From a letter dated December 14,1837

William Ellery Channing

“...You justify yourselves by the strong rebukes
uttered by Jesus Christ. But Christ must be
followed cautiously here. Was he not a prophet?
Was he not guided by a wisdom granted to him
alone? Had he not an insight into the hearts and
character of men, which gave him certainty into the
severer judgments? Shall the Christian speak with
the authority of his Lord? Nor is this all. Jesus
could reprove severely, without the danger which
besets all human reproof. His whole spirit was love.
There was not a prejudice or passion in his breast,
to darken or distort his judgment. He could not err
on the side of harshness. Are we so secured?
Jesus could say of himself, –‘I am meek and lowly in
heart.’ So unbounded was his generosity and
candor, that, in the agonies of death, he prayed for
the enemies who had nailed him to the cross, and
urged in their behalf the only extenuation which
their crime would admit. Such a being might safely
trust himself to his most excited feelings. His
consciousness of perfect love to his worst foes
assured him against injustice. How different was the
rebuke from the lips of Jesus from that which
breaks from ours! Had we been present when he
said, –‘Alas for you! Pharisees, hypocrites!’ we
should have heard tones which breathed the purest
philanthropy. We should have seen a countenance on
which the indwelling divinity had impressed a celestial
love. How different were these rebukes from the
harsh tones and hard looks of man! Christ’s
denunciations had for their groundwork, if I may so
speak, a character of perfect benignity, sweetness,
forgiveness; and they were in harmony with this.
They were scattered through a life which was spent
in spreading blessings with the munificence of a
God. You justify your severity by Christ’s. Let
your spirit be as gentle, your lives as beneficent, as
his, and I will promise to be contented with your
severest rebukes.” William E. Channing