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Alexander Campbell
The Christian Baptist (1889) |
| NO. 3.] | OCTOBER 6, 1828. |
Review of the Fifth Letter to Bishop Semple.
VIRGINIA, JULY 21, 1828.
BROTHER CAMPBELL,--DEAR SIR--IT is presumed that your letters to Bishop Semple, in the Christian Baptist, though addressed to an individual, are rendered public property, by the vehicle in which they appear; and, of course, that no exception will be taken to the offering of some remarks from one not personally concerned in the [478] conflict. Your fifth letter now before me, has excited a particular interest in my feelings; and, without intending to take up the controversy in behalf of one who thinks proper to decline it in his own person, I wish only to offer some correction of the statement of a certain fact--and then some remarks on other parts of this letter.
The statement alluded to is this. In your last paragraph but one, you represent Bishop Semple as having been "lured from the bishop's office, and severed from the flock" of his own charge--"to help to build up a college in the city of Washington," &c. Now, I wish it understood, that I am no advocate for a college at the expense of the interests of Zion:--to be more explicit, I cannot think that any such institution has any just claim so to engage the attention and engross the labors of the public servants in the gospel, as to take them off from the business of advancing the interests of the King of Saints, in his own appointed way. In regard to this matter, I cannot help thinking of the parable of Jotham, as being applicable: " "The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them; and they said to the olive tree, Reign you over us. But the olive tree said to them, Should I leave my fatness, wherewith by me they honor God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees?" (Judges, ch. ix.) Such (by the way) is my view of the matter; others must think for themselves. But, in brother Semple's case, there were circumstances (perhaps not generally known) which I think must present the matter to yourself and the public, in a light materially different from that in which it might otherwise appear. It is due to him that these circumstances should be mentioned; and your candor, I doubt not, will readily give the statement a place in the Christian Baptist.
For several years past, the family of brother Semple had been visited, season after season, successively, with sickness, long in its duration, and severe in its character;--death had again and again stepped over his threshold, and some of his children had been taken off in the bloom of life. His wife, several times severely attacked, found her health in a declining state, while he himself repeatedly shared in these afflicting visitations.
In this state of things, it seemed easy to be persuaded that the removal of his family was requisite to the restoration of his wife's health, and to the escape of his family from these frequently returning seasons of sickness. He had been, I believe, for some time meditating a removal, without any definite view as to time or place, when the request was urged on him to locate himself in Washington, and use his efforts and influence to resuscitate the college. And thus, prepared beforehand by the persuasion he had indulged, he accepted the invitation, and removed to Washington. The request he had received, no doubt, had its influence, as to the particular time of his removal, and the particular place of his location. And now, from these data, which I believe are fairly given, the candid may form their own judgment--whether to censure, excuse, or approve.
There remains much less room for my other remarks than I could wish: let me, however, offer a few hints.
My dear sir, there are some mortifying things in this letter. We may, indeed, as a people, deserve and need mortification; but these things are, I think, brought forward in a manner more mortifying than was requisite, even to the cause of reform. Bear with me if I say, that some of them appear to wear an aggravated aspect, and seem to betray a spirit disposed to make the worst of the matter.
In noticing the ignorance of the churches, in regard to scriptural knowledge, I must think you have spoken in terms too degrading. At any rate, I may be allowed, in behalf of the churches in general, of my own acquaintance, to enter some exception--very considerable exception, to the sweeping censure with which this paragraph of your letter is so fully fraught. Allowing for the incapacity and the unimproved minds of many, I can say, with pleasure, that the range of your censure is abundantly too wide. Yet I admit, and I lament, that there is indeed great room for complaint, not only as to other sects, but as to the Baptists; and earnestly am I disposed to second every effort that may appear calculated to redress the evil. Though I am not such an enemy as yourself to textuary preaching, when the due connexion is regarded, I think that more general expounding is a happy means of extending scriptural knowledge; and that to excite among the churches a spirit for reading the sacred oracles, and for social discussions of their contents, would be a happier means still. Now, my dear sir, let me ask, could you not recommend and urge the necessity of all this--and with better effect than can be expected from these rigorous censures.
On the item of the morality of the churches, you bring an instance of one under the notice (as you had understood) of Bishop Semple himself, where the members were so corrupt that a majority could not be found to exclude a drunken member. Now, if this were a fact, I suppose you will think with me, that this was probably some very small church--a mere fragment; and certainly I shall think with you, that it greatly needed purgation and reformation; or that, persisting, it should be disowned by all sister churches having knowledge of it. But, is this case, I would ask, to be brought as authority for a sentence of proscription against the churches in general? Surely not. You know, sir, the case of the church at Corinth, in the golden days of primitive Christianity; and you know that Paul reproved, rebuked, exhorted, and labored till a reformation was effected. This was doubtless as it should be: but we would not bring the case of this church to throw an odium on the morals of the Christian churches in general. Now, on the supposition that some one preacher had designed to exhibit charges of immorality against the churches of that day, I put it to the candor of any one to say, whether he might not, according to your method of proceeding, have begun in a letter to Paul, by stating to this effect:--"I heard that you said of a certain church--that they were carnal!--that there were divisions amongst them--that they prostituted the Lord's supper to the purpose of common eating and drinking, &c.--and that a majority had not been found there, who were faithful enough to exclude a man who had taken his father's wife!"
But you bring forward a long list of prevailing evils, viz:--"detractions, evil speakings, surmises; the breach of promises and covenants, the contracting of debts, beyond the means to pay," &c. Alas! alas! I must own to my sorrow, that these evils, in a greater or less degree, are too often found amongst us; and pass, perhaps, too often without due notice. But, dear sir, what friend to Zion will think of opposing a reform of any such abuses? Bring the whole force of your talents and your best efforts to bear against them, and heartily do I wish you success! The next matter, and the last I shall at present [479] notice, is, the effect which you ascribe to "the doctrines of special operations and miraculous conversions upon society at large, and especially upon the children of the members of churches." The children of church members, and particularly of the preachers, you represent as the most burdened sinners, and the most profligate of any in the, country. Now though this is a painful and mortifying charge--because it is indeed too often found, that the children of professors, and of preachers, (as well as others,) are irreligious and unmoral; and because it must be confessed that many of the Baptists have been deficient in moral and religious discipline; it is, nevertheless, a charge which, as far as my observation extends, will by no means apply in its full extent: so far from it, that the fact appears the very reverse. According to the best calculations I can make, the odds, in point of a regular, decorous, and moral deportment, is obviously in favor of the families of professors of religion. And as to the state of society at large, (though I would hope that we are not to be responsible for all the evils arising from human depravity)--as to the state of society, I say,--why, it is matter of triumph to the friends of evangelical truth and vital religion, to compare it with what it once was in these regions, when mere moral essays from the pulpit were the order of the day; when men were Christians of course, and mere reformation of manners, for the profligate, was deemed sufficient. Numbers of us are old enough to embrace in our minds the two stages and compare them together.
