THE
MILLENNIAL HARBINGER,
NEW SERIES
VOLUME III.--NUMBER III.
B E T H A N Y, VA. MARCH, 1839.
| Robert Richardson | The Gospel (1839) |
THE
MILLENNIAL HARBINGER,
NEW SERIES
VOLUME III.--NUMBER III.
THE GOSPEL--No. I.
"Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the GOSPEL which I preached unto you, which also you have received, and wherein ye stand: by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures." 1 COR. XV. 1-4.
THE gospel of Christ, presenting, as it does, eternal life and happiness to the human family, deserves, for its own sake, a full, careful, and unprejudiced examination. The mere announcement that everlasting joys and undying honors are placed within the grasp of mortals, challenges at once attention and respect. The lofty hopes which it inspires are allied to the dearest earthly aspirations of the human heart, and the highest aims of worldly ambition; yet they surpass and include them all, as the "glad waters of the dark blue sea" overwhelm and drink up the glittering spray upon the mossy rock which is covered with the flowing tide. And, as to the permanency of their fruition, contrasted with that of sublunary anticipations, they are like the star-paved heavens, compared with the fallen domes and decaying palaces of ruined Tyre; or as the ever-during forests of Lebanon, to the broken column and mouldering capital which bears, as though in mockery, the inscription, "Roma Ælterna."
Such is the character of the exceeding great and precious promises of the gospel to him who receives it in its original purity and fulness. It is requisite, however, in the present [97] distracted state of the religious community, that we should, before addressing our attention to the gospel, direct our thoughts to some important preliminary considerations. For the day of primitive Christianity, which once beamed so brightly, has been obscured by the murky darkness of human folly, ignorance, and guilt. In these preternatural circumstances, every thing in religion has assumed a false and sombre coloring; and men can no longer see the truth as it is, nor themselves as they ought. In the gloomy valley the host are troubled; uncertainty and distraction prevail, and each man's hand is raised against his brother. It is necessary, therefore, that, under the guidance of reason and experience, we should ascend the favoring acclivity, and seek a position elevated above the dusky vapors, that we may enjoy a better atmosphere, and obtain a clearer view beneath the undimmed radiance of heaven.
It may be scarce worth while to remind the reader that in all the affairs of men, and in every subject submitted to human investigation, whether it belong to Art or Science, Religion or Government--truth, or that which really is, alone merits regard and veneration. Falsehood, or that which is unreal, can never profit any one. Such base coin proves only the poverty of its possessor; and that mind must be indeed vain and empty which can rest satisfied with the inanity of deceit, when it might be enriched with the substantial realities of truth. But if the possession of truth be desirable in those departments of human knowledge which appertain to this present life, it is supremely so with regard to religion. Here, indeed, it is more precious than rubies, and more to be coveted than the gold of Ophir.
Hence it is, that in examining a subject of so much importance, the most particular attention should be paid to those rules and principles which the experience of the world has shown to be absolutely necessary to the discovery of truth. The first of these is, that THE MIND MUST BE FREE FROM PREJUDICE.
Prejudice is pre-judgment--judgment formed beforehand without examination. It is obvious that one whose mind is thus pre-occupied is unable to receive the truth. He who would possess himself of truth must have the tablets of his judgment [98] pure, and ready to receive a fair and clear impression from the evidence submitted. He must erase every image from his memory and every feeling from his heart, so that he may be as though he had never before heard any thing whatever in relation to the matter presented. So well known is this, that in courts of law a man is regarded as wholly incompetent and unfit to hear evidence, or sit in judgment, unless he can truly testify under the solemnity of an oath that his mind is uninfluenced by prejudice, and free from every bias and prepossession.
And yet, however plain these things are, and how careful soever men are to recognize their importance, and enforce their practice in regard to every thing of a worldly nature; they pay little or no attention to them in religion. They imagine that, filled as they are with the cherished principles, and predominant influences, imbibed, during youth, from the deep springing fountains of education and habit, they have yet room for conflicting sentiments, and capacity to judge the claims of other systems, or to estimate correctly the merits of their own. But this is as morally impossible, as it is physically so, that two things can be in the same place at the same time. "To expect," says Boyle, "that people, zealous for one religion, should examine the other maturely, equitably, and accurately, is like pretending that a person can be a fair judge between two women, with one of whom he is in love, while he has an aversion for the other.--Lycidas is desperately in love with Urania, and mortally hates Corinna; tell us, says some one, which of them is the most charming; examine the matter: he will promise to do so, but to a certainty he will pronounce for Urania; and, not contented with preferring her to Corinna, he will prefer her also to all other women."
