THE CLASSICAL JOURNAL. CLASSICAL N. XII. DECEMBER, 1812. OXFORD PRIZE ESSAY On the Utility of Classical Learning in subserviency to ARGUMENT. Advantages arising from the connection between different branches of knowledge-Importance of the study of Theology-Evils which result from entering on it with a mind entirely neglected, or partially cultivated-General effects of Classical Learning on the mind the best preparation for Theological PursuitsNecessity of an acquaintance with the Greek language in the study of the Scriptures-Advantages which follow in this study from a critical knowledge of the Greek tongue, and an intimate acquaintance with Classical Philology-Confir mation of the Mosaic history from Grecian Mythology, and the opinions of Philosophers-The Greek and Roman historians useful, as they convey to us the history of the world, from the dispersion of mankind, to the introduction of Christianity-enable us to compare the Prophecies of Scripture with the eventconfirm the history of the New Testament-afford interesting information with respect to the state of the world at our Saviour's birth-An acquaintance with ancient Philosophy (particularly the Platonic) useful from the connection between it and Christianity in the first ages of the Church-proves the necessity of Revelation-Utility of an acquaintance with the Ethical writings of antiquityObjections against the application of ancient Learning to Theology refuted by an historical view of their connection-Recapitulation-Conclusion. THE HE connexion which exists between the different departments of science, by which they reflect light on each other, as it multiplies the sources of innocent enjoyment, and at the same time assists the useful labors of the learned, may justly be ranked among the benevolent appointments of Providence. Were the various branches of human knowledge entirely insulated, were it impossible to deviate from the VOL. VI. No. XII. A line of study which leads to our particular profession, without mate rially impeding our progress, this single object would demand, in exclusion of every other, an undivided attention: our journey through the fair regions of science would be confined and irksome; and if we were sometimes tempted to leave the direct road, in order to take a nearer survey of the surrounding beauties, our curiosity might occasion a delay, which no exertion could retrieve. But the case is happily reversed; for if our literary employments are judiciously conducted, we may exercise and enlarge the faculties of the mind, by the acquisition of various information, which will, either directly or indirectly, contribute to our success in those studies to which we are more immediately devoted. There is indeed no liberal profession in which the mind is competent to engage, before it has been enlarged, refined, and fitted for it by previous discipline. If this is essential in pursuits which are comparatively insignificant, it must be indispensably requisite that we should prepare ourselves by a due cultivation of the intellectual faculties, for those inquiries which relate to the divine source from whence they are derived. The greatest philosophers of antiquity considered the contemplation of the Supreme Being as the noblest employment of the human intellect. And yet they were directed only by the uncertain glimmerings of reason; we are guided by the sure light of Divine Revelation: they could only infer his goodness towards man from the general laws by which he governs the material world; we view him in those mild and interesting relations to mankind, which he has made known in the benevolent scheme of Christianity. Nor is the study of Theology confined to a mere speculative contemplation of the Deity. To examine with an unbiassed judgment the evidence for the divine origin of the Christian faith, to obtain a full acquaintance with its doctrines and precepts, and to furnish himself with all the means which may assist him in evincing their truth, and enforcing their superior excellences,these are the high duties of the theological student. To the evils which arise from entering abruptly on these serious studies, without the necessary aids of human learning, experience bears abundant testimony. It has proved that the vigor of untutored genius only gives the power of pursuing error with perverted activity, and of more effectually extending its influence over others; while the fervor of piety, undirected by the prudent government of a cultivated understanding, either degenerates into the follies of superstition, or hurries us into the transports of enthusiasm. The effects which frequently follow a partial cultivation of the intellectual powers are equally dangerous. Natural philosophy, since it is calculated to give a more enlarged idea of the wisdom, power, and goodness of the Creator, deserves attention, as preparatory to the study of Divinity: in the same point of view Mathematical Science is not without its use; for it imparts accuracy, strength, and soundness to the reasoning faculty. It should however be remembered, that Natural Philosophy, or Mathematical Science, if exclusively or intemperately pursued, has a very pernicious tendency. The former, by habituating the mind, thus employed on secondary causes, to the consideration of matter alone, may render it sceptical or indifferent with regard to the agency of that Great Being, by whom matter is endued with its properties. The latter, as it accustoms the understanding to demonstrative proof, may disqualify it for duly estimating the force of that moral evidence, of which only religion can admit. But if an enlarged and general cultivation of ancient literature be united with these studies, by counteracting their injurious tendencies, it will ensure the beneficial effects for which they have very justly been recommended. The happy influence of a classical education is universally and proportionably felt throughout the different faculties of the mind; it enlivens the imagination, refines the taste, and strengthens the powers of the judgment; in a word, it tends, more than any other study, to preserve that just equilibrium among the mental powers, which, as it is most favorable to virtue and to happiness, is also the best preservative against prejudice and error. Christianity, although it challenges the strictest scrutiny of reason, yet at the same time powerfully appeals to the affections of the heart; and certainly a very important object is attained, if the mind, before it is sufficiently advanced to enter on the study of Theology, has received that general culture, which gives to both their proportionate influence. Such consequences may be expected from a classical education, which will thus animate the exertions of the student, by interesting the best feelings of his nature in the cause of his profession, while it subjects them to the control of an enlightened and manly understanding. Having considered the general influence of Classical Learning on the mind, as preparing it for an effectual and judicious prosecution of theological inquiries, we may proceed to point out some of the most eminent advantages it affords, when we are actually engaged in these inquiries. It may appear almost superfluous to insist on the necessity of some proficiency in the Greek language before we attempt to make the New Testament an object of professional study, when we reflect, that, even