Still, however, I am ready to concede, that too little has been done amongst us, and that the best means have not been generally used to shed the influence of religion on the minds of the rising generation: though I do hope we are more awake to the importance of this matter than formerly. You ascribe the evil now under consideration to the doctrine of physical operations--special operations, and miraculous conversions. In regard to miraculous conversions (if I conceive rightly of the term) there may be, and probably there are some groundless and enthusiastic notions indulged, especially among the weaker and more uninformed; but we do not encourage such imaginations; and I believe there are but few, if any, who insist on the necessity of such conversions. And as to the nature or manner of divine influence,--more mysterious than the wind, to which it is compared, it seems to lie beyond our comprehension and I wish to be satisfied with understanding some of its blessed effects. But I will here take occasion to say, what I have long been persuaded of--that there appears to be amongst us something erroneous in the view which is sometimes taken of human inability and divine agency: both points, I have no doubt, are true, but both can be misconceived of, and misrepresented. Such a view, I mean, as leaves it to be inferred that the soul of man is dead in every sense,--even physically dead;1 and therefore, that nothing, in the way of religion, is or can be expected of him, without the impulse of irresistible power. Such a view, I own, appears to me to be mischievous; and against such a view--and indeed against philosophising and theorizing, either in the calvinistic or arminian style, I am willing to record my testimony. Let me observe, however, that I think we are improving in this respect; and that we are learning to pay more attention to the various articles of scripture truth, to their own simplicity. May we be directed into all the truth, and help to build up Zion!
| Yours in the gospel of love and peace, | |
| PAULINUS. |
Answer to Paulinus.
BROTHER PAULINUS,
DEAR SIR--YOUR favor before me is cordially welcomed. So far as you are intent on extenuating the dereliction of his flock, or the abandonment of his charge, apparent in the migration of Bishop Semple to College Hill, you have my best wishes for your success. It would give me much pleasure to aid you in this generous effort. The reasons you assign for his removal are sufficient, in the estimation of a sensible community, to justify him in a change of residence, but not in a change of the nature of his charge. Had he migrated to another section of the country where he exercised, or intended to exercise the same religious functions he had so long exercised in King and Queen, either as a proclaimer of the gospel, or as an overseer of the saints, your excuses for him would have been convincing and conclusive; but I am sorry to say, that I cannot discover the logical acuteness of your reasoning to justify him in not only changing his residence, but the nature of his charge; you afford good reasons for the former; but arguments are yet wanting to justify the latter.
If my "censures" of the ignorance and apathy of our congregations are unfounded, they are not only "rigorous" but unjust. It gives me no pleasure to state the facts on which these censures are founded, much less "to make the worst of the matter." An appeal to facts, which at this time I do not much like to have to make, is the shortest method of determining the truth, or propriety of my remarks. I am happy to be assured upon your single testimony alone, that there are some exceptions, (and would to heaven that they were a thousand times more numerous than they be,) to the universal application of these remarks. I did not, however, you will recollect, go further than to say that there are many congregations most grossly ignorant of the christian scriptures--"that there are many" (not all) "congregations in Virginia as well as elsewhere, in which there are hundreds of members who cannot pray in public; who could not tell the contents, genius, or design of one epistle, or section in the New Testament." This is, in my judgment, and from my actual observation, the sober and unexaggerated fact. Indeed how could it be otherwise? Are there not some Baptist, as well as some other sorts of religious teachers, who can themselves scarcely read a chapter in the sacred volume? And to teach what the scriptures import, is not the business of many of our Baptist teachers. The gospel of the Holy Spirit, or the gospel of their own conversion, is with some the great burthen of their ministry. Any scrap of holy writ will answer their purpose as well as another, to declaim upon: and as an occasion for them to tell how bad they have been, and how good they are now. If a true history of the intellectual standing, or rather of the quantum of religious information of our religious assemblies was published, I am persuaded it would shock the builders of colleges themselves, and would make the ears tingle of those who, like the "oyster man," have been so ingenious as to preach for twenty or thirty years without making any body the wiser in the holy writings. I know some churches in Virginia in which I am happy to think that it is otherwise; and, you inform me [480] of many within your acquaintance. But the exceptions are proportionally few when the great aggregate is viewed. But how any congregation which hears but twelve scraps of the sacred volume descanted on, in a whole year, and which has but one meeting in a month for social worship, can either be intelligent or devout, is to me incomprehensible. Indeed no individual, in my judgment, can be intelligent in the book of God, who is not a habitual and pious student of it; and no congregation can be intelligent in the oracles, which do not make the developement of them their weekly concern in the public assemblies as well as their daily attention in their private devotions.
Had I made the character of a certain church in Virginia, mentioned in my 5th letter to Bishop Semple, charged with tolerating drunkenness, a reason of a sentence of proscription against the churches in general, I would not pretend to save myself from the condemnation implied in your remarks upon the morality of the churches. But as this was neither intended, nor in my judgment done, I will let the sharp sword of your reproof pierce whom it may, seeing it cannot reach me.
When you and I, my dear sir, speak of the influences of systems as exhibited in facts, we must be allowed to speak of them as the facts have presented themselves to our observation. That the children of professed christians are worse than the children of deists, atheists, or pagans, in the aggregate, is not asserted by any christian writer with whom I am acquainted. That there are some of the children of professors worse than some of the children of deists, atheists, or pagans, is not a disputable proposition. But that many of the children of professed christians and of the teachers of the christian religion, are amongst the most hardened sinners in the community, and sometimes worse than the descendants of those in the same communities in which they reside, has been frequently remarked; and I have said that, "very generally, the children of the teachers, as well as of the taught, are the most hardened sinners, and the most profligate in the country." This has accorded with my observation, both in Europe and in these United States. This I have heard often accounted for upon the validity of an old Scotch proverb, viz. "The nigher the kirk, the farther from God." But I have, in my letter alluded to, endeavored to account for it on other principles;--as the immediate result of the doctrines of physical energies, miraculous conversions, total inability, and effectual calling. It would be much more uncharitable to ascribe it to the laxness of discipline, or the neglect of the due exercise of parental authority, than to account for it upon the direct tendency of the system. If, however, the reverse is the fact, it precludes the necessity of thus accounting for it. I have very often found it so; others must decide according to their own observation.
But that the dogmas of physical energies and operations, total inability and irresistible calling, are in their very nature paralysing and deadening, rather than quickening, I have not only my own observation, but the nature and reason of things to demonstrate and confirm. Now that the whole design and tendency of the apostolic preaching and teaching, was to call forth all our activities, and to give immediate exercise to all our energies, is to me so palpable, that it is as axiomatic as almost any intuitive proposition in the doctrine of magnitudes.
But between you and me there is no controversy here. If I have made matters worse than they appear to you to deserve, be assured it is because I have been more unfortunate than you, and have fallen upon states of society less worthy of admiration, and more worthy of censure, than has fallen to your more enviable lot. But all that is said in my letters to Bishop Semple, upon a very deliberate re-examination, is just as matters appear to me, and perfectly accordant in its legitimate acceptation to unsophisticated matter of fact. In much affection, yours as ever,
EDITOR.
As we have given so many specimens of the spirit and temper of the opposers of our labors, we shall make room for one of our numerous friends to speak a word or two in our behalf and in the behalf of truth immortal and omnipotent.
EDITOR.
