Christianity Without Christ
by
Charles Hodge
In one sense of the word,
Christianity is the system of truth taught by Christ and his apostles.
In this sense the question, what is Christianity? is simply a
historical one. It may be answered intelligently and correctly by a man
who does not profess to be a Christian, just as he may answer the
question, what is Brahmism? or, what is Buddhism?
In another sense, Christianity is that state of one's mind produced by
faith in the truths revealed concerning Christ. In this sense,
Christianity without Christ is an impossibility. It would be an effect
without its proximate cause. Nevertheless, there is a form of religion,
widespread and influential, which is called Christianity, in which
Christ fails to occupy the position assigned to him in the Bible.
The Bible teaches us, that the same divine person by whom God for whom
the universe was created, is the Jehovah of the Old Testament and the
Jesus of the New. And as natural religion (in the subjective sense of
the word) is that state of mind which is, or should be, produced by the
revelation of God in the works of nature, and by our relation to him as
his rational creatures; and as the religion of the devout Hebrew
consisted in the state of mind produced by the revelation of the same
God, made in the law and the prophets, and by their relation to him as
their covenant God and Father; so Christianity is that state of mind
produced by the knowledge of the same God, as manifest in the flesh,
who loved us and gave himself for us, and by our relation to him as the
subjects of his redemption.
Three things follow from this: first, as the same divine person is the
Creator of heaven and Earth, the Jehovah of the Old Testament and the
Jesus of the New, there can be no inconsistency between the religion of
nature, the religion of the Hebrews, and the religion of Christians.
The one does not assume that to be true, which either of the others
assumes to be false. The only difference is that which arises from
increased knowledge of the object of worship, and the new relations
which we sustain to him. The Hebrews, in worshiping Jehovah did not
cease to worship the God of nature; and the Christian, in worshiping
Christ, does not cease to worship the God of the Hebrews.
Second, it is impossible that the higher form of religion should be
merged into a lower. It is impossble that the religion of a Hebrew
should sink into natural religion. That would imply that he ceased to
be a Hebrew, that he rejected the revelations of Moses and the
prophets, and that he renounced his allegiance to Jehovah as the God of
his fathers. In like manner, it is impossible that the religion of a
Christian can sink into that of the Old Testament, or into that of
nature. That would imply that he ceased to be a Christian; that he
rejected or ignored all that the New Testament reveals concerning God
and Christ. There could be no true religion in the mind of a Hebrew
that was not determined by his relation to Jehovah as his covenant God;
and there can be no true religion in the mind of a Christian that is
not determined by his relation to Christ as God manifested in the flesh.
Third, the Christian, in worshiping Christ, does not cease to worship
the Father and the Spirit. He does not fail to recognize and appreciate
his relation to the Father, who loved the world and gave his Son for
its redemption; nor does he fail to recognize his relation to the Holy
Spirit, on whom he is absolutely dependent, and whose gracious office
it is to apply to men the redemption purchased by Christ. In worshiping
Christ, we worship the Father and the Spirit; for these three are one —
one only living and true God, the same in substance and equal in power
and glory. Christ says, I am in the Father and the Father in me. I and
the Father are one. He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father; and
therefore, he that worships the Son, worships the Father. Hence, it is
written, "Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father,"
but, "Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God
dwelleth in him, and he in God." "He that hath the Son hath life; he
that hath not the Son of God, hath not life." It is to be remembered,
however, that in the mysterious constitution of the Godhead, the second
person of the Trinity is the Logos, the Word, the Revealer. It is
through him that God is known. He is the brightness of his glory,
revealing what God is. We should not know that there is a sun in the
firmament, if it were not for his (apaugasma). So we should not know
that God is, or what he is, were it not for his Son. "No man knoweth
the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son shall reveal him." In
having Christ, therefore, we have God; for in him dwelleth the fullness
of the Godhead.
