Letters to the Clergy on the Lord's Prayer and the Church

by John Ruskin

It is in the spirit which is expressed in these words that I desire to offer the following notes on Mr. Ruskin's Letters. Among the charges which he brings against the clergy are the following:—

That we have no clear idea of our calling, or of the Gospel of Christ (Letters [III.] and [IV.])

That we profane the name of God in the pulpit ([Letter VI.])

That we teach that every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and He delighteth in them ([Letter VIII.])

That we hold our office to be that, not of showing men how to do their Father's will on earth, but how to get to heaven without doing any of it either here or there ([Letter VIII.])

That we neither profess to understand what the will of the Lord is, nor to teach anybody else to do it ([Letter VIII.])

That we pretend to absolve the sinner from his punishment, instead of purging him from his sin ([Letter VIII.])

That we patronize and encourage all the iniquity of the world by steadily preaching away the penalties of it ([Letter VIII.])

That we gather, each into himself, the curious dual power and Janus-faced majesty in mischief of the prophet that prophesies falsely, and the priest that bears rule by his means ([Letter VIII.])

That we do not exercise discipline by keeping wicked people out of church ([Letter VI.])