CHAPTER XII.
DIRECTIONS AGAINST SCANDAL AS GIVEN.
Scandal being a murdering of souls, is a violation of the general law of charity, and of the sixth commandment in particular. In handling this subject, I shall, 1. Show you what is true scandal given to another. 2. What things go under the name of scandal, which are not it, but are falsely so named. 3. What are the particular ways and sorts of scandal. 4. The greatness of this sin. 5. Directions to avoid it.
Scandal what it is.
I. I shall not need to stand upon the etymology of the word scandal; whether it come from σκάζω, claudico, as Erasmus thought, or from σκάμβον, curvum, &c. Martinius, Stephanus, Lyserus, &c. have sufficiently done it, whither I refer you. As for the sense of the word, it is past doubt, that the ordinary use of it in Scripture is for a stumblingblock for a man to fall upon, or a trap to insnare a man; and in the Old Testament it is often used for a stumbling-stone, on which a man may fall into any corporal calamity, or a snare to hurt or ruin a man in the world; (as Exod. x. 7; 1 Sam. xviii. 21; xxv. 31; Psal. cxix. 165; Ezek. vii. 19, Sept.) But in the New Testament, (which speaketh more of spiritual hurts,) it is taken for a stumblingblock or temptation, by which a man is in danger of falling into sin, or spiritual loss, or ruin, or dislike of godliness, or any way to be turned from God, or hindered in a religious, holy way; (and if sometimes it be taken for grieving or troubling, it is as it hereby thus hindereth or insnareth;) so that to scandalize, is sometimes taken for the doing of a blameless action, from which another unjustly taketh occasion to fall, or sin, or be perverted: but when it signifieth a sin, (as we take it in this place,) then to scandalize is, by something unlawful of itself, or at least unnecessary, which may occasion the spiritual hurt or ruin of another. 1. The matter is either something that is simply sinful, (and then it is a double sin,) or something indifferent or unnecessary, and then it is simply the sin of scandal. 2. It must be that which may occasion another's fall, I say, occasion; for no man can forcibly cause another man to sin, but only occasion it, or tempt him to it, as a moral cause.
What is not scandal, that is by many so called.
II. By this you may see, 1. That to scandalize, is not merely to displease or grieve another; for many a man is displeased, through his folly and vice, by that which tendeth to his good; and many a man is tempted (that is, scandalized) by that which pleaseth him; when Christ saith, "If thy right eye or hand offend (or scandalize) thee, pluck it out, or cut it off," &c. Matt. v. he doth not, by offending, mean displeasing, or grieving; for by so offending it may profit us; but he plainly meaneth, If it draw thee to sin; or else he had never added, "That it is better to enter maimed into life, than having two eyes or hands to be cast into hell!" That is, in a word, Thy damnation is a greater hurt than the loss of hand or eye, and therefore if there were no other way to avoid it, this would be a very cheap way. So pedem offendere in lapidem, is to stumble upon a stone. The most censorious and humorous sort of men, have got a notion, that whatever offendeth or displeaseth them is scandalous! And they think that no man must do any thing which grieveth or displeaseth them, lest he be guilty of scandal; and by this trick whoever can purchase impatience and peevishness enough, to be always displeased with the actions of others, shall rule the world. But the truth is, the ordinary way of scandalizing these men is by pleasing them.
I will give you one instance of scandal in Scripture, which may help this sort of people better to understand it, Gal. ii. 10-16. Peter there giveth true scandal to the Jews and gentiles; he walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, but laid a stumblingblock before the Jews and gentiles; and this was not by displeasing the Jews, but by pleasing them. The Jews thought it a sin to eat with the gentiles, and to have communion with uncircumcised men. Peter knew the contrary, but for fear of them of the circumcision, lest they should be offended at him as a sinner, he "withdrew and separated himself." This scandal tended to harden the Jews in their sinful separation, and to seduce the gentiles into a conceit of the necessity of circumcision; and Barnabas was carried away with the dissimulation. Here you may see, that if any think it a sin in us to have communion in such or such congregations, with such persons, in such worship, which God alloweth us not to separate from, it is a sin of scandal in us to separate to avoid these men's offence. We scandalize them and others, even by pleasing them, and by avoiding that which they falsely called scandalous. And if we would not scandalize them, we must do that which is just, and not by our practice hide the sound doctrine, which is contrary to their separating error.
2. And it is as apparent that to scandalize another, is not (as is vulgarly imagined by the ignorant) to do that which is commonly reputed sinful, or which hath the appearance of a sin, or which will make a man evil thought of or spoken of by others; yet commonly when men say, This is a scandalous action, they mean, it is an action which is reproachful or of evil report as a sin. And therefore in our English speech it is common to say of one that slandereth another, that he raised a scandal of him. But this is not the meaning of the word in Scripture: materially indeed scandal may consist in any such thing which may be a stumblingblock to another; but formally it is the tempting of another, or occasioning his fall, or ruin, or hurt, which is the nature of scandalizing. And this is done more seldom by committing open, disgraceful sins, and doing that which will make the doer evil spoken of; for by that means others are the more assisted against the temptation of imitating him; but scandal is most commonly found in those actions, which are under least reproach among men, or which have the most plausible appearance of good in them, when they are evil! For these are apter to deceive and overthrow another.
3. And it is also apparent, that it is no sinful scandalizing to do a duty or necessary action, which I have not power to forbear, though I know that another will be offended, or fall by it into sin. If God have made it my duty, even at this time, I must not disobey him, and omit my duty, because another will make it an occasion of his sin. It must be either a sinful or an indifferent action that is scandal, or something that is in my power to do or to forbear; yet this must be added, that affirmatives binding not ad semper, to all times, and no duty being a duty at every moment, it may oft fall out, that that which else would have been my duty at this time, may become at this time no duty but a sin, by the evil consequents which I may foresee, as if another man will make it an occasion of his fall. So that this may oblige me to defer a duty to a fitter time and place. For all such duties as have the nature of a means, are never duties when they cross the interest of their chief ends, and make against that which they are used to effect. And therefore here christian prudence, foreseeing consequents, and weighing the good and evil together, is necessary to him that will know a duty from a sin, and a scandal from no scandal.
The sorts of scandalizing.