And the second is like Of a like comprehensive nature; comprising the whole of our duty to man. Thou shalt love thy neighbour “The precept enjoining love to our neighbour is like to the great commandment which enjoins the love of God, because charity is the sister of piety, clearly proving its relation by the similarity of its features, complexion, and temper. As piety is the offspring of God, so is its sister, charity, being enjoined by the same authority, and produced by the influence of the same Spirit. Piety and charity consist of the like motions and dispositions of soul, and are kept alive by the same kind of nourishment; the beauties of moral excellence appearing, whether in the great Father, or in his children, who bear his image. They have the same happy tendency to make those in whom they reside, like God, who is God by being good and doing good; like him, also, in his felicity, which arises, not only from the possession, but from the communication of his goodness. They are like to each other in their sublime and important nature, and of like use in the conduct of life; the one being the principle from which the whole duty we owe to God must spring; the other that from which the whole duty we owe to man must flow. To conclude they have a like power on the minds of the beholders, raising both esteem and love wherever they appear in their genuine beauty. These are the features by which piety and charity are strongly marked, by which their affinity to each other is clearly proved, and by which they are rendered sister graces, and inseparable companions.” Macknight. There is no other moral, much less ceremonial, commandment, greater than these.

Continues after advertising
Continues after advertising