ON THE GROUND OF TRUE AND FALSE RELIGION by JOHN BYROM

EXPLAIN religion by a thousand schemes,
Still @3God@1 and @3self@1 will be the two extremes;
In Him the one true good of it is found;
In self, of all idolatry the ground:
False worship, paid at all its various shrines,
One same departure from his love defines.

By love to Him @3blest@1 angels kept their state;
Which the @3apostate@1 lost by cursed hate;
Setting up @3self@1 in the ALMIGHTY'S room,
It sunk them down into its dreadful gloom:
On separation from his love, the source
Of all felicity was lost, of course.

By love to Him, the first-created man
Was highly blest; till @3selfishness@1 began,
Thro' serpentine delusion, to arise,
And tempt above God's wisdom to be wise;
When he had chosen to prefer his own,
The naked, miserable @3self@1 was known.

Hence we inherit such a life as this,
Dead, of itself, to @3paradisic@1 bliss:
Hence all our hopes of a diviner birth
Depend on Christ, and his descent on earth;
Subduing self, as Adam should have done,
And loving God thro' his Beloved Son.

The Mediator betwixt God and men,
Who brings their nature back to Him again,
Sav'd from all sinful self, or deadly wrath,
Or hellish evil, by the pow'r of @3faith@1
Working by @3love@1, of which it is the strength;
And must attain the full true life at length.

Born of this holy, @3virgin@1 Seed Divine,
To a @3new@1 life within this mortal shrine,
The faithful breathe a Spirit from above,
And make of self a sacrifice to love:
By @3Christ@1 redeem'd, they rise from @3Adam's@1 fall,
From earth to Heav'n, where God is all in all.

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!

Other Poems of Interest...