prophecy. We thought it worthy of being preserved, and have therefore given
it a place in this work.
PREFACE.
How the following epistle came to be overlooked by the early
saints of christendom and by all the Fathers, or whether it was purposely
suppressed by the Council of Nice, and why it was at last destined to be found
with other old mss among the ruins of an ancient city by a miserable wandering
monk, are all circumstances which my limited knowledge of these subjects does
not enable me to explain. I am answerable only for the accuracy of the
translation from a French copy presented by the monk himself. Neither can I
prove the authenticity of the original, unless it be on the strict
correspondence of the actual state of the church with the injunctions contained
in the epistle, a correspondence which seems to hold with as much veracity as
that which is found in the fulfilment of any prophecy with the prediction
itself.
TRANSLATION.
CHAPTER 1. The Style and Manner of Living.
Now ye who are called and chosen to go forth to all nations
and among all people, in time present and time to come, to preach the word, see
ye take unto ourselves marks, nay many outward marks, whereby ye shall be known
of men.
Be ye not called as men are called; but be ye called Pope,
Archbishop, Archdeacon, or Divine, or Reverend and Right Reverend or some like
holy name; so may you show forth your honor and your calling.
And let your dwelling places be houses of splendor and
edifices of cost; and let your doors be decked with plates of brass and let your
names, even your reverend titles be graven thereon; so shall it be as a sign.
Let your garments in which you minister be garments not as the
garments of men, neither let them be "seamless garments woven throughout," but
let them be robes of richest silk and robes of fine linen, of curious device and
of costly workmanship; and have ye robes of black and robes of white that ye may
change the one for the other; so shall ye show forth wisdom and humility.
Let your fare be sumptuous, not plain and frugal as the fare
of the husbandman who tilleth the ground; but live ye on the fat of the land,
taking "good heed for the morrow and wherewithal ye shall be fed."
And drink ye of the wines of the vintage brought from afar,
and wines of great price; then shall the light of your spirits be the light of
your countenances, and your faces shall be bright, even as the morning sun shall
your faces glow in brightness thus shall ye show forth your moderation and your
temperance in all things.
Let the houses in which you preach be called churches, and let
them be built in manner of great ornament without, and adorned with much cost
within: with rich pillars and paints, and with fine altars and pedestals and
urns of precious stones, and cloths and velvet of scarlet, and vessels of
silver.
And let there be rooms for the changing of robes, and places
for the precious metals and mitres.
And let the houses be divided into seats for the congregation,
and let every man know his own seat; and let the first seats in front of the
altar be for the rich that pay by thousands, and the next for the poorer that
pay by hundreds; and the last for those that pay by tens. And let the poor man
sit behind the door.
And let the seats be garnished with cushings and crimson
cloth, and with fine velvet; for if the houses of players and vain people who
deal in idle sayings and shows of mockery, be rich and gorgeous, how much more
so should be the houses that are dedicated to him "that is meek and lowly of
spirit."
CHAPTER 2. The Choosing of Ministers.
When ye go out to choose holy ones to be of your brethren, and
to minister at the altar, choose ye from among the youth, even those whose
judgments are not yet ripe, and whose hearts know not yet whether they incline
to God or Mammon.
But ye are wise, and ye shall know the inclining of their
future spirits, and ye shall make them incline to the good things which the
church hath in store for them that are called, even those that shall be called
of you.
Then shall ye have them taught exceeding many things. They
shall not be as "ignorant fishermen," or husbandmen, or men speaking one tongue,
and serving God only by the knowledge of this law.
Nay, ye shall make them wise in the things of your wisdom; yea
exceedingly cunning in many mysteries, even the mysteries which you teach.
Then shall they be fitted for the "laying on of hands", and
when the bishop hath done his office then shall they be reverend divines.
But if any man believe that he is called of God to speak to
his brethren "without money and without price," though his soul be bowed to the
will of the Father, and though he work all righteousness, and "speak as with the
tongue of an angel" -- if he be not made a Divine by your rulers and by the
hands of a bishop, then is he not a divine, nor shall he preach.
He that is chosen of you shall give you honor, and shall be
honored of men, and honored of women; and verily he expects his reward.
CHAPTER 3. The Performance of Preaching.
When ye go to the church to preach, go not by the retired way
where go those that would shun the crowd, but go in the highway where go the
multitude, and see that ye have on the robes of black, and take heed that your
pace be measured well, and that your march be stately.
Then shall your "hearts be lifted up," even as the hearts of
mighty men shall they be lifted up. And ye shall be gazed upon by the multitude,
and they shall honor you; and the men shall praise you, and the women shall
glorify you, even by the women shall ye be glorified.