LOUISIANA, PARISH OF EAST FELICIANA, July, 1828.
BROTHER CAMPBELL,--I HAVE taken the "Christian Baptist" since its commencement, and have read repeatedly all the numbers that have reached me, before I was disposed to decide on its merit. On my first reading I found (as I thought) some strong objections; which objections consisted in thinking that you indulged in too much of the spirit found in man; but, on a second and third reading, comparing your work with the New Testament, 1 am much relieved; for I find our Saviour and his apostles did, when mild and temperate means would not reclaim the wicked, use harsh ones. The inference is plain, that the followers of Christ may use the same means to effect the like consequences as did their Master. I think it is generally allowed by evangelical christians that apostolical examples are as binding as precepts. From a sense of duty to you, my strange, but beloved brother, I acknowledge freely before God and man, that your publication has been the greatest source of information that I ever enjoyed, except the Bible; and to me is worth more than all the commentaries and systems of divinity that I have any knowledge of. I bid you God speed while you confine yourself to the New Testament; for I view all mankind (or measurably so) in a state of insanity; and I find it one of the most difficult diseases among men to manage. I am a dealer in medicine. In some cases of mental derangement I use antispasmodics, amusements, plays, and other mild remedies, to divert the attention from folly and extravagance, so injurious to health. But in some cases they will have no effect; for I am obliged, for the good of my patients, to resort to blistering, opening painful issues, and in two of three cases, within a year or two, I have resorted to severe correction with a rod, which remedy succeeded well, after all the other means had failed: so that when I reflect on your sharp arrows, their rough beards, I condemn them not, believing there may be some constitutions that require them. But, my brother, remember that the right road is a straight and narrow way: for it is the King's highway: it is a holy way; having none of men's trash in it that you are laboring to clear it of: and be cautious that while you are clearing the road of thistles, you do not bring in thorns. Your adversaries first struck at you with much venom; but the sword of truth I see has wounded them, so that they have got behind the hedges, or the mountains, (for the King's way is guarded by the mighty fortifications of truth,) so that you need not dread their arrows; for the Lord is n sword and a shield to them that obey his commandments. [481]
Let no man draw you into the craggy knobs of speculation, or boggy fields of theorising on the religion of our King: for Satan, Self & Co. have so nearly argued men out of their senses, that there is (as I conceive) but little of that simplicity of religion among christians that Christ and his apostles taught; yet I do rejoice in anticipating that the day is not far distant when all of my Father's children will return to his house and enjoy the sweet communion of his love, acknowledging one Lord, one faith, and one baptism. I believe that the seed, that will produce the long-prayed-for fruit, is germinating: and I believe the Christian Baptist one of the life-speaking leaves of that heavenly plant. May the Lord water it by a combination of all the lovers of truth! until the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and Master. Your paper and the new translation have created great excitement here. Most of the professors of religion with us are Methodistic; some of them openly declare their approbation to a "Restoration, of the Ancient Order of Things," and seem desirous to get out of Babylon: while others say, "Lo, here! Lo, there!" So that from these, and other indications we see, that some of Mrs. Harlot's children, though educated in Mr. Pope's school, begin to doubt his right to rule over them always. Light seems to be advancing slowly in our region. Many of your correspondents complain of not understanding you. I think no man so blind as he who will not see. Dull as I am, I think I understand you perfectly; and I would propose a plan to others who appear so anxious to get an epitome of your faith; which is, to ask your opinion on any point or subject which they esteem as an important article of faith, as I have no doubt that you would comply.
I shall conclude my letter by observing, that as in ancient Rome it was regarded as the mark of a good citizen never to despair of the fortunes of the republic; so the good citizen of the world, the philosopher, and the christian, whatever may be the political, the scientific, and the religious aspect of their own times, will never despair of the fortunes of the human race; but will act upon the conviction, that prejudice, slavery, and corruption--ignorance, error, and speculative mysticism--irreligion, vice, and impiety--must gradually give way to truth, liberty, and virtue; to knowledge, good sense, and happiness: to piety, charity, and benevolence.
May your life be long extended for the good of mankind; and may your sun set in unclouded skies! Please to accept my best respects as a friend and brother, &c.
J. W.
Query from Old Virginia.
IF I have received the truth in the love of it--have become a believer in Jesus Christ to the saving of my soul, and now desire to walk in obedience to him;--while another person, enjoying the same external opportunities and means continues to resist the truth and neglect religion;--am I to ascribe the difference in my favor, to my own more tractable disposition and improvement, or to a special divine influence? and would there not be room on the former solution for self-glorying?
INQUIRER.
The Query Answered.
TO make this matter as plain as possible, let no suppose that the privileges of the kingdom of Heaven are compared to a splendid supper, which is, indeed, the fact. The table is spread and covered with liberal collations of all that is desirable. A general invitation is given. Now for the Query.--If I have sat down at the table and refreshed myself by a liberal participation of the repast provided; while another person, who was as cordially invited as myself, perishes with hunger; am I to ascribe my enjoyment of the dainties to a more tractable disposition, or to some special call, invitation, or drawings, which were withholden from the others? And if I should answer not the latter but the former would I not thereby be led to glory in myself! Very good; and if I should say not the former but the latter, will I not make the whole matter, terminate upon some absolute, unconditional, and uncontrollable determination; which, if not put forth in my favor; makes a general invitation no better than a pompous flourish of pretended humanity, and leaves all the world to starve with hunger as far as lies in them; not because there was not an abundance for them all, not because a generous invitation was withholden; but because a secret, non-descript special drawing was withholden. In this case will I not be led to glory in an imaginary stretch of sovereignty rather than in God's philanthropy; and will not my boast in God be as selfish as my boast in myself upon the former hypothesis? And query--Whether will boasting in myself, or in the special favor, be more injurious to the general good of all my fellows, or to the general character of the moral Governor of the world?
Under all these pressing difficulties, as puzzling as the Sadducean seven-sided embarrassment, I choose rather to say, that if I have sat down at the table and eaten abundantly of the provision, I bless the liberality of him that furnished the entertainment--and instead of blessing my hunger that made me willing to come without a cent in my pocket, I boast in the philanthropy of him who made me welcome; and when I see others standing off, instead of ascribing it to the want of a cordial and sincere welcome on the part of the founder of the feast; instead of glorying over them in my better fortune, or in my keener hunger; I only think that if they felt their hunger as much as I, and believed the sincerity of the invitation, they would regale themselves with the Lord's provisions and feel as grateful as myself: So that not knowing the philanthropy of God nor the Holy Scriptures, men proposed in former ages such questions as those. I therefore neither ascribe my participation of the salvation of God either to special calls or impulses, nor to my more tractable disposition; but to the philanthropy of God, and my greater need, or greater consciousness of my need of his goodness. I do not glory, then, in an attribute of the Deity, called his "sovereignty," nor in myself as possessing a better disposition, but in my Heavenly Father's philanthropy; and if I think of myself at all, I am glad that I felt so hungry and so much in need as to come when called. There is in contemplation an Essay which will more fully develope this matter at some future day.
EDITOR.
ANNO DOMINI 1637.