It would seem, indeed, that, in society, the many are religionists; and the few religious.. And there can be no question that the jealousies, controversies, and enmities which alienate and disturb Christendom, are perpetuated, for the most part, by that unjust prejudice or intolerant bigotry which induces men to decide from feeling rather than from evidence; and leads them to misunderstand and condemn each other for want of candid examination. In the language of Dr. Price, this "prejudice may [99] be compared to a misty morning in October. A man goes forth to an eminence, and he sees, at the summit of a neighboring hill, a figure apparently of gigantic stature--for such the imperfect medium through which he is viewed would make him appear. He goes forward a few steps, and the figure advances towards him. The size lessens as they approach. They draw still nearer, and the extraordinary appearance is gradually but sensibly diminished: and at last they meet, and perhaps the person he had taken for a monster, proves to be his own brother."
A second point of great moment in the pursuit of truth, is, that the whole of the evidence be heard, and the WHOLE TRUTH received. The evils which may arise from defective testimony and partial views of truth are incalculably great--greater often than those resulting from falsehood itself. Hence, to prevent erroneous and oppressive decisions, and preserve the purity of Justice inviolate, the witness is adjured to tell, not "the truth" merely, but "the whole truth." For experience and reason teach, that he who hears or examines a matter imperfectly, can never arrive at just conclusions. He can neither enjoy, nor properly appreciate truth, any more than the prisoner can estimate the beauties of the landscape from the partial glimpse which he obtains through the narrow grating in the massy wall of his dungeon. It is a partial exhibition of truth, which, like the gilding upon counterfeit coinage, gives currency to delusion, and success to imposture.
There is no doubt that this error has much to do with the present disturbed state of the Christian profession. Partyism springs from partial views of truth. There is not a single denomination which, along with its peculiar heresies, does not acknowledge some tenets which are indubitably true. And it can be just as easily shown, that there is not a sect in Christendom which embraces the whole truth, in doctrine and practice, as it was received by the first Christian churches.
It is a melancholy reflection that the unity of the church and the integrity of truth--the sparkling diamond which once graced the coronal of apostolic faithfulness, should be thus broken up into so many insignificant fragments. Christianity, indeed, may now be compared to a ravelled web: each party has run off with a [100] few of its threads, and interwoven them with the flimsy texture of its own many-colored robes--not one of them has had the ability, like Sampson, to carry off the whole of it. Or, it is like an ancient Grecian temple, erected for a Divinity, and once magnificent and perfect, but now overthrown by the rude hand of violence, and the materials carried off to compose a part of the mean fabric of the peasant--the richly sculptured marble, as in modern Athens, has become the stepping-stone to the mud-walled hut of squalid poverty!
But again: It is possible for the whole truth to be received, yet rendered inoperative by dilution, or injurious by corrupt additions. We should be careful, therefore, to embrace nothing but the truth, and to preserve its simplicity unimpaired--to seek only the pure bullion, and to keep it untarnished and undrossy.
There is, however, yet another point of great importance to the successful pursuit of truth, which we shall consider in our next.
R. R.
[The Millennial Harbinger, March 1839, pp. 97-101.]
THE
MILLENNIAL HARBINGER,
NEW SERIES
VOLUME III.--NUMBER IV.
THE GOSPEL--No. II.
"Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the GOSPEL which I preached unto you, which also you have received, and wherein ye stand: by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures." 1 COR. XV. 1-4.
In order to render the search for truth successful, it is requisite that we not only be guided by just principles, as we have briefly attempted to show, but that we observe a proper METHOD.
In former ages a method called the synthetic was in vogue, in every department of science. This consisted in propounding a certain theory or hypothesis, artfully framed, and then supporting it with all the facts and evidences which ingenuity could supply. Each ambitious leader of the various parties in Philosophy or Government, Medicine or Religion, advanced his favorite dogmas, which continued to be the creed of his followers, until they happened to be seduced by the more plausible doctrines of a new and popular Master. The consequence of this method was, that little or no improvement was made in any branch of learning. The mists of conjecture and uncertainty rested upon the boundless ocean of human inquiry; and the frail barks of theory and speculation, without a compass or a polar star, became the sport of every tide.
By this system the minds of men were placed in the most unfavorable position for the attainment of true knowledge. A finely spun and decorated system calculated to please the fancy, [145] and gratify the pride of reason, being once adopted, its advocates were naturally let to imagine that every thing was or ought to be in perfect harmony with it, and were readily disposed to wrest and pervert, though often unconsciously, both evidence and reason. Unenlightened by the clear radiance of the true method, a recklessness, or a no less fatal obstinacy on the part of the leaders; and a superstitious ignorance or submissive timidity on the part of the led, supplied the place of calm, just, and patient investigation. Nevertheless, the adventurous rashness, and restless activity which prevailed at this period were not altogether without useful results. Chance sometimes favored the bold experimenter with an important discovery, and this frothy fermentation of the human mind was the prelude to a purer and better product. Men were then just awaked from the sleep of the dark ages. It was the twilight which succeeded a long night of ignorance--the joyful harbinger of returning day.
It was a glorious era when the genius of the illustrious Bacon ascertained the proper method of scientific investigation, and presented to mankind the Inductive system. This method is, first to ascertain particular facts by observation and experience, and then to infer from these certain general truths.
