DOUBT

'In our own days, when it is but too clear that infidelity increases, it is not in consequence of the reasonings of the infidel writers having been much studied, but from the progress of luxury, and the deacy of morals: and, so far as this increase may be traced at all to the works of sceptiocal writers, it has been produced, not by argument and discussion, but by sarcasms and points of wit, which have operated on weak minds, or on nominal Christians, by bringing gradually into contempt, opinions which, in their case, had only rested on the basis of blind respect and the prejudices of education. It may therefore be laid down as an axiom, that infidelity is in general a disease of the heart more than of the understanding. If Revelation were assailed only by reason and argument, it would have little to fear.'

William Wilberforce, A Practical View of Religion, p.267.  

DOUBT

'...doubts enter into the mind almost imperceptibly: they exist only as vague indistinct surmises, and by no means take the precise shape or substance of a formed opinion. At first, probably, they even offend and startle by the intrusion; but by degrees the unpleasant sensations they once excited wear off: the mind grows more familiar with them. A confused sense (for such it is, rather than a formed idea) of its being desirable that their doubts should prove well founded, and of the comfort and enlargement which would be afforded by that proof, lends them much secret aid. The impression becomes deeper, not in consequence of being reinforced by fresh arguments, but merely by dint of having long rested in the mind; and as they diffuse themselves over the whole of religion, and possess the mind in undisturbed occupancy.'

William Wilberforce, A Practical View of Christianity, p.265.

HUMILITY

'...in proportion as the Christian grows in grace, he also grows in humility. Humility is indeed the vital principle of Christianity; that principle by which from first to last she lives and thrives, and in proportion to the growth or decline of which she must decay or flourish.'

William Wilberforce, A Practical View of Christianity, p.252.

LOVE

'...true charity is wakeful, fervent, full of solicitude, full of good offices, not so easily satisfied, not so ready to believe that everything is going well, as a matter of course; but jealous of mischief, apt to suspect danger, and prompt to extend relief. These are symptons by which genuine regard will manifest itself in a wife or mother, in the case of the bodily health of the object of her affections. And where there is any real concern for the spiritual intercessions of others, it is characterized by the same infallible marks. That wretched quality, by which the sacred name of charity is now so generally and so falsely usurped, is no other than indifference, which, against the plainest evidence, or at least where there is strong ground or apprehension is easily contented to believe that all goes well, because it has no anxieties to allay, no fears to repress. It undergoes no alternation of passions; it is not at one time flushed with hope, nor at another chilled with disappointment.'

William Wilberforce, A Practical View of Christianity, p.246.  

CHRISTIANITY

'...the main distinction between real Christianity, and the system of the bulk of nominal Christians, chiefly consists in the different place which is assigned in the two schemes to the peculiar doctrines of the Gospel. These, in the scheme of nominal Chrisians, if admitted at all, appear but like the stars of the firmament to the ordinary eye. Those splendid luminaries draw forth perhaps occasionally a transient experession of admiration, when we behold their beauty, or hear their distances, magnitudes, or properties: now and then too we are led, perhaps, to muse upon their possible uses; but however curious as subjects of speculation, after all, it must be confessed, they twinkle to the common observer with a vain and "idle" lustre; and except in the dreams of the astrologer, have no influence on human happiness, or any concern with the course and order of the world. But to the real Christian, on the contrary, THESE peculiar doctrines constitute the centre to which he gravitates! the very sun of his system! the soul of the world! the origin of all that is excellent and lovely! the source of light, and life, and motion, and genial warmth and plastic energy!'

William Wilberforce, A Practical View of Christianity, p.188.

CHRISTIANITY

'In the language of Scripture, Christinaity is not a geographical but a moral term. It is not being the native of a Christian country: it is a condition, a state; the posssession of a peculiar nature, with the qualities and properties which belong to it.

Further than this; it is a state into which we are not born, but into which we must be translated; a nature which we do not inherit, but into which we are to be created anew.'

William Wilberforce, A Practcial View of Christianity, p.164.