HOWEVER it may be appreciated, we consider it no ordinary service we are about to render our readers, in laying before them the original preface published by king James' translators. We have been favored with one of the first impressions of the king's version, containing their preface and apology for the translation. We are indebted for this copy to the kindness of our venerable and much esteemed brother, [482] Samuel Harris,2 lately from London, now a resident in Aurora, Ia. to whom we are also indebted for many invaluable hints and criticisms, both on this work and the New Translation, in his private correspondence. The first edition of the common version is a very great rarity, being now one hundred and ninety-one years old. This preface contains a mass of information of the first importance to all desirous of understanding the sacred writings. It would make more than one entire number of this work. We shall therefore divide it into such sections as will suit our convenience, and make such remarks at the end as may to us appear pertinent. Any thing and every thing which tends to break the spell which an ignorant and bewildered priesthood have thrown over this volume; every thing which can contribute to a more clear and comprehensive understanding of the volume, is, with us, of great moment. Such we believe to be the following. Let it speak for itself. We present it in its own orthography and punctuation.
EDITOR.
"The Holy Bible containing the Old Testament and the New; newly translated out of the original tongues, and with the former translations diligently compared and revised, by his Majesties special command. Appointed to be read in churches. Printed by Thomas Buck, and Roger Daniel, printers to the Universitie of Cambridge. 1637."
"The Translatours to the Reader.
"ZEAL to promote the common good, whether it be, by devising any thing our selves, or revising that which hath been laboured by others, deserveth certainly much respect and esteem, but yet findeth but cold entertainment in the world. It is welcomed with suspicion in stead of love and with emulation in stead of thanks: and if there be any hole left for cavill to enter, (and cavill, if it do not finde an hole, will make one) it is sure to be misconstrued, and in danger to be condemned. This will easily be granted by as many as know story, or have any experience. For, was there ever any thing projected, that savoured any way of newnesse or renewing, but the same endured many a storm of gainsaying, or opposition?3 A man would think that civility, wholesome laws, learning and eloquence, synods, and church-maintenance, (that we speak of no more things of this kinde) should be as safe as a sanctuarie, and out of shot, as they say, that no man would lift up his heel, no, nor dog move his tongue, against the motioners of them. For by the first, we are distinguished from brute beasts led with sensualitie. By the second, we are bridled and restrained from outragious behaviour, and from doing of injuries, whether by fraud or by violence: By the third, we are enabled to inform and reform others, by the light and feeling that we have attained to our selves: Briefly, by the fourth, being brought together to a parley face to face, we sooner compose our differences, then by writings, which are endless: And lastly, that the church be sufficiently provided for, is so agreeable to good reason and conscience, that those mothers are holden to be lesse cruel, that kill their children as soon as they are born, than those nursing fathers and mothers (wheresoever they be) that withdraw from them who hang upon their breasts (and upon whose breasts again themselves do hang to receive the spirituall and sincere milk of the word) livelihood and support fit for their estates. Thus it is apparent, that these things which we speak of, are of most necessarie use, and therefore that none either without absurditie can speak against them, or without note of wickedness can spurn against them.
Yet for that, the learned know that certain worthy men have been brought to untimely death for none other fault, but for seeking to reduce their countrey-men to good order and discipline: And in some common-weals it was made a capitall crime, once to motion the making of a new law for the abrogating of an old, though the same were most pernicious: And that certain, which would be counted pillars of the state, and patterns of vertue and prudence, could not be brought for a long time to give way to good letters and refined speech; but bare themselves as averse from them, as from rocks or boxes of poyson: And fourthly, that he was no babe, but a great Clerk, that gave forth (and in writing to remain to posteritie) in passion peradventure, but yet he gave forth, That he had not seen any profit to come by any synod or meeting of the Clergie, but rather the contrarie: And lastly, against Church-maintenance and allowance, in such sort as the ambassadours and messengers of the great King of kings should be furnished, it is not unknown what a fiction or fable (so it is esteemed, and for no better by the reporter himself, though superstitious) was devised: namely, That at such time as the professours and teachers of Christianitie in the Church of Rome, then a true church, were liberally endowed, a voice (forsooth) was heard from heaven, saying, Now is poyson poured down into the Church, &c. Thus not onely as oft as we speak, as one saith, but also as oft as we do any thing of note or consequence, we subject our selves to every ones censure, and happie is he that is least tossed upon tongues; for utterly to escape the snatch of them it is impossible.4 If any man conceit, that this is the lot and portion of the meaner sort onely, and that Princes are priviledged by their high estate, he is deceived. As the sword devoureth as well one as another, as it is in Samuel; nay, as the great commander charged his souldiers to a certain battell, to strike at no part of the enemie, but at the face: And as the king of Syria commanded his chief captains to fight with neither small nor great, save onely against the king of Israel: so it is too true, that envie striketh most spitefully at the fairest, and at the chiefest. David was a worthy prince, and no man to be compared to him for his first deeds; and yet for as worthy an act as ever he did (even for bringing back the ark of God in solemnitie) he was scorned and scoffed at by his wife. Solomon was greater then David, though not in vertue, yet in power; and by his power and wisdome he built a temple to the Lord, such an one as was the glorie of the land of Israel, and the wonder of the whole world. But was that his magnificence liked of by all? We doubt of it. Otherwise, why do they lay it on his sonnes dish, and call unto him for easing of the burden? Make, say they, the grievous servitude of thy father, and his sore yoke lighter. Belike he had charged them with some levies, and troubled them with some carriages; hereupon they raise up a tragedie, and wish in their heart the temple had never been built. So hard a thing it is to please all, even when we please God best, and do seek to approve our selves to every ones conscience.