It does not need to be proved that Jehovah was the God of the Hebrews;
the object of their worship, of their love, gratitude, and trust. They
recognized him as their absolute and rightful sovereign, whose
authority extended over their inward As well as their outward life. On
him they were dependent, .And to him they were responsible. His favor
was their life, and they could say, "Whom have we in heaven but thee,
and there is none on earth we desire beside thee."
As little does it require proof that Christ is the God of Christians.
In the New Testament all divine titles are given to him. He is called
God, the true God, the great God, God over all, Jehovah. He is declared
to be almighty, omnipresent, immutable, and eternal. He created heaven
and earth; all things visible and invisible were made by him and for
him, and by him all things consist. He upholds all things by the word
of his power. This divine person became flesh; he was found in fashion
as a man, and in the form of a servant. Having been born of a woman, he
was made under the law, and fulfilled all righteousness. He redeemed us
from the come of the law by .being made a come for us. He bore our sins
in his own body ,on the tree. He died the just for the unjust, to bring
us unto God, and having died for our offenses, and risen again for our
.justification, has ascended to heaven, where lie is seated on the
right hand of God, all power in heaven and earth being committed to his
hands, and where he ever lives to make intercession for his people.
This Christ, God and man, in two distinct natures and one person
forever, was to the writers of the New Testament all and in all. He
was; their wisdom; from him they derived all their knowledge of divine
things, and to his teaching they implicitly submitted. He was their
righteousness; renouncing all dependence on their own righteousness,
they trusted exclusively on the merit of his obedience and death for
their acceptance with God. He was their sanctification. Their spiritual
life was derived from him and sustained by him. They were in him as the
branch is in the vine, or the members in the body, so that it was not
they who lived, but Christ who lived in them. Without him they could do
nothing; they could no more bring forth the fruits of holy living
separated from him than a branch can bear fruit when separated from the
vine, nor than the body can live when separated from the head. They
felt themselves to be in him in such a sense, that what he did, they
did. They died with him. They rose with him. What he is, they become.
What he has, they receive, all in their measure — that is, as much as
they can hold. They are filled with the fullness of God in Him.
This being so, it follows, of course, that Christ was to them the
object of divine worship and of all the religious affections, of
adoration, of supreme love, of trust, of submission, of devotion He was
their absolute sovereign and proprietor by the double right of creation
and redemption. Love to him was the motive, his Will the rule, his
glory the end of their obedience. it It was Christ for them to live.
Living or dying, they were the Lord's. They enforced all moral duties
out of regard to him; wives were to obey their husbands, children their
parents, servants their masters, for Christ's sake. Christians were
commanded not to utter a contaminating word in a brother's ear because
he belonged to Christ; they endeavored to preserve their personal
purity, because their bodies were the members of Christ. The
blessedness of heaven in their view consisted in being with Christ, in
beholding his glory, enjoying his love, in being like him, and in being
devoted to his services. It is a simple fact, that such was the
Christianity of the writers of the New Testament Their religious life
terminated on Christ, and was determined by their relation to him. He
was their God, their Saviour, their prophet, priest, and king; they
depended on his righteousness for their justification; they looked to
him for sanctification. He was their life, their way, their end. If
they lived, it was for him; if they died, it was that they might be
with him. They did not attempt to reform or to save me, on the
principles of natural religion, or by a process of moral culture. These
had their place, but they are inadequate and absorbed in a higher moral
power. Paul, in writing to Titus, speaking of Christians before their
conversion, says: "They were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived,
serving diverse lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy,
hateful, and hating me another. But after the kindness and love of God
our Saviour toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we
have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us, by the washing of
regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost, which he shed on us
abundantly, through Jesus Christ our Saviour, that, being justified by
grace, we should be heirs according to the promise, of eternal life."
They, therefore, labored for the reformation and salvation of men, by
going everywhere preaching Christ as the only Saviour from sin.