GODLINESS

'Among men of the world, a youth of softness and sweetness will often...harden into insensibility, and sharpen into moroseness. But it is the office of the Christian to reverse this order. It is pleasing to witness this blessed renovation: to see, as life advances, asperities gradually smoothing down, and roughnesses mellowing away...'

William Wilberforce, A Practical View of Christinaity, p.150.

CHRISTIANITY

'It is the distinguishing glory of Christianity not to rest satisfied with superficial appearances, but to rectify the motives, and purify the heart.'

William Wilberforce, A Practical View of Christianity, p.127.

THE PRAISE OF MEN

'Credit and reputation, in the judgment of the true Christian, stand on ground not very different from riches; which he is not to prize highly, or desire and pursue with solicitude; but which, when they are alloted to him by the hand of Providence, he is to accept with thankfulness, and use with moderation; reliquishing them when it becomes necessary without a murmur; guarding most circumspectly for so long as they remain with him, against that sensual and selfish temper, and no less against that pride and wantoneness of heart, which they are too apt to produce and cherish; thus considering them as in themselves acceptable, but, from the infirmity of his nature, as highly dangerous possessions; and valuing them chiefly not as instruments of luxury or spendor, but as affording the means of honoring his heavenly Benefator, and lessening the miseries of mankind.'

William Wilberforce, A Practical View of Christianity, p.122.

THE PRAISE OF MEN

'...the follower of Christ must not only make up his mind to the occasional relinquishment of wordly favour, but that it should even afford him matter of holy jealousy and suspicion of himself, when it is very lavishly and very generally bestowed.'

William Wilberforce, A Practical View of Christianity, p.121.

THE FEAR OF MAN

'The desire of human estimation and distinction, and honor, of the admiration and applause of our fellow creatures, if we take it in its full comprehension, and in all its various modifications, from the thirst of glory to the dread of shame, is the passion by which the empire is by far the most general, and perhaps the authority the most commanding. Though its power be most conspicuous and least controllable in the higer classes of society, it seems, like some resistless conqueror, to spare neither age, nor sex, nor condition; and taking ten thousand shapes, insinuating itself under the most specious pretexts, and shelttering itself necessary under the most artful disguises, it winds its way in secret, when it dares not openly avow itself, and mixes all we think, and speak, and do. It is in some instances the determined and declared pursuit, and confessedly the main practical principle; but where this is not the case, it is not seldom the grand spring of action, and in the Beauty and the Author, no less than in the Soldier, it is often the master passion of the soul.'

William Wilberforce, A Practical View of Christianity, p.116.

IDENTITY

'...it is the Heart which constitutes the Man...'
William Wilberforce, A Practical View of Christianity, p.108.

PARENTING

'...take the case of our very children, when our hearts being most interested to promote their happiness, we must be supposed most desirous of determining on right principles, and where therefore the real standard of our deliberate judgments may be indisputably ascertained: in their education and marriage, in their choice of their professions, in our comparartive consideration and judgments of the different parts of their several charcters, how little do we reflect that they are immortal beings? Health, learning, credit; the amiable and agreeable qualities; above all, fortune and success in life, are taken, and not unjustly taken into the account; but how small a share in forming our opinion is allowed to the probable effect which may be produced on their eternal interests? Indeed the subjects of our mutual inquiries, and congratulations, and condolences, prove but too plainly what considerations are in these cases uppermost in our thoughts.'

William Wilberforce, A Practical View of Christianity, p.104.

