A Portraiture of Quakerism, Volume II (of 3) by Thomas Clarkson

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That Jesus Christ never forbad water-baptism, the Quakers readily allow.
But they conceive his silence on this subject to have arisen from his
knowledge of the internal state of the Jews. He knew how carnal their
minds were; how much they were attached to outward ordinances; and how
difficult it was to bring them all at once into his spiritual kingdom.
Hence, he permitted many things for a time, on account of the weakness
of their spiritual vision.

That Jesus submitted also to baptism himself, they allow. But he
submitted to it, not because he intended to make it an ordinance under
the new dispensation, but to use his own words, "that he might fulfil
all righteousness." Hence, also he was circumcised. Hence he celebrated
the Passover. And hence, he was enabled to use these remarkable words
upon the cross: "It is fulfilled."

But though Jesus Christ never forbad water-baptism, and, though he was
baptized with water by John, yet he never baptized any one himself. A
rumour had gone abroad among the Pharisees, that the Jesus had baptized
more disciples than John the Baptist. But John, the beloved disciple of
Jesus, who had leaned on his bosom, and who knew more of his sentiments
and practice than any other person is very careful, in correcting this
hear-say report, as if unworthy of the spiritual mind of his master,
and states positively; [180] "that Jesus-baptized not."

[Footnote 180: John 4.2.]

The Quakers, lay a great stress upon this circumstance: for they say,
that if Jesus never baptized with water himself, it is a proof that he
never intended to erect water-baptism into a Gospel-rite. It is
difficult to conceive, they say, that he should have established a
Sacrament, and that he should never have administered it. Would he not,
on the other hand, if his own baptism had been that of water, have begun
his ministry by baptizing his own disciples, notwithstanding they had
previously been, baptized by John? But he not only never baptized, _but
it is no where_ recorded of him, that he ordered his disciples to
baptize "with water."[181] He once ordered a leper to go to the priest,
and to offer the gift for his cleansings. At another time[182], he
ordered a blind man to go and wash in the pool of Siloam; but he never
ordered any one to go and be baptized with water. On the other hand, it
is said by the Quakers, that he dearly intimated to three of his
disciples, at the transfiguration, that the dispensations of Moses and
John were to pass away; and that he taught himself, "that the kingdom of
God cometh not with observation;" or, that it consisted not in those
outward and lifeless ordinances, in which many of those to whom he
addressed himself placed the essence of their religion.

[Footnote 181: Mat. 8.4.]

[Footnote 182: John 9.7]

CHAP. XVI.

SECT. I.

_Supper of the Lord--Two such suppers, one enjoined by Moses, the other
by Jesus Christ--The former called the Passover--Original manner of its
celebration--The use of bread and wine added to it--Those long in use
when Jews Christ celebrated it--Since his time, alterations made in this
supper by the Jews--But bread and wine still continued to be component
parts of it, and continue so to the present day--Modern manner of the
celebration of it._

There are two suppers of the Lord recorded in the Scriptures; the first
enjoined by Moses, and the second by Jesus Christ.

The first is called the Supper of the Lord, because it was the last
supper which Jesus Christ participated with his disciples, or which the
Lord and master celebrated with them in commemoration of the passover.
And it may not improperly be called the Supper of the Lord on another
account, because it was the supper which the lord and master of every
Jewish family celebrated, on the same festival, in his own house.

This supper was distinguished, at the time alluded to, by the name of
the Passover Supper. The object of the institution of it was to
commemorate the event of the Lord passing over the houses of the
Israelites in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered the
former from their hard and oppressive bondage.

The directions of Moses concerning this festival were short, but
precise.

On the fourteenth day of the first month, called Nissan, the Jews were
to kill a lamb in the evening. It was to be eaten in the same evening,
roasted with fire, and the whole of it was to be eaten, or the remains
of it to be consumed with fire before morning. They were to eat it with
loins girded, with their shoes on their feet, and with their staves in
their hands, and to eat it in haste. The bread which they were to eat,
was to be unleavened, all of it, and for seven days. There was to be no
leaven in their houses during that time. Bitter herbs also were to be
used at this feast. And none who were uncircumcised were allowed to
partake of it.

