Sir Emilius Bayley

“ Nor is he only to watch over it himself, he is to commit the teaching of it to trusty guardians: ‘The things which thou hast heard of me . . . the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.’ (2 Tim. ii. 2.)
If, then, the Christian bishop possesses a glorious heritage of Divine truth, a privilege indeed which he shares with the humblest believer, he assumes also a special responsibility. As ‘the steward of God,’ he is pledged in the fullest sense of the term to ‘give heed unto the doctrine.’
The principle thus set forth is a plain one ”

“ If modern research tends to show that some portions of the outworks of Christianity are less strong than had been supposed, it proves with rigorous precision that the fortress itself is impregnable. Every ruin that is uncovered, every site that is identified, every inscription that is deciphered, confirms the historical veracity of the sacred writers. ”

“ If experience gathered in the past is any pledge for the future; if work well done during years of patient toil is any assurance that work shall be well done in years which may yet remain; if thoughtful, careful preaching of the word of life, and the successful administration of the largest metropolitan parishes is any warrant for expecting the continuation of such ministry in a wider field of labour ”

“ Note, lastly, THE ANIMATING PROMISE by which the threefold exhortation is enforced:—
‘For in doing this thou shalt save both thyself and them that hear thee.’
‘Thou salt save thyself.’ A selfish motive some will argue. Nay, not more selfish than it is to exist. It is selfish to pursue our own advantage at the expense of others. It is not selfish to wish our own highest goal:—the wish is bound up in our existence. ”

“ The Bible is made an object of ridicule, and the very stones cry out in condemnation; the statements of inspiration are denied, and witness after witness rises up to prove them; the voices of eager sceptics proclaim the overthrow of revelation, and there come to us from across those Eastern plains such voices from the buried past as prove their boast to be vain. ”

“ The burden may indeed be heavy to bear, but He who lays it upon His servant will assuredly give him strength to bear it; and bear it we believe he will, untiring, unresting in his work, until the dying echoes of this day’s service give place to the blessed, joyous welcome. ”

“ Yet surely the denial of the fundamental verities of our creeds, or the persistent teaching of the peculiar doctrines of Rome are not consistent with honest English churchmanship; and if those who exercise their ministry in the Church of England are found in either of these extremes, the question will be asked, how did they gain entrance to that ministry? No doubt opinions may change, and often do change after ordination; but it should surely be the aim p. 13of him who ‘gives heed unto the doctrine,’ to detect the latent seeds of evil, as well as to note them when they reach maturity. ”

“ Men may seek to sweep away the objective reality of Christianity; but, failing as they do in this, then inasmuch as the facts upon which Christianity reposes have been already wrought, and cannot be undone, the Gospel which we preach partakes of the immutability of those facts, and is alike unchangeable. ”

“ Now if, as a trustee of public property, he thinks last, not first, of private ends and personal interests; if, as a bishop of the whole diocese, not of any section of it, he ignores mere party claims and seeks out the best men from all schools of thought, he will yet surely give prominence to these three qualifications: first, that a man by holy living gives evidence of a truly converted heart; secondly, that his teaching faithfully reflects the leading truths of the Gospel, as received by our reformed Church ”

“ It is needless to dwell upon the truth that a holy life is the best recommendation of holy doctrine, and that what gives force to the utterances of the Christian minister is the hidden fire of the spiritual life which burns within. And if this be true of the humblest of God’s servants, it is pre-eminently true p. 16of those who occupy high stations in the Church. If in one sense a bishop’s life is a protected life, a life guarded and shielded from many forms of temptation, it probably has its special and peculiar trials ”

“ Perhaps we may find some clue to their solution if we draw a distinction between a bishop’s own personal beliefs and acts, and the beliefs and acts of others; between the toleration which he extends to others, and the toleration which he metes out to himself. ”

“ Never surely was it of greater importance that our bishops should speak out plainly and boldly, than it is at this moment. The public mind is anxious. The air is charged with the subtle electricity of rumour. ”

“ The lost fragment of the Epistle of Clement is thus recovered, and with the aid of a recently discovered version of the name Epistle, learned men can now restore almost in its entirety the most venerable of uninspired Christian writings. [9]
Read that Epistle, and you find that it teaches plainly the doctrines of the Trinity, the Atonement, Justification by faith, and other distinctive doctrines of our Church. It is important for what it teaches; but it is almost equally important for what it does not teach. Silence is sometimes more eloquent than words ”

“ Our leading journal, writing of the increase of the episcopate, observes that the ‘danger will be that bishops should allow themselves to be absorbed in the mere business and bustle of their work, and should neglect the more solid and silent part of their duties. The bishop must find time for constant intercourse with his books, for thought, and for mature preaching. He must make himself everywhere felt ”

“ No man, however able, can think, and study, and pray, if he is to live in a state of ceaseless location. Laity and clergy alike should remember that their bishops must have time for preparation, if their public utterances are to be worthy of the occasion; that nothing is so subtle as the processes of thought ”

“ The ninety-eighth occupant of the See of Rochester can boast of a long and distinguished spiritual ancestry. Founded in 604, some ten years after the landing of Augustine, the See is, with the single exception of that of Canterbury, the most ancient in the kingdom; and has numbered amongst its Bishops such eminent men as Paulinus the apostle of Northumberland ”

“ Certainly in three of the chief functions of the episcopal office, in teaching, in ordaining, in promoting, the bishop may adhere, nay, he must adhere with the p. 11utmost rigour to what he believes to be the truth of God.
In his charges, in his sermons, in all his public and private utterances, he will speak with faithfulness and courage: he will give no needless offence; he will respect the conscientious opinions of those who differ from him; he will fully recognise the somewhat elastic boundaries of our national Church ”