in the tongue to which we have been accustomed from our earlier years, different interpretations may often be annexed to the same words. As this ambiguity is considerably increased in a dead language, not only is every translation, however faithfully and judiciously executed, liable to positive error, but it is also, in many instances, impossible to transfuse the precise meaning of the original into another language, without either deficiency or excess: in so serious a matter therefore as religion, a conscientious man, who is intended for the sacred ministry, and whose duty it is to examine attentively the history, the doctrines, and precepts of Revelation, can never feel satisfied, unless he is able to form his own opinion of them by an acquaintance with the language in which they are conveyed. But if it be acquired merely from the sacred volume, his knowledge of the text will be imperfect and incorrect. The inspired writers have not unfrequently made use of a particular * Steward's Philosophy of the Mind. term, in order to express by analogy a new idea;' and as they employ the word occasionally in the proper sense, if unacquainted with classical Greek, we are liable to the error of applying the theological meaning, where the primitive signification is, required. Sacred criticism withholds its treasures from those who have not acquired some share of classical information. Unable, in obscure and disputed passages, to weigh the comparative merit of different interpretations, they must remain unsatisfied, or, by trusting implicitly to the authority of others, incur the danger of adopting erroneous opinions. While from these observations it appears sufficiently obvious, that the theological student cannot effectually prosecute his studies without some degree of classical learning, it is no less certain that a critical knowledge of the Greek language, and an intimate acquaintance with ancient literature, open a most interesting source of useful information in the study of the Scriptures. The keenness of sarcastic censure has been very indiscriminately applied to philological pursuits. When they revolve in their own narrow circle, and are considered as an end, they are indeed contemptible; they may weaken and contract the powers of the mind, and by their very nature encourage arrogance and conceit but when cultivated in subserviency to studies of higher importance, and, above all, when applied by piety and judgment to elucidate and confirm the sacred volume, they derive dignity, and demand attention, by reason of their beneficial tendency. The strong internal evidence, which the Jewish Scriptures bear to their high antiquity, is strikingly apparent to those who are conversant with the writings of the earlier Greeks. Their style exhibits a surprising resemblance to the phraseology of the Old Testament; and many of its obscurities, which arise from our ignorance of ancient manners and customs, may be illustrated by means of these authors. Numberless? expressions in the New Testament must be explained by means of the Greek writers: nor can the spirit and peculiar beauty of Classical allusions be felt, except by those who are familiar with classical antiquity. The scholar pictures to himself, in lively colors, the great apostle of the Gentiles, reasoning at Athens, the most illustrious seat of ancient wisdom, as a philosopher among philosophers, before the venerable tribunal of the Areopagus; he listens with a more awakened interest to the animated and appropriate eloquence of the sacred Orator, declaring to the Athenians the living and true God, whom they ignorantly worshipped: while the fact is authenticated by the impressive mention of the altar dedicated to the unknown God, and the accurate knowledge which is shown of the Athenian character. How energetically and how beautifully does the same apostle allude to the celebrated games of ancient Greece! But the force and beauty of the allusion are feebly felt by those who are unacquainted with the toilsome preparations, to which they, who strove for victory, submitted; the ardor with which the combatants were animated in the Michaelis, Introduction to the Study of the New Testament; where it is instanced in the word πίστις, to which may be added άγγελος, διάβολος, &c. 2 Michaelis. presence of assembled Greece, the uncertainty of their success, and the trifling reward which recompensed the exertions of the conqueror. The treasures of ancient literature, which the scholar has made his own in his intercourse with the classical authors, are also of important service in many other departments of theological inquiry: even the pleasing fables of their poets, which amused his youthful fancy, will not be without their utility. Grecian Mythology is conceived with a warmth of imagination peculiar to that lively people; and it has been adorned by their poets with the most brilliant coloring of fiction: these, combined with other circumstances, render it impossible to give a minute explanation of the subject. The ardor of many pious and learned men, who have . labored to promote the interests of Religion, has, in this instance, often bordered on enthusiasm: with a design of doing honor to the Jewish history, they have endeavoured to explain, by means of it, the whole system of Grecian Theogony. According to them, the Patriarchs and illustrious men of the Jewish nation were deified and worshipped by the Greeks: and, in order to obviate the difficulty, which arises from the number of the Grecian Deities, and the paucity of the Jewish Worthies, they have discovered, that each of the latter was adored under various titles; and have traced ingenious but fanciful resemblances between the individual and the deities whom they supposed to represent him. We may, however, without injury to the cause of Religion, allow the earlier Greeks to have felt towards those of their countrymen who contributed, in an eminent degree, to the public welfare, by their mental or bodily exertions, a warmth of gratitude natural to barbarous nations, which induces them to enrol the good, the valiant, and the wise, among their tutelary divinities. We may allow them to have viewed the powers and appearances of nature with that admiration, which prompts the savage to people every element with imaginary beings, and to address them, under various titles, as the objects of religious worship. But Grecian Mythology, although it does not admit of such fanciful conjectures, yet powerfully confirms the truth of the Mosaic records, by its wonderful agreement with them, as far as they relate to the general history of the world. The account of the creation of the world, and the formation of man, which we receive from the Greek and Roman poets, strikingly corresponds with the sober narrative of Scripture. That happy period, emphatically styled the Golden Age, when man was free from vice, and unacquainted with the miseries which now fall to the lot of human nature; when the serenity of the sky, and the vernal mildness of the atmosphere, yielded him perpetual delight: while the earth poured forth her fruits for his sustenance, without subjecting him to the toils of agriculture; since it is applicable to no subsequent state of society, can only be considered as a poetical description of the happiness which our first parents enjoyed in the garden of Eden. The Age of Iron, Warburton's Divine Legation. |