It will be perceived that this is just the reverse of the former method, which boldly devised a theory first, and then brought facts to sustain it. The inductive system, on the contrary, by a slow and careful examination of many facts, leads the mind to infallible conclusions. The former is Hypothesis against Fact: the latter, Fact against Hypothesis. The one is Reason and Fancy against Knowledge; and the other Knowledge and Reason against Fancy. Thee first was a struggle for victory, and the last a combat for truth. The issue of such a contest could not be doubtful. The inductive method has triumphantly established its authority over the investigations of science, and is universally admitted to be, in the language of its author, "The first and most important instrument of reason in its search after truth."
The consequence has been, that men have been emancipated from the shackles of error, and have pursued without restraint, and with the most unfailing success, their search for truth in the [146] physical and mental sciences, and have pushed their discoveries in mechanics and the useful arts to the most wonderful extent.
This system has marshalled into rank and disciplined the rude and scattered forces of facts and observations which had been arrayed against each other by former leaders, and with an overwhelming addition of numbers, has penetrated into the most distant provinces of Nature and Art. Civilization and refinement; useful inventions, and mental and moral improvement of every kind have followed in the train, and humanity has been raised to an elevation anticipated only in the fancy of the poet, or the day-dreams of the visionary philosopher.
But here we pause to notice a fact no less singular than true. It is this, that while the inductive system has been applied to every other branch of science, and has advanced them to the highest perfection, Religion has been almost wholly overlooked. The favorite points and theories of those leaders in religion who constructed their systems upon the synthetic-method, have been permitted to remain even to the present moment, and to exert their narrowing and prejudicial influences over the minds of men. Their custom was to form a theory of religion, and then to cull from the Bible disconnected and often irrelevant texts to sustain their views. As the masters in the physical sciences could each find, wrest, or fabricate facts to support the hypotheses they framed; so the opposing religious teachers could each prove, by dislocated and perverted passages of scripture, his system of theology. In the melee of controversy and strife every means and every stratagem was employed to insure victory; and amidst the confusion, facts, and assertions; faith and opinions; institutions and doctrines; Judaism and Christianism, were indiscriminately blended.
It is true, indeed, that within a few years, and to a limited extent, there has been an approximation to the better method of biblical investigation; but it is a matter familiar to all, that, to this hour, the religious community in general are accustomed to regard the Gospel and the whole Christian Institution as a system of mere opinions. They make no proper distinction between divine facts, testimony, and faith, and the dogmas, conjectures, and imaginations of men; but are wont to put the whole upon a [147] common footing of equality. 'Every one has a right to his opinion,' they will say when dissenting from the plainest injunctions of the divine record. 'They will quote with complacency the language of the Apostle used expressly in relation to indifferent matters of opinion, "Let every one be fully persuaded in his own mind," and misapply it to things to be believed, as though the same Divine testimony should, as a matter of course, lead different persons to contrary views and practices. And to crown the whole, they will grant that you have scripture for your sentiment, if you will concede in turn that they have scripture for theirs.
It is very remarkable that even the most learned and able champions of religion, who have written largely upon its evidences, and dwelt with minuteness upon the testimony of nature and revelation to the being, and attributes of God, have almost universally adopted that hypothetical, unassured, and timid style of treating the subject, which is the natural effect of the contusion and incertitude of the synthetic method. So far, indeed, have any of them been from applying the inductive system lo religion, that after all their labored publications, it was reserved for the master-mind of Brougham to carry out the evidences of religion to their proper issue, and triumphantly to show that natural theology is really founded upon strict induction. To him belongs the credit of having first, within these few years, placed this subject upon its true basis.
It is much to be desired that a proper application of the inductive system were now made to revealed religion. We have, indeed, as regards revealed religion, no experiments to make. In the physical sciences the object of experiment is to ascertain facts and to discover what nature says. Thus when Franklin saw the lightning drawn from the clouds, and flashing from the iron key appended to his kite, it was the voice of nature informing him that lightning and electricity were the same. But in divine revelation the facts see already ascertained, the evidences are fully presented, and it its only necessary to consider and apply them. Nay, the deductions and applications are already exhibited on the page of inspiration; and it is susceptible of easy proof that the whole of Christianity may be reduced to a few [148] simple facts, from which, by necessary induction, its teachings and general principles, promises and threatenings, privileges and hopes naturally proceed. Thus the whole subject is simplified, and rendered easy of comprehension. The Apostles themselves, the first teachers of Christianity, began with facts, and drew from these by induction the proper inferences and rules of action. It has heretofore been the custom to begin with their conclusions, and by the aid of synthesis to build upon them an airy structure of opinions. The true method is, to begin where they began, and to end where they have set bounds at once to reason and revelation.