And when you go in, go not as the ordained, prepared only with
a soul to God and with a heart to men, and a spirit filled with the Holy Ghost;
but go ye with your pockets full of papers and full of divine words: even in
your pockets shall your divinity be.
And let your sermon be full of "the enticing words of man's
wisdom," and let it be beautiful with just divisions, with tropes, and with
metaphors, and with hyperbole, and apostrophe, and with interrogation, and with
acclamation, and with syllogisms, and with sophisms, and throughout let
declamation be.
And take good heed to your attitudes and your gestures,
knowing when to bend and when to erect, when to lift your right hand and when
your left, and let your motions be graceful, even in your attitudes and in your
gestures let your grace be. Thus shall ye be pleasing in the eyes of the people
and graceful in their sight.
Let your voice at times be smooth as the stream of the valley
and soft as the breeze that waves not the bough on its bank; and at times let it
swell like the wave of the ocean, or like the whirlwind on the mountain top.
Then shall ye charm the ears of your hearers and their hearts
shall be softened, and their minds shall be astounded, and their souls shall
incline unto you; and the men shall incline unto you, and likewise the women;
yea unto your sayings and unto your persons shall they be inclined.
And be ye mindful not to offend the people; rebuke ye not
their sins; but when ye rebuke sin, rebuke it at a distance: and let no man
apply your sayings to his own case; so shall he not he offended.
If a brother shall raise up the banner of war against a
brother, and christians against christians, rebuke them not; but he some of you
on the one side and some on the other; and tell the one host that God is on
their side, and the other host that he is on their side; so make them bold to
kill. And even among swords and lancets let your black robes be seen.
Preach ye not "Peace on earth and good will to men," but
preach ye glory to the victor and victory to the brave.
If any man go into a foreign land and seize upon his fellow
man, across the great deep into bondage; nay, if he tear asunder the dearest
ties of nature, the tenderest leagues of the human heart, if he tear the wife
from the husband, and force the struggling infant from its mother's bleeding
breast, rebuke him not!
And although he sell them in foreign slavery to toil beneath
the lash all their days, tell him not that his doings are of Antichrist: for lo
he is rich and giveth unto the Church: and is esteemed pious, so shall ye not
offend him, lest peradventure he withdraw himself from your flock.
Teach them to believe that you have the care of their souls
and that the saving mysteries are for your explaining; and when you explain your
mysteries, encompass them round about with words as with a bright veil, so
bright that through it no man can see.
And lo! ye shall bind the judgments of men, (and more
especially of women,) as with a band of iron; and ye shall make them blind in
the midst of light, even as the owl is blind in the noon day sun; and behold ye
shall lead them captive to your reverend wills.
CHAPTER 4. The Clergy's Reward.
"In all your gettings" get money! Now, therefore, when ye go
forth on your ministerial journey, go where there are silver and gold, and where
each man will pay according to his measure. For verily I say ye must get your
reward.
Go ye not forth as those that have been sent, "without two
coats, without gold or silver, or brass in their purses; without scrip for their
journey, or shoes, or staves;" but go ye forth in the good things of this world.
And when ye shall hear of a church that is vacant and hath no
one to preach therein, then be that a call unto you, and be ye mindful of the
call, and take ye charge of the flock thereof and of the fleece thereof, even of
the golden fleece.
And when ye shall have fleeced your flock, and shall know of
another call, and if the flock be greater or rather if the fleece be greater,
then greater be also unto you the call -- Then shall ye leave your old flock,
and of the new flock shall ye take the charge.
Those who have "freely received" let them "freely give," and
let not men have your words "without money nor without price," but bargain ye
for hundreds and bargain for thousands, even for thousands of silver and gold
shall ye bargain.
And over and above the price for which ye have sold your
service, take ye also gifts and be mindful to refuse none saying, "Lo! I have
enough!" but receive gifts from them that go in chariots, and from them that
feed flocks, and from them that earn their morsel by the sweat of their brow.
Yea, take ye gifts of all, and take them in gold and in
silver, and in bread; in wine and in oil; in raiment and in fine linen.
And the more that the people give you the more will they honor
you; for they shall believe that "in giving to you they are giving to the Lord;"
for behold their sight shall be taken from them and they shall be blind as bats,
and "shall know not what they do."
And ye shall wax richer and richer, and grow greater and
greater, and you shall be lifted up in your own sight, and exalted in the eyes
of the multitude; and lucre shall be no longer filthy in your sight. And verily
ye have your reward. In doing these things ye shall never fail. And may
abundance of gold and silver and bank notes, and corn and wool, and flax, and
spirits and wine, and land be multiplied unto you, both now and hereafter.
Amen.
Christian Baptist.
THE APOSTOLIC ADVOCATE. June 1835, ed JT