If we will descend to later times, we shall find many the like examples of such kinde or rather unkinde acceptance.5 The first Romane [483] emperour did never do a more pleasing deed to he learned, nor more profitable to posteritie, for conserving the record of times in true supputation, then when he corrected the Calendar, and ordered the yeare according to the course of the sunne: and yet this was imputed to him for noveltie, and arrogance, and procured to him great obloquie. So the first christened emperour (at the leastwise that openly professed the faith himself, and allowed others to do the like) for strengthening the empire at his great charges, and providing for the church, as he did, got for his labour the name Pupillus, as who would say a wastfull Prince, that had need of a guardian or overseer. So the best christened emperour, for the love that he bare unto peace, thereby to enrich both himself and his subjects, and because he did not seek warre but finde it, was judged to be no man at arms, (though, indeed, he excelled in feats of chivalric, and shewed so much when he was provoked) and condemned for giving himself to his ease, and to his pleasure. To be short, the most learned emperour of former times (at the least, the greatest politician) what thanks had he for cutting off the superfluities of the laws, and digesting them into some order and method? This, that he hath been blotted by some to be an epitomist, that is, one that extinguished worthy whole volumes, to bring his abridgements into request. This is the measure that hath been rendered to excellent Princes in former times, Cum bene facerent, male audire, For their good deeds to be evil spoken of: Neither is there any likelyhood, that envie and malignitie died, and were buried with the ancient. No no, the reproof of Moses taketh hold of most ages, You are risen up in your fathers stead, an increase of sinful men. What is that that hath been done? that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sunne, saith the wise man: and S. Stephen, As your fathers did, so do you. This, and more to this purpose, his Majesty that now reigneth (and long and long may he reigne, and his off spring for ever: Himself and children, and children's children alwayes) knew full well, according to the singular wisdome given unto him by God, and the rare learning and experience that he hath attained unto: namely, That whosoever attempteth any thing, for the publick (especially if it pertain to religion, and to the opening and clearing of the word of God) the same setteth himself upon a stage to be gloated upon by every evil eye; yea, he casteth himself headlong upon pikes, to be gored by every sharp tongue. For he that medleth with men's religion in any part, medleth with their custome, nay, with their free-hold; and though they finde no content in that which they have, yet they cannot abide to hear of altering. Notwithstanding his royall heart was not daunted or discouraged for this or that colour, but stood resolute, as a statue immovable, and an anvile, not easie to be beaten into plates, as one saith; he knew who had chosen him to be a souldier, or rather a captain, and being assured that the course which he intended made much for the glorie of God, and the building up of his church, he would not suffer it to be broken off for whatsoever speeches or practises. It doth certainly belong unto kings, yea, it doth specially belong unto them, to have care of religion, yea, to know it aright, yea, to professe it zealously, yea, to promote it to the uttermost of their power. This is their glorie before all nations which mean well, and this will bring unto them a farre most excellent weight of glorie in the day of the Lord Jesus. For the scripture saith, not in vain, Them that honour me, I will honour: neither was it a vain word that Eusebius delivered long ago, That piety towards God was the weapon, and the onely weapon that both preserved Constantines person, and avenged him of his enemies."6
Essays on Man in his primitive state, and under
the Patriarchal, Jewish, and Christian
Dispensations.--No. III.
Primitive State.--No. III.
ADAM, by his fall, lost the image of God, and thereby ceased to be the object of his complacent affection and esteem. To love, delight in, and esteem, what God loves, delights in, and esteems; and to disapprobate what he disapprobates, constitutes man's moral likeness to God, and proves him to be in his image. God cannot but love those who are like him, and he cannot but dislike those who are unlike him. His benevolent regard towards man as his creature, even when fallen, may, and we are assured does continue, while he is susceptible of being reconciled to him: though he cannot love with complacent affection one of the species, until his moral image is restored.
Now man by his fall, did not lose his susceptibility of being restored to the image of God; nor did he incur eternal death by his original transgression. Had either of these been fact, his redemption had been impossible. Man cannot merit eternal death unless he sin against an economy which contains within it eternal life. And had God meant by the promise of death, in the economy under which Adam was first placed, what we understand by eternal death; his veracity required that Adam must go down to eternal ruin. But neither eternal life nor eternal death were proposed to Adam under that constitution; consequently the former could not be merited by obedience, nor the latter by disobedience. So far we proceed upon incontrovertible fact. It is true, indeed, that Adam by his fall was placed in such circumstances as it became possible for him to become liable to eternal ruin. But what we contend for here, is, that this was no part of the economy, nor contained either in the law or promises under which he was placed He lost his glory. The dazzling splendor of his body vanished, and he was ashamed to look at himself; his understanding became bewildered: he lost the true idea of the similitude of God, as well as his moral image. But he neither lost the susceptibility of being restored to the image of God, nor did he actually incur eternal death He was therefore still worthy of the divine benevolence, though unworthy of the divine complacency; or, in other words, there was sill in man, in the species, as well as in the two progenitors, something which moved the divine benevolence, and which was worthy to move his compassion and kindness. This will not be the case, it cannot be the case, with those who fall from the economy under which we now live. For as eternal life is now promised, so is eternal death; and man can now render himself unworthy of even the divine benevolence, should he so sin against the divine philanthropy as to merit eternal death. But this is in anticipation of our subject.
To return to the fall of man, all speculations apart, the facts are these, man lost all his personal glory. The rays of glory which shone from the face of Moses, and the angelic beauty which appeared in the face of Stephen the protomartyr, were but resemblances of the pristine glory [484] which, as the flame encompasses the burning wick, encompassed the persons of our illustrious progenitors. Man lost his mental excellence and beauty as he lost his corporeal. The moral image of God vanished; and the complacent favor of God departed with it. Such were the immediate consequences of his fall. But besides the guilt of sin, there is something called the power of it. It has a polluting influence. Remorse is not the only feeling of which we are conscious when we transgress. There is shame as well as remorse, and this arises from the pollution or defilement of sin.
One transgression necessarily leads to another, and the power of sin increases in an exact ratio with the overt acts. Let us look at some species of transgression. Take theft for example. The confirmed thief began by pilfering or purloining, perhaps, some trifle. He is much disturbed by this first act. In his own estimation he has fallen. He is conscious of the wrong he has done, and feels the guilt. But half the temptation which induced the first act will be sufficient to impel to a second; and half of the temptation which induced the second will induce to a third, and so on till he become a habitual thief. Now the power of sin increases in the same ratio as the need of temptation diminishes. The reason why half the temptation will induce to a second act is because the power of the first sin renders the second as much more easy to be committed, as the temptation is less than before. This dominion of sin is a most fearful thing. For such is the awful extent to which it triumphs, that persons who could hardly be tempted to the first sin of a certain species, such as theft, drunkenness, lying, uncleanness, can at last sin not only without any temptation, but even run into all excess with greediness.
A word or two on the punishment of sin, and we have the case fairly before us. For there is not only the guilt and the power of sin, but there is the punishment also. Remorse and shame are intimately allied to mental pain. Indeed a sense of God's disapprobation necessarily incurs that fear which torments the guilty. But all the mental pain which sinners feel in this mortal state, though it is sometimes intolerably great, is, in scripture, made but a figure, or a resemblance of that punishment which is inseparably annexed to it hereafter. But it is necessary here to observe that pain, mental, or, if you please, moral, just as necessarily follows the transgression of moral law, as corporeal pain follows the infraction of the laws of nature. If I thrust my finger into the fire, or swallow a mineral or a vegetable poison, pain as necessarily ensues as a stone gravitates to the centre. It is so in the spiritual system. When men violate any moral restraint which God has imposed on them, pain must be the consequence by an unavoidable law of the moral system. Men, indeed, may be morally besotted, conscience may be seared as flesh with a hot iron, until the unhappy transgressor become past feeling. But God can, and he has said that he will, make him feel hereafter. These hints on the guilt, power and punishment of sin, are, we deem, necessary to scriptural views of the divine economy towards man after his fall.
Had man actually lost the susceptibility of being renewed in the image of God, or had he actually incurred eternal death by his fall, it would have absolutely forbade any benevolent or merciful procedure towards him as a sinner. But again, if God had not set on foot a gracious institution adapted to the circumstances and condition of man, now fallen and degraded, he never could, by any device or act of his own, have been restored to the divine image and favor. These hints, which may be rendered very plain, constitute, in our judgment, the real import of the fall of man, and demonstrate the true basis of the divine economy under which fallen man has existed, under the Patriarchal, Jewish and Christian ages, or dispensations.