This was the simple manner in which the passover, and the feast of
unleavened bread, which was included in it, were first celebrated. But
as the passover, in the age following its institution, was not to be
killed and eaten in any other place than where the Lord chose to fix his
name, which was afterwards at Jerusalem, it was suspended for a time.
The Jews, however, retained the festival of unleavened bread, wherever
they dwelt. At this last feast, in process of time, they added the use
of wine to the use of bread. The introduction of the wine was followed
by the introduction of new customs. The Lord or master of the feast used
to break the bread, and to bless it, saying, "Blessed be thou, O Lord,
who givest us the fruits of the earth." He used to take the cup, which
contained the wine, and bless it also: "Blessed be thou, O Lord, who
givest us the fruit of the vine." The bread was twice blessed upon this
occasion, and given once to every individual at the feast. But the cup
was handed round three times to the guests. During the intervals between
the blessing and the taking of the bread and of the wine, the company
acknowledged the deliverance of their ancestors from the Egyptian
bondage; they lamented their present state; they confessed their sense
of the justice of God in their punishment; and they expressed their hope
of his mercy from his former kind dealings and gracious promises.

In process of time, when the Jews were fixed at Jerusalem, they revived
the celebration of the passover, and as the feast of unleavened bread
was connected with it, they added the customs of the latter, and blended
the eating of the lamb and the use of the bread and wine, and several
accompaniments of consecration, into one ceremony. The bread therefore
and the wine had been long in use as constituent parts of the
passover-supper, and indeed of all the solemn feasts of the Jews, when
Jesus Christ took upon himself, as master of his own family of
disciples, to celebrate it. When he celebrated it, he did as the master
of every Jewish family did at that time. He took bread, and blessed,
and broke, and gave to his disciples. He took the cup of wine, and gave
it to them also. But he conducted himself differently from others in one
respect, for he compared the bread of the passover to his own body, and
the wine to his own blood, and led the attention of his disciples from
the old object of the passover, or deliverance from Egyptian bondage, to
a new one, or deliverance from sin.

Since the time of our Saviour, we find that the Jews, who have been
dispersed in various parts of the world, have made alterations in this
supper: but all of them have concurred in retaining the bread and wine
as component parts of it. This will be seen by describing the manner in
which it is celebrated at the present day.

On the fourteenth day of the month Nissan, the first-born son of every
family fasts, because the first-born in Egypt were smitten on that
night. A table is then set out, and covered with a cloth. On the middle
of it is placed a large dish, which is covered with a napkin. A large
passover cake of unleavened bread, distinguished by marks, and
denominated "_Israelite_," is then laid upon this napkin. Another, with
different marks, but denominated "_Levite_," is laid upon the first: and
a third, differently marked, and denominated "_Priest_," is laid upon
the second. Upon this again a large dish is placed, and in this dish is
a shank bone of a shoulder of lamb, with a small matter of meat on it,
which is burnt quite brown on the fire. This is instead of the lamb
roasted with fire. Near this is an egg, roasted hard in hot ashes, that
it may not be broken, to express the totality of the lamb. There is also
placed on the table a small quantity of raw charvil instead of the
bitter herbs ordered; also a cup with salt water, in remembrance of the
sea crossed over after that repast; also a stick of horse radish with
its green top to it, to represent the bitter labour that made the eyes
of their ancestors water in slavery; and a couple of round balls, made
of bitter almonds pounded with apples, to represent their labour in lime
and brinks. The seat or couch of the master is prepared at the head of
the table, and raised with pillows, to represent the masterly authority
of which the Jews were deprived in bondage. The meanest of the servants
are seated at the table for two nights with their masters, mistresses,
and superiors, to denote that they were all equally slaves in Egypt, and
that all ought to give the same ceremonial thanks for their redemption.
Cups also are prepared for the wine, of which each person must drink
four in the course of the ceremony. One cup extraordinary is set on the
table for Elias, which is drank by the youngest in his stead.