What Christianity was in the hearts of the apostles, it has been in the
hearts of Christians of all ages, and in all parts of the world. Of
this, every Christian has the evidence in his own experience. Christ is
to him both God and man-God manifest in the flesh; God surrounded by
the rainbow of humanity, which softens, diversifies, and beautifies his
rays. Christ he worships, trusts, loves, and obey,. Christ is his
wisdom, his righteousness, his sanctification, his redemption. Christ
is ever near him, so that he can be spoken to, appealed to, and
communed with; a present help in every time of needChrist is the
Christian's portion for time and for eternity. With Christ he has
everything, and without him he has nothing.
The experience of one Christian is the experience of all. This is the
conscious bond of their union. The hymns which live through all ages,
are hymns of praise to Christ. All Protestants can join with St.
Bernard, when he says: "Jesus, the very thought of Thee, With sweetness
fills my breast; But sweeter far Thy face to see, And in Thy presence
rest. When once Thou visitest the heart, Then light begins to shine,
Then earthly vanities depart; Then kindles love divine. Jesus, our only
joy be Thou, As Thou our prize shalt be; Jesus, be Thou our glory now,
And through eternity." "JESUS, OUR BEING'S HOPE AND END." They can also
join with that other Bernard, who says of heaven: "The Lamb is all thy
splendor, The Crucified thy praise, His laud and benediction, His
ransomed people raise." What is true of the Christianity of the
mediaeval saints, is true of believers now. Toplady's hymn "Rock of
Ages, cleft for me," finds a response in every Christian heart, So does
his hymn... "Compared with Christ, in all besides, No comeliness I see;
The one thing needful, clearest Lord, Is to be one with Thee." "Thyself
bestow; for Thee alone, I absolutely pray." "Less than Thyself will not
suffice, My comfort to restore: More than Thyself I cannot have; And
Thou canst give no more." Cowper expresses the hopes and feelings of
every believer in his hymn, "There is a fountain filled with blood,
Drawn from Immanuel's veins; And sinners Plunged beneath that flood,
Lose all their guilty stains."
Every Christian can join with Newton in saying, "How sweet the name of
Jesus sounds, In a believer's cars; It soothes his sorrows, heals his
wounds, And drives away his team. It makes the wounded spirit whole,
And calms the troubled breast; 'Tis manna to the hungry soul, And to
the weary rest." "He is a rock, a shield, a hiding-place, a
never-failing treasury." "Jesus, my Shepherd, Husband, Friend, My
Prophet, Priest, and King, My Lord, my Life, my Way, my End, Accept the
praise I bring." "When I see Thee as Thou art, I'll praise Thee as I
ought." In like manner, Keble makes Christ everything to the believer.
"Sun of my soul, Thou Saviour dear, It is not night, if Thou be near."
"Abide with me from morn to eve, For without Thee, I cannot. live;
Abide with me when night is nigh; For without Thee, I dare not die."
"Come near to bless-us when we wake, Ere through the world our way we
take; Till, in the ocean of Thy love, We lose ourselves in heaven
above."
Wesley's hymn, "Jesus, lover of my soul," is on the lips of every
English- speaking Christian. All look up to him as a guide, as their
refuge, their trust, their only source of strength, as their all, more
than a1l — as the source of spiritual and eternal life. In another hymn
he says: "I thirst, I pine, I die to prove, The wonders of redeeming
love, The love of Christ to me. Thy only love do I require; Nothing on
earth beneath desire, Nothing in heaven above. Let earth, and heaven,
and all things go, Give me Thy only love to know, Give me Thy only
love." Again, "Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing, My dear Redeemer's
praise, The glories of my God and 'King, The triumphs of his grace,"
etc., etc. So Dr, Watts, "Dearest of all the names above, My Jesus and
my God." "Till God in human flesh I see, My thoughts no comfort find."