Induction is the true logic. It enables us to trace effects to causes; to see the natural and necessary relations of things, to analyze, classify, and arrange. There is at present nothing so necessary as this to disentangle the modern complicated state of Christianity. It is because the Christian profession has become a confused medley, that certainty has become doubt; and faith, opinion. But there cannot be a greater slur cast upon the Author of the Christian system, than to suppose this to be obscure in its principles, or uncertain and variable in its conclusions, This is at once to reduce it in authority and importance, below the humblest branch of physical science; it is, in fact, to deny to it a divine original. If, however, fit be examined upon the principles of induction, its plainness and simplicity, its perfect adaptation to the wants and circumstances of the human family, and the unchanging certainty and infallible accuracy of its results leave no room for skepticism, and afford no opportunity for disagreement. This we hope will be more fully apparent as we proceed.
R. R.
[The Millennial Harbinger, April 1839, pp. 145-149.]
THE
MILLENNIAL HARBINGER,
NEW SERIES
VOLUME III.--NUMBER V.
THE GOSPEL--No. III.
"Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the GOSPEL which I preached unto you, which also you have received, and wherein ye stand: by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures." 1 COR. XV. 1-4.
IT is related of the followers of the celebrated Wickliffe, that the Papists used to call them, in derision, Gospellers, because they were wont to speak so often of the original gospel, in place of the legends and traditions of the Catholic superstition. It were well if modern reformers would so signalize themselves by their devotion to the gospel in its simplicity as to deserve so good an appellation.
In entering upon the consideration of this most important subject, our attention is naturally first engaged with the terms and phrases employed by the sacred writers to designate it. The precise meaning of these terms and phrases may be certainly and easily ascertained from the divine record by means of the definitions furnished by the inspired writers. And if in any case definitions be not furnished to our hand, we can form them, with the greatest accuracy, by a careful induction of the various passages in which these words and phrases occur. This last is the course which we naturally pursue when in reading as author we meet with a word or expression new to us. We have at first only a vague impression of the author's meaning, and we are obliged, for the time being, to substitute our conjecture in order to make the passage at all intelligible. The next sentence in which the word occurs in a different connexion renders this conjecture a little more definite and correct: a third example of its use narrows still more the field of doubt; till at length a [222] more extensive induction supplies us with the fixed and accurate definition.{*}
It is customary in every language to have a number of different words and phrases to express the same idea. These synonyms we find very often in the New Testament, and not a few of them are used in reference to the topic before us. Upon examination it will be seen that no less than sixteen are employed to designate it. These are the following:--The word ; The word of God; The word of the kingdom; The gospel; The gospel of the kingdom; The word of the Lord; The word of salvation; The word of grace; The word of the gospel; The word of reconciliation; The word of truth; The gospel of salvation; The word of life; The word of the truth of the gospel; The word of faith; The testimony of God.{**} It is only necessary to consider the connexion and application of these phrases in the places where they occur, to be satisfied that they all have reference to the same thing--to "the word," to use the language of Peter, "which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ--that word which was published throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee after John's baptism, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; who went about doing good--whom they slew and hanged on a tree. Him God raised up the third day--To him give all the Prophets witness that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins."
It is this annunciation which Paul, in the motto which we have prefixed to these papers, denominates "The gospel;" for in the definition which he there supplies, he enumerates in substance the same facts concerning Christ, of which Peter speaks, to wit--"that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; that he was buried, and that he rose the third day according to the scriptures." It matters not whether we say with Peter, that 'Him they slew and hanged on a tree--and that to him bear all Prophets witness that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins;' or with Paul, more briefly, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures'--the prophetic scriptures of the Old Testament. It matters not whether we say with the former, "Him God raised up the third day;" or with the latter, "He rose the third day according to the scriptures?" The facts to which they refer are identical and their exposition of the terms, "word," "gospel," &c. which they employ, and the application which is made of the various phrases which we have quoted from the Evangelists, enable us to perceive with infallible certainly that they are all used in reference to the leading facts of Christian history, looked at from different points and in various associations. We have only to except the Apostle John, who uses the term "word" in a peculiar and appropriated sense. This we could with facility have gathered from his writings by induction, but it is rendered unnecessary by the definition with which he has himself furnished us in the last clause of the first verse of the first chapter of his testimony.
The etymon of the term "gospel" is Saxon. It is from godesspel, which signifies God's good tidings, and nearly answers to the Greek word used by the inspired writers--euanggelion, good news, glad tidings. The gospel of Christ then is, The glad tidings concerning Christ.
Whether, then, we interpret the phrase according to its etymology, or take the definition furnished by the Apostles, or ascertain its import from its use in the New Testament, the result is the same. So that, finally, we have only to sum up the whole in the words of Paul, and say that the gospel is, "that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures?"
These three facts, then, constitute what is truly and essentially the gospel. "Jesus was born to die," and however joyful his advent, it was so to the guilty sons of men only as the foretoken of their deliverance by his death for their sins, and his resurrection from the grave for their justification. Had Jesus come into the world only to leave an example of heavenly virtue, and return in a cloudy chariot to the skies, mankind would have remained in the same unhappy condition as before in respect to [224] pardon and acceptance with God. It was the shout of victory with which Jesus expired upon the cross, which communicated at once the first intimations of defeat throughout the trembling dominions of the Prince of darkness, and of joyful deliverance to the ears of sleeping saints. There can be no joy where there is no salvation. But it is not possible to conceive of any tidings so truly deserving the epithet of "joyful," as the annunciation of the facts which constitute the gospel, when these are understood in their natural relations, consequences, and tendencies.