The rationale of the Christian religion is founded upon the views which the scriptures give of the fall of man; and the reasonableness of it can be fairly and fully demonstrated on the premises now before us.
When we speak of man's losing the image of God, we include under this phrase his loss of a correct idea of God's image, as well as his conformity to it. And here we find the fountain of all the idolatry ever known on earth. It is almost, if not altogether, impossible for human beings to lose the idea of the existence of a first cause after it has been in anyway communicated to the mind. But it is as easy to lose a correct idea of the moral image of God, as it is difficult to lose an idea of his existence. While fallen man retains an impression or a conviction of a first cause or of a divinity, and has no correct idea of his image, he will naturally assimilate his divinity to that object which most engages his imagination or his strongest desires. Hence the deification of heroes, animals, vegetables, vices, or the host of heaven, according to the ruling passion of the idolatrous nation, tribe or individual. These, however, are conclusions from various premises not now laid before our readers, which may afterwards require more attention. To conclude this essay:--Man lost by his fall his personal glory as above described; he lost a true idea of the image of his Creator; and the actual moral likeness he before had to him; with this he lost his favor also, and was thereby not only become obnoxious to all the punishment annexed to his original transgression; but was, as far as in him lay, utterly disqualified to regain either a true idea of God's moral character, conformity to him, or the enjoyment of his favor. Now the rational excellency of Christianity is, that it adopts the only consistent means in the grasp of human comprehension to restore man to the image, favor and friendship of God. But of this more hereafter.
EDITOR.
A Restoration of the Ancient Order of Things.
No. XXVII.
On the Discipline of the Church.--No. IV.
OUR last essay under this head was rather to point out some of those moral evils which call for the discipline of the congregation, than to develope the procedure of the congregation in relation to public offences. We spoke of some aberrations from the law of Christ, very generally overlooked in the discipline of the church. We shall continue this subject in the present essay. We ought first to know the law of our King before we presume to execute it.
In our last we treated almost exclusively of evil speaking in its genuine import. Very nearly allied to this, and an evil almost as general, is that of breach of promises and covenants amongst the professors of the present day. This is an evil of very serious magnitude and of alarming extent among our cotemporaries. The foundation of this evil, will, we presume, be found in the cupidity, avarice or commercial spirit of this age and country. The propensity for contracting debts, and of risking largely on contingencies, and the want of a due estimate of the solemnity of a promise or covenant, constitute the root of [485] this desolating evil. It has become almost fashionable in society to excuse delinquencies and to apologize for the breach of solemn engagements by attributing it to the hardness or unpropitiousness of what we call the times. Mankind are ever wont to blame their sins on any thing but themselves. There is no necessity for the disciples of him whose kingdom is not of this world, to incur such hazards or risk such responsibilities as the children of this world do, in their desires to amass treasures upon earth, or to follow in the train of pompous vanities which allure those whose eyes have never been raised from earth to heaven. The disposition thus to conform to the world, argues very forcibly that professors have not found that in Jesus Christ which fills their hearts; or which they found in him, who for his excellencies accounted all things but dregs that they might attain to that perfection in him which the resurrection of the dead will disclose. If we see a lady much abroad and seldom at home, we must conclude her happiness is not so much at home, as abroad; or if we see a gentleman more attentive to other ladies than his wife, and more in their company, we are forced to conclude he finds not that in his wife which in his marriage covenant he professed to have found. In the same way we reason when we see a christian laboring to acquire those earth-born distinctions which exclusively engross the attention of the sons of earth. If we see him as eager in the chase as they, we suspect he has not found in his profession that which he professed to have found, when he made a formal surrender of himself to the Lord of life.
But lest we should stray from our subject, we must say that the whole system of speculation, of asking and giving securities, of incurring debts beyond the most obvious means to pay in any contingency which may be supposed, are just as opposite to the spirit and tendency of christianity as theft, lying, and slander. Hence no christian can be prosecuted at law in any such case, or, indeed, in any other case; but it behooves the congregation to examine his conduct whether he have been justly or unjustly prosecuted in the case. No man can be sued justly unless he have violated some law of Christ, or departed from the spirit and design of christianity. This is, at least, the case under the code of laws which govern our commercial intercourse in this country. But we do not suppose, nor teach, that only such cases of departure from the christian institution as become cases of prosecution, are to be inquired into, or remonstrated against, in a christian congregation. No, indeed; every appearance of this evil spirit is to be guarded against as a plague. No promise should be made, no covenant entered into, no obligation given, which is not to be held as sacred as a sacrament or an oath. When we hear of a christian compelled to pay his debts by law, or to atone for the breach of covenants by fines; when we see one asking securities to obtain money on which to speculate, or see him eagerly engaged in the pursuit of wealth or any earthly distinctions, we must consider his conduct as great a libel on christianity, as to see a college founded for the express purpose of aiding the cause of Christ, praying to the powers that be, to allow it the privilege of not paying its debts, or of departing from its own engagements with impunity.
Every christian's yea should be yes, and his no, no. Every christian's promise should be as inviolate as an oath, and all his engagements as sacred as his christian profession. It is only when it is so, that persons will be cautious in entering into engagements, and punctual in living up to them. What a world of prevarication, double meanings, duplicity, circumvention, and lying, grow out of the latitudinarianism of these times. And when we trace all the bitterness, hard feelings, evil surmises, coldness of affection found in religious society, up to their proper source, we generally find they have originated either from the evils on which we descanted in our former essay, or from these of which we now treat. Punctuality in all engagements is an essential constituent of christian morality. "Owe no man any thing but love," and "Provide things honorable in the sight of all men," and "Let our brethren learn to practise useful trades for the necessary uses," and many other apostolic injunctions which naturally flow from the religion of our Lord, make it necessary that christian congregations should take these matters under their most serious consideration.
Nothing injures the cause of christianity, nor retards its progress more, than the immoralities of which we now speak. They are so visible, manifest, and so inimical to the political and temporal interests of society, that the children of this world, Deists, Atheists, and Sceptics of every name, are just as good judges of these questions, and can mark their progress and descant upon their effects with as much precision and fluency as Paul the Apostle could have done. They also pique themselves no little upon their superior attention to these matters. How lightly do they speak of the religion, the devotion, the praying, and religious gossiping of those who will not keep good faith, nor pay their debts, nor speak well of one another. This is the style in which they take off the edge of the reproofs and zeal of those who profess christianity. After all their boast, their morality is a matter of policy and self-interest. Yet it is a political advantage, highly beneficial to society, and therefore its tendency most commendable. But without this, a mans religion is vain. "For if a man does not know," says an Apostle, "how to bridle his own tongue, his religion is vain."
Every christian congregation has, therefore, the best of reasons, as well as the highest authority, to induce them to take this matter under cognizance, and to make every departure from the letter and spirit of christianity, to these respects, a matter of discipline. On the discipline of such offences we shall speak hereafter.
EDITOR.
Ancient Gospel--No. IX.
