But is not Jesus called in Scripture the Mediator? He is the
mediator in that only sense in which possibly any being can mediate
between God and man -- that is an Instructor of man. He teaches us
how to become like God. And a true disciple of Jesus will receive
the light he gives most thankfully; but the thanks he offers, and
which an exalted being will accept, are not _compliments_ --
commemorations, -- but the use of that instruction.
3. Passing other objections, I come to this, that the _use of
the elements_, however suitable to the people and the modes of
thought in the East, where it originated, is foreign and unsuited to
affect us. Whatever long usage and strong association may have done
in some individuals to deaden this repulsion, I apprehend that their
use is rather tolerated than loved by any of us. We are not
accustomed to express our thoughts or emotions by symbolical actions.
Most men find the bread and wine no aid to devotion and to some, it
is a painful impediment. To eat bread is one thing; to love the
precepts of Christ and resolve to obey them is quite another.
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