"But, if Immanuel's face appear, My hope, my joy begins." "Jesus, my
God, Thy blood alone, Has power sufficient to atone; Thy blood can make
me white as snow; No Jewish type could cleanse me so." 'To the dear
fountain of Thy blood, Incarnate God I fly, There let me wash my guilty
soul From sins of deepest dye." "A guilty, weak, and helpless worm, On
Thy kind arms I fail, Be Thou my strength and righteousness, My Jesus
and my all." Volumes might be filled with such proofs of what
Christianity is in the hearts of Christians. It will be observed, it is
not mainly Christ as a teacher, as an example, nor even as the expiator
of our sins — it is not mainly what He has done that is rendered thus
prominent; but what He is. He is God clothed in our nature, ever with
'us, ever in us — our life, our present joy, our everlasting portion;
the one to whom we owe everything, from whom we derive everything, who
loves us with a love that is peculiar, exclusive (that is, such a, he
entertains for no other class of beings), and unspeakable.
In painful contrast with the Christianity of the Bible and of the
church, there is a kind of religion, very prevalent and very
influential, calling itself Christianity, which may be properly
designated Christianity without Christ. It might be all that it is,
though Christ had never appeared, or, at least, al. though our relation
to him were entirely different from what it really is.
The lowest form of this kind of religion is that which assumes Christ
to be a mere man, or, at most, merely a creature. Then, of course, He
cannot be an object of adoration, of supreme love, of trust, and of
devotion. The difference is absolute between the inward religious state
of those who regard Christ as a creature, and that of those who regard
him as God. If the one be true religion, the other is impiety.
It The second form of this religion admits of higher views of the
person of Christ, but it reduces Christianity to. benevolence. And by
benevolence is often meant nothing more than philanthropy. The gospel
is made to consist in the inculcation of the command, Love your
neighbor as yourself. All who approximately do this are called
Christians. Hence it is mid, that if all records concerning Christ
should be blotted out of existence, his religion could be evolved out
of our own nature.
And hence, too, an avowed atheist is told, that if he sits up all
night with a sick child, he is a Christian, whatever he may think. A
popular poem — popular because of the sentiment which it teaches —
represents the recording angel as placing at the head of those who love
God, the name of the man who could only say; "Write me as one who loves
my fellow-men." The love of our fellow-men is thus made the highest
form of religion. This is below even natural religion. It ignores God
as well as Christ. Yet this is the doctrine which we find, variously
sugared over and combined, in poetry, in novels, in magazines, and even
in religious journals.
The doctrine which makes benevolence, the desire or purpose to promote
the happiness not of our fellow-men merely, but of being in general, or
all beings, logically, and often actually, results essentially in the
same thing. All religion, all moral excellence consists in benevolence,
Our only obligation is so to act as to promote the greatest good. This
is the motive and the end of obedience. According to the New Testament,
the motive to obedience is the love of Christ, the rule of obedience is
the will of Christ, and its end the glory of Christ. Every Christian is
benevolent; but his benevolence does not make him a Christian; his
Christianity makes him benevolent. Throughout all ages the men who have
labored most and suffered most for the good of others, have been
Christians — men animated and controlled by Christ's love to them, and
by their love to Christ. It is evident that the spiritual life — the
inward religious state — of the man to whom it is Christ to live, is
very different from that of the man who lives for the happiness of the
universe. A man might thus live if there were no Christ.
Another form of religion in which Christ fails to occupy his proper
position, is that which assumes God to be merely a moral governor, of
infinite power and benevolence. Being infinitely benevolent, he desires
the well being of his kingdom. To forgive sin without some suitable
manifestation of his disapprobation of sin, would be inconsistent with
a wise benevolence. Christ makes that manifestation in his sufferings
and death. Then he retires; henceforth we have nothing to do with him;
we have to deal with God on the principles of natural religion; we must
submit to his authority, obey his commandments, and expect to be
rewarded, not merely according to, but for, our works. Christ merits
nothing for us, we are not to look to him for sanctification, or any
other blessing. All he has done, or does, is to make it consistent with
the benevolence of God to forgive sin. Forgiveness of sin, therefore,
is the only benefit which God bestows on us on account of Christ.
