Evangelical counsels

“ One star differeth from another star in brightness and glory, and so shall the glory of the Christians differ in heaven, according to the perfection to which they have brought their souls while in this school-time of the world-life. Over and above what are called strict Christian laws, which one must obey or lose heaven, there are certain principles of Christianity called Evangelical counsels—namely, poverty, chastity, and obedience. Some folks fancy these counsels apply only to monks, nuns, and priests. ”

“ This perfection is of counsel so far as it extends itself to the observance, not only of commands, but of evangelical counsels, such as voluntary poverty, chastity, and religious obedience; such, I mean, as when Christ said, “If thou wilt be perfect, sell that thou hast and give to the poor.” ”

“ More signs are required to decide that God intends a man to remain in a state wherein the observance of the commandments alone suffices, than to believe the same man to be called to the practice of evangelical counsels ”

“ Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart, and the good counsels of a friend are sweet to the soul." Now, there is no friend or wise man above Christ : his counsels are, therefore, of the very highest utility. The evangelical counsels, he adds, are in themselves profitable to all. From want, however, of dispositions in persons not inclined to follow them, it happens at times that they are not an advantage to this or that person in particular. [7] But here is, according to Suarez, one of the great benefits of the counsels : they surround and protect the commandments. ”

“ He requires, that all and each should emulate the other great evangelical counsels, such as mortification of the senses, refusal of dignities and honourable distinctions, perfect disinterestedness in their several functions, &c. He conceived, that God's glory would be procured by the practice of these exalted virtues; but, faithful to his principle, he judged that God's greater glory required the communication, the diffusion of them among his neighbours. He earnestly wished to bring all men to know and adore the Son of God ”

“ We have too great opinion of our own worth, that we can satisfy the law: and do more than is required at our hands, by performing those evangelical counsels, and such works of supererogation, merit for others, which Bellarmine, Gregory de Valentia, all their Jesuits and champions defend, that if God should deal in rigour with them, some of their Franciscans and Dominicans are so pure, that nothing could be objected to them. ”

“ The aforesaid counsels, considered in themselves, are expedient to all; but owing to some people being ill-disposed, it happens that some of them are inexpedient, because their disposition is not inclined to such things. Hence Our Lord, in proposing the evangelical counsels, always makes mention of man's fitness for observing the counsels. ”

“ Therefore we should contribute according to our means to charitable institutions, and indeed to all institutions that promote the glory of God and the good of our religion. To explain more fully, religious are self-sacrificing men and women who, wishing to follow the evangelical counsels, dedicate their lives to the service of God. They live together in communities approved by the Church, under the rule and guidance of their superiors. ”

“ Perfect obedience is that whereby the person obeying places all his willing and not willing—velle et nolle—in the will of his prelate, to do the acts commanded, so long as the command does not gainsay the divine will or good morals or the necessities of life, and so long as it does not conflict with the commands and counsels of the Lord Jesus Christ. And because obedience appertains to commands and counsels, the difference is to be noted between a command and an evangelical counsel, so far as they may be distinguished as opposites. ”

“ Q. Is this counsel of chastity recommended to all?
A. This counsel, as well as the other two evangelical counsels, is recommended to all. The Fathers say that these words, "He that can take, let him take it," mean, He that is willing to take this counsel let him take it. And St. Paul says: "I would that all men were even as myself." ”

“ If a person thinks of embracing a secular life, he should ask and desire more evident signs that God calls him to a secular life than if there were question of embracing the evangelical counsels; for Our Lord Himself has evidently exhorted us to embrace His counsels, and, on the other hand, He has evidently laid before us the great dangers and difficulties of a secular life; so that, if we rightly conclude, revelations and extraordinary tokens of His will are more necessary for a man entering upon a life in the world than for one entering the religious state. ”

“ A perpetual voluntary agreement takes the place of the vows as the security of stability, the members affirming that they are fully determined to promote their sanctification by leading a life in all essential respects similar to that led in the religious orders. Besides the chastity imposed upon them by the priesthood the other evangelical counsels of obedience and poverty are adopted and their observance enjoined upon the members, together with the daily and periodical exercises of community life. ”

“ The observance of virginal chastity until death is Christ's third evangelical counsel, and of this he says: "There are eunuchs that made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake," Matt. 19:12—because Christ does not command but counsels that what is fitting for a person, that he ought with good will to hold, and he says: "He that is able to receive it, let him receive it." ”

“ It may now be asked whether what has been said about the observance of chastity applies also to poverty and obedience. Spiritual writers tell us that the full and entire evangelical life includes all these three counsels, and that the principles on which one rests are common to all. Christ in His call invites those who are not hindered by insuperable obstacles, to follow Him in the practice of all the counsels, the reason for all being the same, namely, to sacrifice everything for His sake. ”

“ The congregation must see that no one seduces them with the doctrines of men, and therefore no one may be a preacher except by their choice. Where there is no bishop to provide for them, who holds Christian and evangelical views, they are themselves to give the call to the right preacher; but if they catch him erring in his doctrine, then anyone may get up and correct him, so long as “all done is done decently and in order.” ”

“ Above all it is indisputable that the Catholic Church, in order to emphasise her opposition to the so-called Evangelical freedom, devoted herself ever more assiduously to promoting a true inward life of religion among the people, the lower clergy and the bishops. ”