All things having been thus prepared, the guests wash their hands, and
seat themselves at table. The master of the family, soon after this,
_takes his cup of wine in his right hand_, and the rest at the table
doing the same, he says, together with all the others, "Blessed art
thou, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who hast created the fruit
of the vine." This is followed by a. thanksgiving for the institution of
the passover. _Then the cup of wine is drank by all_. Afterwards the
master of the family says, "Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of
the Universe, who hast sanctified us with thy commandments, and
commanded us to cleanse our hands."

Then the master of the family desires the guests to partake of the
charvil dipped in salt water, which he gives them with an appropriate
blessing. He makes them touch also the dish, containing the egg and
shank bone of the lamb, and repeat with him a formula of words suited to
the subject. He then takes _the second cup of wine_, and uses words in
conjunction with the rest, expressive of the great difference between
this and any other night. After this, copious remarks follow on the
institution of the passover. Then follow queries and answers of the
rabbis on this subject: then historical accounts of the Jews: then the
fifteen acts of the goodness of God to the Jewish nation, which they
make out thus:--He led the Jews out of Egypt: he punished the Egyptians:
he executed judgment on their gods: he slew their first-born: he gave
the Jews wealth: he divided the sea for them: he made them pass through
it as on dry land: he drowned the Egyptians in the same: he gave food to
the Jews for forty years in the wilderness; he fed them with manna: he
gave them the sabbath: he brought them to Mount Sinai: he gave them the
law: he brought them to the Laud of Promise: he built the Temple.

When these acts of the goodness of God, with additional remarks on the
passover out of Rabbi Gamaliel, have been recited, all the guests touch
the dish which contains the three cakes of bread before mentioned, and
say: "This sort of unleavened bread, which we eat, is because there was
not sufficient time for the dough of our ancestors to rise, until the
blessed Lord, the King of Kings, did reveal himself to redeem them, as
it is written. And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough, which they
brought forth out of Egypt; for it was not leavened, because they were
thrust out of Egypt, and could not tarry; neither had they prepared for
themselves any victuals." After this they touch the horse-radish and
join in a narration on the subject of their bondage. Then they take
_their third cup of wine_, and pronounce a formula of adoration and
praise, accompanied with blessings and thanksgivings, in allusion to the
historical part of the passover. After this the master of the family
washes his hands and says, "Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of
the Universe, who hast sanctified us with thy Commandments, and
commanded us to cleanse our hands." He then breaks the _uppermost cake
of bread_ in the dish, and says, "Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King
of the Universe, who hast brought forth bread from the earth." Then he
takes _half of another cake of bread, and breaks it_, and says, "Blessed
art thou, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who hast sanctified us
with thy commandments, and commanded us to eat the unleavened bread."
_Then he gives every one at the table of each of the two cakes of bread
that are broken_, and every one repeats audibly the two last blessings.
He then takes the green top from the horse-radish, and puts on the balls
before mentioned, and pronounces a blessing. He then puts these into the
hands of the guests, and they pronounce the same. After this, he cuts
the bottom cake, and puts a piece of it upon a piece of horse-radish,
and pronounces a formula of words, in allusion to an historical fact.

These ceremonies having been thus completed, the guests sup.

After supper, a long grace is said. Then the _fourth cup_ is filled. A
long prayer follows, on the subject of creation. This is again followed
by a hymn, enumerating and specifying the twelve wonders which God did
at midnight. Another hymn succeeds, specifying the fifteen great works
which God did at different times, both on the night, and on the day, of
the passover. Then follows a prayer in praise of God, in which a desire
is expressed, that they may again he brought to Jerusalem. Then follows
a blessing on the fourth cup which is taken; after which another hymn is
sung, in which the assistance of the Almighty is invoked for the
rebuilding of the temple. This hymn is followed by thirteen canticles,
enumerating thirteen remarkable things belonging to the Jews, soon after
which the ceremony ends.

This is the manner, or nearly the manner, in which the passover is now
celebrated by the Jews. The bread is still continued to be blessed, and
broken, and divided, and the cup to be blessed and handed round among
the guests. And this is done, whether they live in Asia, or in Europe,
or in any other part of the known world.