R. R.
{*}
It is worthy of remark that those terms which occur least
frequently in the scriptures, have been most often the occasion of
dispute. We may instance, "born again;" "born of Spirit;"
"regeneration;" "end of the world." The reason is, that their meaning
is more difficult to fix, as they occur in few passages, and with
little change in their connexion and collocation.
{**}
Compare Matth. iv. 23, and xiii. 19-23, with Mark ii. 2;
iv. 14-18, and Mark xvi. 5 with ver. 20; and all these with Luke v. 1;
Acts ii. 21; iv. 4, 31: vi. 2, 4, 7; viii. 4, 25. x. 36, 37, 44; xi. 1;
xii. 24; xiii. 26, 48; xiv. 3; xv. 7; xvi. 10; Rom. x. 8, 2 Cor. iv. 2;
v. 19; vi. 7; Eph i. 13; Phil. i. 14; ii. 16; Col. i. 5; Titus i. 3,9;
Jas. i. 18.
[The Millennial Harbinger, May 1839, pp. 222-225.]
THE
MILLENNIAL HARBINGER,
NEW SERIES
VOLUME III.--NUMBER VII.
THE GOSPEL--No. IV.
"Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the GOSPEL which I preached unto you, which also you have received, and wherein ye stand: by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures." 1 COR. XV. 1-4.
AND is it then the gospel that Christ died for our sins, was buried and rose again? Have these few simple facts constituted the hope of the ancients and the joy of the moderns; the inspiration of the prophet and the fortitude of the martyr? Are these the theme of seraphic and cherubic song, and the power of God himself to the salvation of the world? Can it be that an annunciation so brief, and apparently so simple, has already wrought such important changes in the affairs of men, and is yet to exert so predominant an influence in the accomplishment of human destiny?--that the same truth which is the solace of the solitary wanderer, is to operate upon the entire mass of the human family? So Paul affirms, and both history and prophecy confirm his declaration.
Nor need we be surprised that so great effects are to be produced by means so simple. This only proves the perfection of the instrument, and is perfectly in accordance with the divine procedure in other cases. To combine simplicity and power is regarded as a manifestation of consummate skill. No one is rewarded for making a machine more complicated. Every improver aims to produce the same or a greater effect by a more simple mechanism. The very simplicity, then, of the gospel, is but an additional evidence of its divine origin.
It is also in harmony with other exhibitions of the wisdom and power of God. In the economy of nature, for instance, there is nothing more common than the accomplishment of the greatest purpose; by the simplest means; nor is there any thing more familiar than the ready applicability to particular and minor things of principles and powers which [314] are capable of exercising supreme and universal control. It is the same pervading influence, the attraction of gravitation, which brings to the ground a sere and yellow leaf from the oak, or the blazing meteor from heaven, and sustains in their orbits the immense planetary bodies, with their satellites. It is the same power, the attraction of cohesion, which moulds the dew-drop, which, poised upon a slender blade of grass, and touched by the sun's first rays, appears bright and beautiful as the diamond or pearl--'a gem of purest ray serene;' and lifts to the clouds the rocky precipice where the eagle builds her eyrie, and against whose base the waves of ocean rage in vain. It is not strange, then, that the same Divine Mechanician should in the religious and moral world endow the simplest means with power to accomplish the greatest ends, and to act with the same facility upon individuals and upon nations--upon one and upon all.
But again: it will be evident that the gospel most be of necessity something very simple, when it is recollected that it is to be preached to every creature. The great majority of the human race are ignorant and debased, slow of apprehension, and feeble in their capacity. The gospel is designed to open their blinded eyes, to turn them from darkness to light, to inform the understanding and to move the heart. That it has accomplished this purpose wherever it has been faithfully exhibited, and that the present civilization and refinement of the nations is mainly owing to its influence, is admitted by the best informed. Being then suited to the comprehension of all--the European, the Indian, the Negro, and the rude Barbarian, it cannot be any thing abstruse or remote, but must necessarily be easily perceived, understood, and felt. Could we indeed suppose for one moment that this divine and glorious gospel had transformed itself into those ponderous and complicated bodies of divinity which life will scarce afford time to read, or eternity to understand, we might well despair of our own salvation and the conversion of the world. Alas! how weak is man's power, and how foolish his wisdom, when compared with the omnipotence and omniscience of Jehovah. It is in his grasp that the simple and beautiful creations of God perish, and he would fain substitute his owe awkward and complicated contrivances. It is in his impure vessel that the waters of the sparkling fountain lose their clearness and refreshing coolness, but all his art is insufficient to purify and restore them!
