Metadata
Title
Gilbert Tennent sermons 63, "De pigritia cordis Credendum" (The heart of man is slow to believe), 1745
Date
1745/1747
Digital Identifier
PHS.TennentSermons063
Description
Gilbert Tennent (1703-1764) was an Irish-American Presbyterian clergyman, and one of the leaders of the Great Awakening.
Tennent begins this sermon by citing Luke 24:25, "Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken." He also cites Mark 9:24 and John 6:44. From dates noted in the manuscript, it looks like Tennent wrote this sermon in 1745, then delivered it again in 1748, 1751, 1755, and 1759.
Tennent begins this sermon by citing Luke 24:25, "Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken." He also cites Mark 9:24 and John 6:44. From dates noted in the manuscript, it looks like Tennent wrote this sermon in 1745, then delivered it again in 1748, 1751, 1755, and 1759.
Subject
Place
Pennsylvania--Philadelphia
Congregation
Second Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, PA
Holding Institution
Presbyterian Historical Society
Extent
18 pages
Format (Digital)
tiff
Rights
http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/
Language
eng
Type
Text
Abstract
De pigritia cordis credendum (The heart of man is slow to believe) opens with how very displeasing it is to God that people are slow to commit to faith. Then follows Scriptural evidence for such sluggishness, why, despite all the manifestations of His power and steadfastness, man is slow to believe, and why unwillingness to commit is offensive to God.
More interesting for today are the many reasons given for man's slowness, which show Rev. Tennent's years of experience and knowledge of how people's minds work, which in his day he ascribes to the workings of Satan: arrogance, thinking that faith is effortless and that God will forgive anything; unwillingness to believe in the new Covenant of free grace no matter what they hear of it from others until the Holy Spirit opens their hearts to it, and even then they think that all they need is to do good works, influenced by the way we're trained for school and working life. Or, as independent men, they are too proud to want anything "free" and to be beholden to Christ, not to seem self-sufficient. They're reluctant to beg rather than dicker for an agreement man-to-man, and even expect the Almighty to cater to their wants rather than be subordinate to God and his will.
Other men feel they are presumptuous in believing in God's mercy for such as they; having sinned before, they're inferior and dare not hope for justice and mercy later, even with the invitations given in the Bible. Some think they've sinned beyond forgiveness, others that their sins haven't been bad enough to merit mercy. For some, loud laments and breast-beating offer temporary if illusive relief but don't tend toward progress.
For these last, Rev. Tennent begins a section of practical theology: people's excuses and his responses. In this as in other sermons, Rev. Tennent, harsh to backsliders, is patient towards those who honestly struggle with diffidence and wavering faith. His comments on how Satan mitigates sin to the worldly are also interesting: sin is either trifling or non-existent-- and disguises miscreants by rationalizing, even glorifying them, e.g., the spendthrift as generous; the drunkard as sociable; the greedy or miserly as frugal.
MS difficult to read, as the paper of poor quality; lots of show-through from writing on each side of a page. See note on [p. 18] where very faint writing which needed reading with a hand-mirror seems to complete the visibly broken-off text.
More interesting for today are the many reasons given for man's slowness, which show Rev. Tennent's years of experience and knowledge of how people's minds work, which in his day he ascribes to the workings of Satan: arrogance, thinking that faith is effortless and that God will forgive anything; unwillingness to believe in the new Covenant of free grace no matter what they hear of it from others until the Holy Spirit opens their hearts to it, and even then they think that all they need is to do good works, influenced by the way we're trained for school and working life. Or, as independent men, they are too proud to want anything "free" and to be beholden to Christ, not to seem self-sufficient. They're reluctant to beg rather than dicker for an agreement man-to-man, and even expect the Almighty to cater to their wants rather than be subordinate to God and his will.
Other men feel they are presumptuous in believing in God's mercy for such as they; having sinned before, they're inferior and dare not hope for justice and mercy later, even with the invitations given in the Bible. Some think they've sinned beyond forgiveness, others that their sins haven't been bad enough to merit mercy. For some, loud laments and breast-beating offer temporary if illusive relief but don't tend toward progress.
For these last, Rev. Tennent begins a section of practical theology: people's excuses and his responses. In this as in other sermons, Rev. Tennent, harsh to backsliders, is patient towards those who honestly struggle with diffidence and wavering faith. His comments on how Satan mitigates sin to the worldly are also interesting: sin is either trifling or non-existent-- and disguises miscreants by rationalizing, even glorifying them, e.g., the spendthrift as generous; the drunkard as sociable; the greedy or miserly as frugal.
MS difficult to read, as the paper of poor quality; lots of show-through from writing on each side of a page. See note on [p. 18] where very faint writing which needed reading with a hand-mirror seems to complete the visibly broken-off text.
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