from The Temple (1633), by George Herbert:

¶   Judgement.

ALmighty Judge, how shall poore wretches brook
                                  Thy dreadfull look,
Able a heart of iron to appall,
                                  When thou shalt call
          For ev’ry mans peculiar book?

What others mean to do, I know not well,
                                  Yet I heare tell,
That some will turn thee to some leaves therein
                                  So void of sinne,
          That they in merit shall excell.

But I resolve, when thou shalt call for mine,
                                  That to decline,
And thrust a Testament into thy hand:
                                  Let that be scann’d.
          There thou shalt finde my faults are thine.

Study notes: On Judgement Day some may offer their sinless merit for judgement, but Herbert will give Christ the New Testament record of His life on earth, when He possessed the same faults by being human. E-mail comment: Hello, I've used your site over the years, and loved it, but today I found this at the bottom of the poem "Judgement": "Study notes: On Judgement Day some may offer their sinless merit for judgement, but Herbert will give Christ the New Testament record of His life on earth, when He possessed the same faults by being human." I would like to point out that this statement betrays a poor understanding of Herbert's belief in orthodox Christian theology. The actual meaning is that Herbert will give Christ a New Testament (that part is true enough), which testifies that Christ took on the faults of his people, not by being human, but by dying as a substitution for them. In other words, Christ was punished for their sins. This was Herbert's theology. He certainly would not have agreed with this study note. He believed just what orthodox doctrine has always taught, namely that Christ was fully human without participating in the faults and sins. He remained perfect and sinless. But he took the punishment for others' sins on the cross. You can see this in other poems, such as The Sacrifice: So sits the earths great curse in Adams fall Upon my head: so I remove it all From th' earth unto my brows, and bear the thrall: Was ever grief like mine? . . . Lo, here I hang, charg'd with a world of sinne, The greater world o' th' two; for that came in By words, but this by sorrow I must win: Was ever grief like mine? Thanks, Mark R Editor's response: All that you say is true, but the presumption of salvation does not enter into the poem. Herbert knew, as you said, the salvation of Christ, but in the poem he does not presume that salvation for himself (or the persona). He only submits the New Testament and "There thou shalt finde my faults are thine." I take "faults" to mean human weakness, not sin. Our sins are our own.