How different might now hers been the state of the world if the gospel in its simplicity had been exhibited to mankind since the days of the Apostles! And to what a speedy termination it would bring the discords, feuds, and party jealousies of Christendom, if all would confine themselves to the joyful tidings that Christ has died for our [315] sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried, and that he rose the third day according to the scriptures! These are facts, not opinions or speculations. These are easily proved, readily understood, and quickly felt. 'And by these also we are saved,' says our Apostle, 'if we keep them in remembrance.'
R. R.
[The Millennial Harbinger, July 1839, pp. 314-316.]
THE
MILLENNIAL HARBINGER,
NEW SERIES
VOLUME III.--NUMBER X.
THE GOSPEL--No. V.
"Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the GOSPEL which I preached unto you, which also you have received, and wherein ye stand: by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures." 1 COR. XV. 1-4.
WHEN the Sybil offered her books to the king of Rome, and he refused to give the price required, she destroyed a part of them, and returned, demanding the full price for the remainder. What was only pretence in respect to the oracles of the Sybil, is really true of the revelations of God, which are so far above all price, that no value could be placed upon the whole of them which would not be as much possessed by every part. Nevertheless it may be boldly affirmed of that particular portion which contains the history and evidences of Christ's death, burial, and resurrection: that here, as in a focus, is concentrated every thing which gives light, beauty, meaning, or value to the whole.
Among the causes, indeed, which have contributed to produce the present confused state of the Christian profession, there has not been one more efficient than the sentiment that the whole Bible is a doctrinal treatise upon Christianity; and that the gospel is so equally diffused throughout the whole, like the blood in the human system, which may be made to flow from every part, that it may be found indifferently any where from Genesis to Revelation, and equally in the prophecies of Balaam, or the song of Solomon, as in the testimony of Matthew Levi or the Acts of Apostles. This view of the scriptures places the mind at once upon the wide ocean, careless by what gale or to what country it may be driven. Where every fact or incident is regarded as equally important, all become at the same time alike uninteresting; where there [433] is no distinction, there can be no arrangement; where there is no beginning, there can be no conclusion. As well might a person suppose that light is universally diffused throughout nature, and that he could possess himself of it by putting into his pocket the shining pebbles by which it is reflected. To direct his attention to the sun as the true source of light, would not sooner interrupt the labors of such a virtuoso, than would the proper exhibition of the simple facts of the gospel give a new turn to the investigations of the modern Bible student,
That all scripture given by inspiration is profitable for the various purposes for which its different parts are designed, and that it is all necessary to the perfection of the godly man, is cheerfully admitted. But what we would insist upon is this: that it is with the gospel facts we have first and chiefly to do; that it is by these we are first met on the part of Heaven; and that these not only comprise all that is necessary, so far as the Christian faith, and the salvation of the sinner is concerned, but involve necessarily and immediately the consideration of all preceding and succeeding revelations. Like the rich clusters of the vine in which the new wine is found, there is a blessing in them; and like these same clusters also, which are both the first in design and the last in production, the gospel facts (Christ and him crucified) are the first and the last, the Alpha and the Omega of revelation. In short, there is not a principle of action, or an exhortation to duty; a hope or a privilege; an institution or a doctrine in Christianity, which is not deducible from these simple facts, as the oak is evolved from the acorn, or the leaf unfolded from the bud. We would not be understood to say, however, that human reason could have made these deductions, any more than that human power could bring an oak out of an acorn. Christianity is as much beyond the reason of man, as the works of nature are beyond his power. The eyes of Reason could not even perceive its existence, unless it were revealed by the light of faith, and unfolded in its maturity by the efficient influences of a divine agency. Yet it is no sooner thus presented, than reason at once perceives the absolute and necessary connexion which subsists between its different parts; the relations of principles and laws; of facts and results; of means and ends; and is enabled to trace the steps of that inductive process by which the whole has been elaborated from a single germ.
We have spoken in our last essay of the simplicity of the gospel as a means of salvation, and endeavored to show that this simplicity is not only an evidence of its divine origin and perfection, and in accordance with the economy of nature; but that the gospel is by this means adapted to the capacity and understanding of those to whom it is addressed--human beings indiscriminately, rich and poor; high and low; [434] learned and illiterate. We have now to to that the gospel facts, with all their simplicity, are pre-eminently adapted to arrest and interest the attention of all, and that they are precisely suited to the wants and circumstances of the human family.
When the Apostle Peter first stood up, with the eleven, to announce the gospel to the Jews, his heart failed not and his voice faltered not, from any forebodings that the news he bore would prove either uninteresting or unsuited to his audience. On the contrary, he felt nerved with the conviction that the simple tale he had to tell would cause the ears of all to tingle, and their hearts to bleed. And the event justified his confidence; yet, after all, the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ were the themes on which he dwelt. Nor, again, when directed by the Spirit to the house of the first Gentile converts, whose minds were filled with the highest expectations which a celestial visitant could excite, did he draw upon imagination for unheard of marvels, or upon reflection for cogent and ingenious reasoning. He could think of nothing better suited to the momentous occasion, than an unadorned detail of the facts in Christ's history, which not only proved adequate to the salvation of the hearers, but had power to bring down miracles from heaven.