IN the natural order of the evangelical economy, the items stand thus;--1. Faith; 2. Reformation; 3. Immersion; 4. Remission of sins; 5. Holy Spirit; and 6. Eternal Life. We do not teach that one of these precedes the other, as cause and effect; but that they are all naturally connected, and all, in this order, embraced in the glad tidings of salvation. In the apostolic age these items were presented in this order. The testimony of God, concerning Jesus of Nazareth, must first be believed before a person truly repents of his sin and forsakes it. Men are commanded with a reference to their conduct in one point of view, to reform and believe the gospel. Thus Paul proclaimed "reformation towards God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ." But yet reformation, though sometimes first mentioned, is explained as resulting from faith or the accompaniment of it. Indeed the one is frequently used to the exclusion of the other, as supposed inseparable from it. Thus Peter proclaimed, [486] "Reform and be immersed for the remission of sins," and Paul said, "Believe and be saved." Both Matthew and Mark, in recording the commission, mention immersion; but Luke does not. He says Jesus commanded, "Reformation and forgiveness of sins to be proclaimed in his name, among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." He therefore, by a metonymy, substitutes forgiveness of sins, for immersion, and reformation for faith, or else we must say he omits this part of the institution altogether;--which hypothesis is inadmissible. He that comes to God, must first believe that he exists, and that he is a rewarder of all who diligently seek him. This view of God induces reformation, which in its first exhibition where the scriptures are understood, immediately carries the subject to immersion. Remission of sins as inseparably accompanies immersion, as reformation accompanies faith. Then the Holy Spirit is bestowed, and the disciple is filled with the spirit of adoption, which inspires him with filial confidence in God. The gift of eternal life in anticipation, induces him to the cultivation of that holiness, without which, no man shall see the Lord, as well as fills him with abundant joy.
But while in reference to our ways of reasoning and thinking in this speculative age we represent matters thus, it must be remembered that persons may now, as they did formerly, believe, reform, be immersed, obtain pardon and the Holy Spirit in the period of time occupied in a single discourse, as the history in the Acts of the Apostles abundantly proves. Persons are said to reform the moment they turn to the Lord. The turning point is therefore fitly called reformation. Thus all the inhabitants of Lydda and Saron are said to have turned to the Lord, when Peter, in the name of Jesus, raised Eneas from a palsy which had confined him to his bed for eight years.
To derange this order in the reign of Favor, is an error of no ordinary magnitude. Yet it is a common error. The Presbyterian arrangement of the items is as follows, viz.--1st. Baptism; 2d. the Holy Spirit in effectual calling; 3d. Faith; 4th. Forgiveness of sins; 5th. Reformation. Some Regular Baptists arrange the items thus:--1st. the Holy Spirit; 2d. Faith; 3d. Repentance; 4th. Forgiveness of sins; 5th. Baptism. The Quaker has it the Holy Spirit throughout, and no immersion. Other Baptists have it--1st. Regeneration, or the Holy Spirit; 2d. Repentance; 3d. Faith; 4th. Forgiveness of sins; and 5th. Baptism. A very different tune is played upon the same notes when the arrangement of them is changed, and so different gospels are preached upon the different ordering of these items. Those who proclaim faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and reformation in order to immersion; and immersion in order to forgiveness and the Holy Spirit, proclaim the same gospel which the Apostles proclaimed.
"Into what were you immersed," is a question which must decide the character of a man's profession of the faith. His views of the gospel, his conscience towards God, as well as the motives which influence all his religious behavior, are decided according to the response of his heart to this question. And very different, indeed, would be the response of the heart of a primitive disciple from that of most of our modern sectaries, were they to give full utterance to their hearts on such a question. Would not the Episcopalian, the Presbyterian, the ordinary Baptist, whether Calvinistic or Arminian, and the Pentecostian converts give very differing responses to such a question!--Methinks they would, And just as discordant would be their general views of the gospel and of the Christian religion, as their answers to the question, For what purpose were you immersed?
Were I then to describe the evangelical arrangement as I would describe the journey of the Israelites from Egypt to Canaan, I would proceed thus. And since I have mentioned the journey of old Israel, I will first tell their story in brief. First, Moses made a proclamation to them from the Almighty, and they believed it. Second, they changed their views of Egypt and began their march. They were, in the third place, immersed into Moses in the cloud and in the Red Sea. God then, in the fourth place, makes a covenant with them, or declares an institution through which they were to enjoy remission of sins; and, in the fifth place, promises to dwell among them and reign over them as their God and King. Thus they proceed towards Canaan, the type of the everlasting kingdom, with the promise of rest graciously tendered to them.
Now for the antitype. Jesus the Lord from heaven, makes a proclamation of mercy in his own person, and mediately through his Apostles, to all nations, in the name of the God and Father of all. Those that believe it, immediately turn to the Lord. This turning point is reformation unto life begun, The inward repentance and the outward reformation, which are coetaneous, are first constitutionally exhibited in the act of immersion into the name of the Lord Jesus for the remission of sins. The old sins are thus purified through faith in the blood of the Messiah, according to the divine appointment. The Holy Spirit is then given, for Jesus Christ is now glorified in heaven and upon earth. He is glorified in heaven, because God our Father has exalted him a Prince and a Saviour to his own throne; and he is, by every disciple who thus surrenders himself to his authority and guidance, glorified on earth,--and then he glorifies them whom he has thus justified, washed, and sanctified, by adopting them into the family of God, and honoring them with the most honorable title in creation, namely, Sons of God.
Now a conscience cast into this mould, I am certain, differs very much from a conscience cast into any systematic mould of human contrivance. For the gospel according to John Calvin, or the gospel according to John Wesley, or the gospel according to Martin Luther, or the gospel according to George Fox, are not exactly the same as the gospel according to Matthew, Luke, Paul, and Peter. The views, feelings, consciences, and practices of those who are immersed into each of these gospels, differ from each other as much as the vowels and consonants in the names of the founders of these gospels differ from one another. Some of them are the same, but others as far apart as A, B, C, and X, Y, Z.
Before I conclude these essays on the Ancient Gospel, I wish to present my readers with an essay on the spirit which it inspires, which I propose in my next number; and in the mean time, I conclude with remarking that we have one objection to the phrase "ancient gospel;" and that is, so far as it may tend to any thing like a rallying or discriminating badge amongst Christians. We know how easy it is to lay the foundation for names; and we know too that the world is ruled by names. If, then, the phrases "Ancient Gospel,' or "Ancient Order of Things," should become a dividing discrimination among Christians, we must enter our protest against them in such acceptations. We now use them not for [487] the discrimination of persons, but for the discrimination of truth from error, and of primitive from modern usages. As such we conceive them to be every way appropriate and just. And in so doing, we do no more than is usually done by those who define or describe the gospel which they preach. But the time will come when the terms glad tidings, christian, and congregation, without any epithet or adjunct, will be universally received as representing the same ideas as those attached to them in sacred scripture. For the speedy approach of that blissful era we labor and pray. We hope always to persevere in so doing, so long as the Lord sets before us an open door which no man can shut. May the gracious Lord ever patronize our efforts, and the efforts of all who labor for these sublime objects, and keep us and them from failing into error, either in sentiment or practice! Amen!
Scepticism.