SECT. II.

_Second Supper is that enjoined by Jesus at Capernaum--It consists of
bread from Heaven--or of the flesh and blood of Christ--But these not of
a material nature, like the passover-bread, or corporeal part of
Jesus--but wholly of a spiritual--Those who receive it, are spiritually
nourished by it, and may be said to sup with Christ--This supper
supported the Patriarchs--and must be taken by all Christians--Various
ways in which this supper may be enjoyed_.

The second supper recorded in the scriptures, in which bread, and the
body, and blood of Christ, are mentioned, is that which was enjoined by
Jesus, when he addressed the multitude at Capernaum. Of this supper, the
following account may be given:

[183] "Labour not, says he to the multitude, for the meat which
perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which
the Son of Man shall give unto you."

[Footnote 183: John 6. 27.]

A little farther on, in the same chapter, when the Jews required a sign
from heaven, (such as when Moses gave their ancestors manna in the
wilderness,) in order that they might believe on him, he addressed them
thus: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread
from heaven: but my father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For
the bread of God is he that cometh down from heaven, and giveth light
unto the world."

Then said they unto him, "Lord, evermore give us this bread." And Jesus
said unto them, "I am the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall
never hunger; and he that believeth in me, shall never thirst."

It appears, that in the course of these and other words that were spoken
upon this occasion, the Jews took offence at Jesus Christ, because he
said, he was the bread that came down from heaven; for they knew he was
the son of Joseph, and they knew both his father and his mother. Jesus
therefore directed to them the following observations:

"I am the bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness,
and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a
man may eat thereof and not die. I am the living bread, which came down
from heaven. If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever. And
the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life
of the world." The Jews, therefore, strove among themselves, saying, How
can this man give us his flesh to eat? Then Jesus said unto them,
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, except ye eat the flesh of the Son of
Man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whosoever eateth my
flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up
at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink
indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me,
and I in him. As the living father hath sent me, and I live by the
father, so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. This is that
bread that came down from heaven. Not as your fathers did eat manna, and
are dead. He that eateth of this bread, shall live forever."

As the Jews were still unable to comprehend the meaning of his words,
which they discovered by murmuring and pronouncing them to be hard
sayings, Jesus Christ closes his address to them in the following words:
"It is the spirit that quickeneth. The flesh profiteth nothing: the
words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life."

It appears from hence, according to the Quakers, that Jesus Christ, in
mentioning the loaves, took occasion to spiritualize, as he did on all
other fit occasions, and to direct the attention of his followers from
natural to spiritual food, or from the food that perisheth, to that
which giveth eternal life.

Jesus Christ calls himself upon this occasion the living bread. He says
that this bread is his flesh, and that this flesh is meat indeed. The
first conclusion which the Quakers deduce on this subject, is, that this
bread, or this flesh and blood, or this meat, which he recommends to his
followers, and which he also declares to be himself, is not of a
material nature. It is not, as he himself says, like the ordinary meat
that perisheth, nor like the outward manna, which the Jews ate in the
wilderness for their bodily refreshment. It cannot therefore be common
bread, nor such bread as the jews ate at their passover, nor any bread
or meat ordered to be eaten on any public occasion.

Neither can this flesh or this bread be, as some have imagined, the
material flesh or body of Jesus. For first, this latter body was born of
the virgin Mary; whereas the other is described as having come down from
heaven. Secondly, because, when the Jews said, "How can this man give us
his flesh?" Jesus replied, "It is the spirit that quickeneth. The flesh
profiteth nothing;" that is, material flesh and blood, such as mine is,
cannot profit any thing in the way of quickening; or cannot so profit as
to give life eternal. This is only the work of the spirit. And he adds,
"the words I have spoken to you, they are spirit, and they are life."