The first declaration of the gospel is, that "Christ died for our sins." The question immediately occurs, Who is Christ? Being informed that he is the Son of God, the querist, if an idolator, again inquires, And who is God? And no sooner is he taught that God created the heavens and the earth, and that this glorious Being has deputed his only begotten Son as a messenger to the human race, than his mind is overwhelmed with the illustrious character of the messenger and the mission. Ear cannot hear, nor can it enter into the imagination to conceive of any annunciation which could be made to man so well calculated as this to seize upon his attention and enchain his soul. The honor conferred by an embassage from heaven to earth, from the King eternal, immortal, and invisible to poor transitory mortals, is itself transcendent; and when this is enhanced by the noble lineage and lofty character of the envoy, and the peculiar nature and dignity of the offices he fills, it becomes overwhelming to every one who has a mind to understand or a heart to feel.
But it is said that this illustrious person "died for our sins." And who would not be interested here? Death is a word of awful and peculiar meaning to all. Sin is a term of deep significance to the whole race of Adam. Every one feels himself touched here, and perceives the direct and immediate relation which the first fact of the gospel bears to himself and to all mankind, death having passed upon all men, for [435] that all have sinned. It is a revelation calculated to interest not merely the poor, but the wealthy; not merely peasant, but the prince. It has no peculiar adaptation to any particular individual, to any single city, district, or country; but is alike interesting and important to all.
The same may be said of the other facts of the gospel. Interested in death, we are interested in the habitations of the dead--our future abode. When we are informed that one of such glorious origin was buried, our thoughts wander around his tomb, and we are curious to know the event. How deeply affecting, then, becomes the joyful annunciation that Christ is risen from the dead! There cannot be any thing conceived of such absorbing interest to the human race as a fact like this. A resurrection from the grave! How strange! How joyful! How glorious! There lives not the human being who would not be startled at the first announcement of an occurrence so wonderful in itself, and so intimately connected with the highest hopes and the greatest fears of man.
It is apparent, then, that the facts of the gospel, notwithstanding their extreme simplicity, are precisely of such a nature as to touch the human family where they feel most acutely; and that they are pre-eminently calculated to arrest the attention of the whole race of Adam, so that the missionary from civilized Europe who bears the message to the distant islands of the ocean, is conscious that he is possessed of tidings which will interest the uneducated savage of Australasia as much as it has the cultivated inhabitants of his native land.
R. R.
[The Millennial Harbinger, October 1839, pp. 433-436.]
THE
MILLENNIAL HARBINGER,
NEW SERIES
VOLUME III.--NUMBER XII.
THE GOSPEL--No. VI.
"Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the GOSPEL which I preached unto you, which also you have received, and wherein ye stand: by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures." 1 COR. XV. 1-4.
THE annunciation of the gospel facts, as intimated in our last, naturally suggests inquiry respecting the person who is therein declared to have been "delivered for our offences and raised again for our justification." This inquiry, as we endeavored to show, leads at once to a knowledge of Christ as the Son of the Blessed, and to an acquaintance with God as the creator, proprietor, and governor of the world. The intimate and immediate relation, then, which these simple facts bear to the whole of divine revelation will be at once perceived, when the reader is reminded that the great and leading object of the entire Old Testament is to exhibit the character of God the Father; and that in the New Testament, while the four Evangelists have for their express object to show that Christ Jesus is the Son of God; the Acts of Apostles expound and illustrate the doctrine that he died for the sins of the world--for Jews and Gentiles; and the epistolary writings with the Apocalypse have for their prominent and engrossing theme, the resurrection of Christ as the first fruits of the dead, upon which the exhortations to purity of heart, perseverance in well doing; to faith, hope, love, virtue, joy, are almost uniformly founded. Thus the three facts which constitute the gospel, like the three principal notes{*} in music [577] from which all melody is derived, give birth to all divine revelations which, but for them, would have neither charm nor meaning to the ears of ruined man.
Atonement or expiation; death on account of sin; deliverance of the guilty from death by the death of a victim, have formed the subject matters of the faith and of the typical and commemorative institutions of all the religions of the Bible. Each had its altar, its sacrifice, its priest; nor did the accepted offering of the righteous Abel express aught else than did the sacrificial or paschal lamb of the Mosaic economy, or than does now the communion of the body and blood of Christ--our passover, who was sacrificed for us. These various types and emblems are but the same letters taken from a different case: they have always expressed the same radical ideas; so that as there is but one language in heaven, there has ever been but one among the saints on earth.