“ If a bishop or any other officer in this Church shall counsel the people to violate any of the laws of God, and to sustain and build up the kingdoms of this world, I will justify them, and the Lord will justify them in refusing to obey that counsel. But if they counsel you to do right, which they do, take their counsel. Instead of supporting antichrist we have agreed to give our time, our talent, our substance, our all, for the building up of the kingdom of God. ”

“ Nor is it proposed to open them up on a new principle. It is an unchallenged fact, that there exists no statutory provision for the teaching of religion in them. All that is really wanted is, to transfer them on their present statutory basis from the few to the many,––from Moderate ministers and Episcopalian heritors, to a people essentially sound in the faith––Presbyterian in the proportion of at least six to one, and Evangelical in the proportion of at least two to one. ”

“ The counsels are voluntary poverty, voluntary chastity and absolute obedience to the earthly ecclesiastical superior, as to an abbot or a bishop. Origen made the distinction in the third century and based it on two kinds of morality. The mandates are for all Christians and must be kept in order to salvation; the counsels of perfection for the higher Christians or saints. By observing the counsels of perfection one secures a higher grade of merit and a higher place in heaven. I Cor. 7:25 and Christ's words to the rich man are taken to justify the distinction. ”

“ Should there be no one in the American Lutheran Ministerium who suits, and is willing to accept a call, the church council shall have full liberty, with the consent of the congregation, and of the United Ministerium, as they may deem best, to write to some godly Reverend Consistorium, or Ministerium, of the Ev. Luth. Church in Europe, interested in the extension of the Kingdom of Christ, and call one or more Pastors, on condition that they be duly examined, rightfully ordained, pure in the Evangelical doctrine, and edifying in life and conversation, as becomes their doctrine. ”

“ Indeed, the evangelical minister requires, on the part of his adherents, a higher degree of virtue than his opponent, and he employs more powerful motives to enforce it. He requires the entire renovation of the soul, and such a conversion from all the evil habits and impure propensities of our nature, as shall constitute us new creatures in Christ Jesus. Do you enforce virtue from an appeal to the authority of God? so does your evangelical brother. Do you enforce it by a reference to its own loveliness, and its tendency to promote personal and relative happiness? ”

“ Every new sect has been denounced at its birth as illegitimate, as a something born out of orthodox wedlock and that should have been allowed to perish on the steps where it was found. Of the relative merits of the various denominations, it is sufficient to say that each claims to be right Among the evangelical churches there is a substantial agreement upon what they consider the fundamental truths of the Gospel. ”

“ Indeed, to follow the counsels of Christ, many are far more in need of encouragement than of trial.
In regard to those upon whom it devolves to receive persons into religion, they should follow the rules of prudence, and never receive only those who are fit for the religious life, who are called by God, and who have the qualities necessary for the order to which they aspire. The superior of a religious house or order is bound to follow these rules : it is a duty of his office, and it is also a duty of charity, in reference to the one seeking admission. ”

“ Declaring the whole counsel of God may involve the pastor in trouble, demand sacrifices, result in hardships, controversies, separations; yet the Lord requires it, the people need it, no safety without it for either the flock or the shepherd. Without fidelity no power with God, no comfort of the Spirit, no approval from Christ. Are they who serve as ministers of Christ willing to sacrifice ministerial support, relationship, popularity, applause—everything temporal, rather than one jot or one tittle of the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ? ”

“ They condemn also those who do not place evangelical perfection in the fear of God and in faith, but in forsaking civil offices, for the Gospel teaches an eternal righteousness of the heart. Meanwhile, it does not destroy the State or the family, but very much requires that they be preserved as ordinances of God, and that charity be practiced in such ordinances. Therefore, Christians are necessarily bound to obey their own magistrates and laws save only when commanded to sin; for then they ought to obey God rather than men. ”

“ They shall strive, as they hope for their soul's salvation, that the Evangelical doctrine, according to the foundation of the apostles and prophets and our symbolical books, be ever more fully apprehended by their own souls, and that it may be adorned by their godly conversation, to the end that they not only rule well their own households but also be examples to the whole congregation. ”

“ But, you will say, can a man use Gospel ordinances with a legal spirit?
Answ. Yes, as easily as the Jews could use and practise circumcision, though not the moral or Ten Commandments. For this I shall be bold to affirm, that it is not the commands of the New Testament administration that can keep a man from using of its self [that administration] in a legal spirit; for know this for certain, that it is the principle, not the command, that makes the subjector to the same either legal or evangelical, and so his obedience from that command to be from legal convictions or evangelical principles. ”

“ The Evangelical Alliance, made up of all orthodox denominations of the world, met only a few years ago, and here is their creed: They believe in the divine inspiration, authority, and sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures; the right and duty of private judgment in the interpretation of Holy Scriptures, but if you interpret wrong you are damned. They believe in the unity of the Godhead and the trinity of the persons therein. They believe in the utter depravity of human nature. There can be no more infamous doctrine than that. They look upon a little child as a lump of depravity. ”

“ The Evangelicals—under which name we include Congregationalists, Presbyterians, Dutch Reformed, Baptists, and Methodists, etc.—all the denominations united in the Evangelical Alliance—constitute, with their political and philanthropic allies, the majority in Congress, and the measure is advocated apparently by the whole Evangelical press and by the larger and more influential republican journals of the country, as any number of excerpts from them now before us will satisfy any one who has the curiosity to read them. ”