THE editors of the New Harmony Gazette have very politely invited me to discuss with them in our respective papers the questions which are to be discussed between Mr. Owen and me, at Cincinnati, in April next. But inasmuch as we have a great variety of matter laid out for this volume of the Christian Baptist, and more, we fear, than can be crowded into it; and as the public will, in a few months, have their attention called to the merits of all these questions, we think it both unnecessary and inexpedient to introduce the subject to our readers, or add it to the, series of topics and essays laid out for this volume.--Had this not been the fact, and, especially, had we not the pleasing anticipation of canvassing these sceptical whims and notions, and fine philosophy which finds no need nor room in the universe either for creator or creature, for heaven or hell, for angel or spirit, for moral good or moral evil, &c. &c. &c. which makes all our knowledge pass through our fingers, nose, tongue, eyes, and ears, and discards every thing not as gross as ignis fatuus or marsh miasmata, we should have gladly made all other arrangements subservient to an investigation of so much importance, and for which our friends in New Harmony are so well qualified. These fine topics on which this gay philosophy loves to dwell, will, we hope, be ceremoniously attended to, and fully discussed, when Mr. Owen attempts to prove his four grand positions in April next.
EDITOR.
Miscellany.--No. I.
I HAVE found it utterly impossible to answer, in any formal way, either privately or publicly, the whole amount of sentimental letters which I have for the last six months received. To make public property of many of them would neither be expedient nor agreeable. Besides, the queries contained in some of them have been either formally or materially answered in the previous volumes. This I say, not to prevent my friends from writing me as usual, either on matters sentimental or otherwise, but to apologize for what they might interpret into neglect, and to tell them all at once, that my rules in all such cases are the following:
1. To answer all letters of business as soon as possible after they arrive.
2. Such letters as are of a private character, and solicit information immediately affecting the duty or conscience of the correspondent, to be answered privately and as soon as possible.
3. All letters, the whole contents of which are for my own personal benefit, not to answer until I have leisure, and some of them in no other way than to thank my friends for them--and this I now do both with respect to the past, and in anticipation of the future.
4. All queries, anecdotes, historical sketches of the conduct of individuals--churches, associations, &c. &c. are to be published if I deem them useful, and if they have not been anticipated before.
5. All letters that I esteem of general use, or even sometimes of very high particular utility, I unceremoniously publish. I will thank any of my friends to suggest a more unexceptionable way. I will only add on this subject two re marks:--First, that I wish my friends and correspondents generally, to acquaint me of all facts and incidents either illustrative of the progress of truth, or of the opposition made to it, in their respective, vicinities, and then to allow me to make such use of it as I think expedient. And, second, That all criticisms or remarks which are intended for my correction, and all sentimental communications are always welcome, and I trust will have all the influence upon my views and conduct which they deserve. These things premised, I proceed under this head to take notice of some items found on file in my long list of articles deferred.
"Some of our brethren are of opinion that it requires two or three preachers to be present to make the organization or constituting of a church legal; others think an agreement among the brethren sufficient, without the help of a solitary preacher.--What say you?" The latter most certainly is congenial with the letter and spirit of christianity, as contained in the New Testament, and also with the ancient genius of the Baptist constitution.
Where there is no law there is no transgression; and where is the law requiring one or ten preachers, overseers, or elders to be present to validate the constitution of a church or congregation? It may be agreeable to the brethren to have some other brethren of good repute present to witness their organization, and to testify that they have united to surrender themselves to the guidance of the Lord Jesus, and to keep his commandments as contained in the Apostles' teaching. This may be agreeable, and in some instances necessary, for the sake of the community in which they live; but never to make their organization as a christian congregation valid according to any law or requirement of the great king.
"What are the emerods mentioned 1 Samuel, ch. v. 6? See Psalm lxxviii. 66?" He smote them with a disease in their hinder part analogous to the fistula ani in the modern nomenclature. Thompson translates Deuteronomy xxviii. 27. thus:--"The Lord smite thee with the Egyptian boil in thy seat, and with wild fire [even with wild fire, common version, "emerods,"] and with itching, so that thou canst not be cured." He also translates the verse in question thus:--"Still the hand of the Lord was heavy upon Azotus, and pressed them down. Leaks broke out in their vessels, and their country swarmed with mice, and in their city was a confusion of mortality." Also, the same word occurs 1 Samuel, vi. and 5. and is translated "five golden stools;" for these "stools" were a similitude of the plague among them called the 'emoroids.' This is all I know about those emerods.
"And these signs shall follow them who believe, or, as in the new version, these signs shall accompany them who believe. By my name [488] they will expel demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents, though they drink deadly poison, it shall not hurt them; upon sick persons they will lay their hands and they shall recover." Query--Do these promises apply to all believers, or to some?
How readest thou! Go back a little and read the connexion, verse 13, "Whereupon those came and told the rest, but they did not believe them. At length he appeared to the eleven when they were at table, and upbraided them for their incredulity and obstinacy, because they did not believe them who had seen him after his resurrection. Then he said to them, Go to all the world, proclaim the glad tidings to the whole creation. He who believes and is immersed, shall be saved; but he who disbelieves, shall be condemned." Now these signs, &c. Thus we see that this was spoken to the apostles, at that time upbraided for their incredulity. The commission and promises annexed were given to them, and the following sentences show how these promises were accomplished. Let us read them also--"So after the Lord had spoken to them, he was taken up to heaven and sat at the right hand of God; and they went forth and proclaimed the tidings every where, the Lord cooperating with them, and confirming the word with those concomitant signs" above mentioned. Thus when the whole context is read, the sneer of the sceptic, and the dubiety of the weak Christian are without foundation. How many difficulties and objections might be overcome, if men would use the same common sense they exhibit on other occasions!!
EDITOR.
A good hint to our Teachers of Theology, both in
Theological Schools and Pulpits: from the great
Chalmers, author of the evidences of christianity.
"IN the popular religions of antiquity, we see scarcely a vestige of resemblance to that academical theism which is delivered in our schools, and figures away in the speculations of our moralists. The process of conversion among the first Christians was a very simple one. It consisted of an utter abandonment of their heathenism, and an entire submission to those new truths which came to them through the revelation of the gospel, and through it only. It was the pure theology of Christ and his apostles. That theology which struts in fancied demonstration from a professor's chair, formed no part of it. They listened as if they had all to learn; we listen as if it was our office to judge, and to give the message of God its due place and subordination among the principles which we had previously established. Now these principles were utterly unknown at the first publication of Christianity. The Galatians, and Corinthians, and Thessalonians, and Philippians, had no conception of them. And yet, will any than say, that either Paul himself or those who lived under his immediate tuition, had not enough to make them accomplished Christians, or that they fell short of our enlightened selves, in the wisdom which prepares for eternity, because they wanted our rational theology as a stepping-stone to that knowledge which came, in pure and immediate revelation from the Son of God. The gospel was enough for them, and it should be enough for us also. Every natural or assumed principle which offers to abridge its supremacy, or even so much as to share with it in authority and direction, should be instantly discarded. Every opinion in religion should be reduced to the question of--what readest thou? and the bible be acquiesced in, and submitted to, as the alone directory of our faith, where we can get the whole will of God for the salvation of men."
[TCB 478-489]
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Alexander Campbell
The Christian Baptist (1889) |