This bread then, or this body, is of a spiritual nature. It is of a
spiritual nature, because it not only giveth life, but preserveth from
death. Manna, on the other hand, supported the Israelites only for a
time, and they died. Common bread and flesh nourish the body for a time,
when it dies and perishes; but it is said of those who feed upon this
food, that they shall never die. This bread, or body, must be spiritual
again, because the bodies of men, according to their present
organization, cannot be kept for ever alive; but their souls may. But
the souls of men can receive no nourishment from ordinary meat and
drink, that they should be kept alive, but from that which is spiritual
only. It must be spiritual again, because Jesus Christ describes it as
having come down from heaven.

The last conclusion which the Quakers draw from the words of our Saviour
on this occasion, is, that a spiritual participation of the body and
blood of Christ is such an essential of Christianity, that no person who
does not partake of them, can be considered to be a Christian; "for
except a man eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, he has
no life in him."

The Quakers therefore believe, that this address of Jesus Christ to his
followers near Capernaum, relates wholly to the necessity of the souls
of men being fed and nourished by that food, which it is alone capable
of receiving, namely, that which is of a spiritual nature, and which
comes from above. This food is the spirit of God; or, in the language of
the Quakers, it is Christ. It is that celestial principle, which gives
life and light to as many as receive it and believe in it. It is that
spiritual principle, which was in the beginning of the world, and which
afterwards took flesh. And those who receive it, are spiritually
nourished by it, and may be said to sup with Christ; for he himself
says, [184] "Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my
voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him,
and he with me."

[Footnote 184: Rev. 3. 20.]

This supper which Jesus Christ enjoins, is that heavenly manna on which
the Patriarchs feasted, before his appearance in the flesh, and by which
their inward man became nourished; so that some of them were said to
have walked with God; for those, according to St. Paul, [185] "did all
eat the same spiritual meat, and did all drink the same spiritual drink;
for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock
was Christ."

[Footnote 185: 1 Cor. 10.3.4.]

This supper is also that "daily bread," since his appearance in the
flesh; or, as the old Latin translation has it, it is that
supersubstantial bread, which Christians are desired to pray for in the
Lord's prayer; that bread, which, according to good commentators, is
above all substance, and above all created things. For this bread fills
and satisfies. By extinguishing all carnal desires, it leaves neither
hunger nor thirst after worldly things. It redeems from the pollutions
of sin. It so quickens as to raise from death to life, and it gives
therefore to man a sort of new and divine nature, so that he can dwell
in Christ and Christ in him.

This supper, which consists of this manna, or bread, or of this flesh
and blood, may be enjoyed by Christians in various ways. It may be
enjoyed by them in pious meditations on the Divine Being, in which the
soul of man may have communion with the spirit of God, so that every
meditation may afford it a salutary supper, or a celestial feast. It may
be enjoyed by them when they wait upon God in silence, or retire into
the light of the Lord, and receive those divine impressions which
quicken and spiritualize the internal man. It may be enjoyed by them in
all their several acts of obedience to the words and doctrines of our
Saviour. Thus may men everyday, nay, every hour, keep a communion at the
Lord's table, or communicate, or sup, with Christ.

SECT. III.

_The question then is, whether Jesus Christ instituted any new supper,
distinct from that of the passover, (and which was to render null and
void that enjoined at Capernaum) to be observed as a ceremonial by
Christians--Quakers say, that no such institution can be collected from
the accounts of Matthew, or of Mark, or of John--The silence of the
latter peculiarly impressive in the present case._

It appears then, that there are two suppers recorded in the scriptures,
the one enjoined by Moses, and the other by Jesus Christ.

The first of these was of a ceremonial nature, and was confined
exclusively to the Jews: for to Gentile converts who knew nothing of
Moses, or whose ancestors were not concerned in the deliverance from
Egyptian bondage, it could have had no meaning.

The latter was of a spiritual nature. It was not limited to any nation.
It had been enjoyed by many of the Patriarchs. Many of the Gentiles had
enjoyed it also. But it was essentially necessary for all Christians.

Now the question is, whether Jesus Christ, when he celebrated the
passover, instituted any new supper, distinct from that of the
passover, and which was to render null, and void, (as it is the tendency
of ceremonies to do) that which he enjoined at Capernaum, to be observed
as an ordinance by the Christian world.

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