SIN

'...if it be indeed true, that except the affections of the soul be supremely fixed on God; that unless it be the leading and governing desire and primary pursuit to possess his favor and promote his glory, we are considered as having transferred our fealty to an usurper, and as being in fact revolters for our lawful sovereign; if this be indeed the Scripture doctrine, all the several attachements which have been lately enumerated, of the different classes of society, wherever they interest the affections, and possess the soul in any measure of strength as deserves to be called predominance, are but so many varied expressions of disloyalty. God requires to set up his throne in the heart, and to reign in it without a rival: if he be kept out of his right, it matters not by what competitor. The revolt may be be more avowed or more secret; in may be the treason of deliberate preference, or inconsiderate levity; we may be the subjects of a more or a less creditable master; we may be employed in services more gross or more refined: but whether the slaves of avarice, of sensuality, of dissipation, of sloth, or the votaries of ambition, of taste, or of fashion; whether supremely governed by vanity and self-love, by the desire of literary fame or of military glory, we are all alike estranged from the dominion of our rightful sovereign.'

William Wilberforce, A Practical View of Christianity, p.102.  

HUMANKIND

'The promotion of the glory of God, and the possession of his favor, are no longer recognized as the objects of highest regard, and most strenuous endeavors; as furnishing to us, a vigorous, habitual, and universal principle of action. We set up for ourselves: we are become are own masters. The sense of constant homage and continual service is irksome and galling to us; and we rejoice in being emancipated from it as from a state of base and servile villainage. Thus the very tenure and condition by which life and all its possessions are held, undergo a total change: our faculties and powers are now are own: whatever we have is regarded rather as a property than as a trust; or if there still exist the remembrance of some paramount claim, we are satisfied with an occasional acknowledgement of a nominal right; we pay our pepper corn, and take our estates to ourselves in full and free enjoyment.'

William Wilberforce, A Practical View of Christianity, p.97.  

IDOLATRY

'It is not in bowing the knee to idols that idolatry consists, so much as in the internal homage of the heart; as in feeling toward them, any of that supreme love, or reverence, or gratitude, which God reserves to himself as his own exclusive prerogative. On the same principle, whatever else draws off the heart from him, engrosess our prime regard, and holds the chief place in our esteems and affections, that, in the estimation of reason, is no less an idol to us than an image of wood or stone would be; before which we should fall down and worship.'

William Wilberforce, A Practical View of Christianity, p.93.

RELIGIOUS AFFECTIONS

'From the daily incidents of conjugal and domestic life, we learn that a heart of affection occasionally vehement, but superficial and transistory, may consist too well with a course of conduct, exhibiting incontestable proffs of neglect and unkindness. But the passion which alone the Holy Scriptures dignify with the name of Love, is a deep, not a superficial feeling; a fixed and permanent, not an occasional emotion. It proves the validity of its title, by practical endeavors to gratify the wishes and promote the interests of the object of affection. "If a man loves me, he will keep my sayings" [John 14:24]. "This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments" [2 John 1:6]. This therefore is the best standard by which to try the quality, or the quality being ascertained, to estimate the strength of the religious affections.'

William Wilberforce, A Practical View of Christianity, p.52.

CHRISTIANITY

'...if in Christianity some things are difficult, that which it most concerns us to know is plain and obvious.'

William Wilberforce, A Practical View of Christianity, p.32.

HUMANKIND

'The bulk of professed Christians are used to speak of man as of a being, who naturally pure, and inclined to all virtue, is sometimes, almost involuntarily, drawn out of the right course, or is overpowered by the violence of temptation. Vice with them is rather an accidental and temporary, than a constitutional and habitual distemper; a noxious plant, which though found to live and ever thrive in the human mind, is not the natural growth and production of the soil.

Far different is the humiliating language of Christainity. From it we learn that man is an apostate creature, fallen from his high original, degraded in his nature, and depraved in his faculties; indisposed to good and disposed to evil; prone to vice, it is natural and easy to him; disinclined to virtue, it is difficult and laborious; that he is tainted with sin, not slightly and superficially, but radically and to the very core.'

William Wilberforce, A Practical View of Christianity, p.14.  

CHRISTIANITY

'...we should become impressed with that weighty truth, so much forgotten, and never to be too strongly insisted on, that Christianity calls on us, as we value our immortal souls, not merely in general, to be religious  and moral, but specially to believe the doctrines, and imbibe the principles, and practice the precepts of Christ.'

William Wilberforce, A Practical View of Christianity, p.6.