This theory changes everything. Men me rebellious subjects. It is now
consistent in God to forgive them. He calls on them to submit, to lay
down their arms, then he is free to deal with them as though they had
never sinned. They must merit, not forgiveness — for that is granted on
account of what Christ has done — but the reward promised to obedience;
justification is simply pardon. Conversion is that change which takes
place in a man when he ceases to be selfish, and becomes benevolent;
ceases making his own happiness the end of his life, and determines to
seek the happiness of the universe. The essence of faith is love, i.e.,
benevolence. It is hard to see, according to this theory, in what sense
Christ is our prophet, priest, and king; how He is our wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption; what is meant by our
being in him as the branch is in the vine; or, what our Lord meant when
He said, "without me, ye can do nothing;" what was in Paul's mind when
he said, it is Christ for me to live, "it is not I that live, but
Christ liveth in me," and so on to the end. This is a different kind of
religion from that which we find in the Bible and in the experience of
the church. As the religion (in the subjective sense of the word) is
different, so is the preaching different, and so are the modes of
dealing with sinners, and of promoting reformation among men. Some go
so far as to hold, that there can be morality without religion; men are
exhorted to be moral bemuse it is right, because it will promote their
own welfare, and make them respected and useful. They we to become
morally good by a process of moral culture, by suppressing evil
feelings and cherishing such as are good ones, by abstaining from what
is wrong and doing what is right.
Others take the higher ground of theism, or of natural religion, and
bring in considerations drawn from our relation to God as an infinitely
perfect being, our creator and preserver and father, who has rightful
authority over us, who has prescribed the rule of duty, and who rewards
the righteous and punishes the wicked.
All this is true and good in its place. But it is like persuading the
blind to see and the deaf to hew. This is not the gospel. Christ is the
only Saviour from sin, the only source of holiness, or of spiritual
life. The first step in salvation from sin is our reconciliation to
God. The reconciliation is effected by the expiation made by the death
of Christ (Rom. 5:10). It is his blood, and his blood alone, that
cleanses from sin. As long as men arc under the law, they bring forth
fruit unto death; it is only when freed from the law, freed from its
inexorable demand of perfect obedience and from its awful penalty, that
they bring forth fruit unto God (Rom. 7:4-6). Christ delivered us from
the law as demanding perfect obedience, by being made under the law,
and fulfilling all righteousness for us; and he redeems us from the
curse of the law, by being made a curse for us — dying the just for the
unjust, and bearing our sins in his own body on the tree. Being thus
reconciled unto God by his death, we are saved by his life. He sends
the Holy Spirit to impart to us spiritual life, and transforms us more
and more into his own image. The Spirit reveals to us the glory of
Christ and his infinite love. He makes us feel not only that we owe
everything to him, but that he himself is everything to us — our
present joy and our everlasting portion — our all in all. Thus every
other motive to obedience is absorbed and sublimated into love to
Christ and zeal for his glory. His people become like him, and as he
went about doing good, so do they. All this of course, is folly to the
Greek. God, however, has determined by the foolishness of preaching to
save them who believe. Pulmonary consumption is more destructive of
human life than the plague. So Christianity without Christ, in all its
forms, the phthisis of the church, is more to be dreaded than
skepticism, whether scientific or philosophical. The only remedy is
preaching Christ, as did the apostles.
Two important facts are to be home in mind. First, the inward religious
life of men, as well as their character. and conduct, am determined by
their doctrinal opinions. Even the Edinburgh Review, years ago, said,
"The character of an age is determined by the theology of that age."
Therefore, any system of doctrine which assigns to Christ a lower
position than that which he occupies in the New Testament, must, in a
like degree, lower the standard of Christianity — that is, the
religious life of those calling themselves Christians. Second,
nevertheless, it is equally true that men are more governed by their
practical than by their speculative convictions. The idealist does not
feel and act on his belief that the external world has no real
existence. In like manner, the religious life of men is often
determined more by the plain teaching of the Scriptures and by the
common faith of the church than by their theological theories. Hence,
men have often more of Christ in their religion than in their theology.
It is, however, of the last importance to remember, that sound doctrine
is, under God, our only security for true religion and pure morals. If
we forsake the truth, God forsakes us.