Thus it is that the institutions of the gospel have a direct and immediate relation to its facts. The breaking of the loaf and the pouring out of the wine in the Lord's supper are commemorative and descriptive of the fact that Christ was "bruised for our iniquities," and that his blood was shed for the remission of our sins. The Lord's day indicates the time at which he rose from the dead, and the ordinance of immersion not only presents to view in a figure his death, burial, and resurrection, but is made also to the penitent believer the assurance of pardon and of an interest in his salvation, who, as does the believer, in dying, died to sin once, but in living, lives to God. Hence, as says the scripture, "He that believeth [the gospel] and is baptized shall be saved." So that, by this beautiful adaptation, the institutions of the gospel both communicate its blessings, and perpetuate the remembrance of those wonderful events from which those blessings flow.
The great matters of faith, hope, and love,--the vocabulary and the primary institutions of religion--have, then, in reality, always been the same. Sacrifice, the shedding of blood, the forgiveness of sin, and fellowship with God, were every thing in the beginning, and to them nothing can be added now Religion has remained as unchangeable as its Author or its subject. It is a remedial system, and as the malady (sin) has ever been the same, the means of cure have remained unaltered. Grateful homage to God, and conformity to the divine character, displaying itself in personal holiness, and good offices to men--piety and morality in brief, constitute its unvarying definition in all ages, and under every dispensation. And all this springs immediately from assurances of the love and goodness of God, as stated in the gospel facts, to wit, that he gave his Son to be the propitiation for the sins of [578] the world--and the deliverer of the human race from death; facts which have been held up to view in the sacrifices and oblations of the righteous in every period of the world. All through these, like Abel, obtained witness of their justification, God testifying of their gifts, all, like Enoch, rejoiced to walk with God; all, like ancient Israel, partook of the same spiritual food, drank of the same spiritual rock, and looked forward with earnest expectation to the same heavenly inheritance.
If, then, the gospel facts contain fully and substantially every thing shadowed forth in all the religious observances of former dispensations, and are now simply held in perpetual remembrance by all the ordinances of Christianity: if they present a complete display of that love of God from which all religion springs; and, together with the vocabulary of salvation, furnish the realities of all faith, and hope, and love, it follows that, however few and simple they may be, they are perfectly adapted to the wants and circumstances of the human family; or, to adopt the language of our motto, that 'by these we are saved if we keep them in remembrance.'
In the first of them, the title under which our Lord is presented opens to view the most intimate and extensive relations. He is styled Christ--the Christ--the Anointed. By a reference to the types and prophecies of the Old Testament we find this to be an official designation, and that he sustains the three several offices of prophet, priest, and king, anointed and consecrated by divine authority. When we consider him in these official relations, in connexion with his lofty descent, and his own transcendent character, we at once perceive how perfectly he is fitted to accomplish our deliverance. As a prophet or teacher, who was over so meek and condescending; so accessible to the poor and heavy-laden? What teacher ever delivered instructions so pure and heavenly; so novel and interesting; wisdom so deep in language so simple; or truths so various and comprehensive in terms so brief? And who was so well qualified to reveal to earth the things of heaven, as he who came from heaven; who was 'with God from everlasting before his works of old?' What high priest could mediate like the Son of God, or who as likely to be heard as he?' In whose power was it to make an offering so precious, so perfect, so declarative of the divine justice, so illustrative of the heinous nature of sin, and so confirmatory of the love of God for men, as the sacrifice of Christ? Or what earthly monarch was equal like him to universal dominion; competent to give laws infallibly just; to protect the innocent and punish the guilty; to redeem his people even from death: to ransom them from the power of the grave? and make them partakers of the [579] riches and honors, the glory and immortality of which he is himself possessed?
But again: It is stated in the first fact that this illustrious person "died for our sins according to the [ancient] scriptures." This, once admitted, and the immediate and natural conclusion is, that it is now in our power to escape from sin; and if from sin, by necessary implication, from all its consequences. This is Paul's argument in Heb. ix. and x., where he shows that a plenary remission; a perfect deliverance; an eternal redemption necessarily result from such a sacrifice offered by the high priest of the greater and more perfect tabernacle. Were we to analyze the reasonings and trace to their premises all the positions and conclusions of the Apostles, we should find them to be in like manner inductions from the simple facts which constitute the gospel. It is, indeed, their constant habit to reason from these facts, of which they were witnesses; which had been impressed upon their minds with so much force, and which they were commanded to proclaim to every creature. How bold and sweeping, yet how just and logical are their conclusions! "We thus judge," says Paul, "that if one died for all, then were all dead: and that he died for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them and rose again." We have here the whole ground of Christian obligations and duties covered by one single induction legitimately drawn from the first fact of the gospel. Again, he says in another place, "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him freely give us all things?" How glorious a consequence! Yet how just and natural a conclusion that God, after bestowing the most precious gift in the universe, would not withhold any thing of inferior value. Encouraged by this obvious induction from the fact in question, the believer may confidently expect the divine presence and protection, the communion of that Holy Spirit of promise, the earnest of his inheritance, the joys, the riches, and the honors of heaven. Sometimes, indeed, the connexion between the fact and the inference is less obvious. Nevertheless it always exists. We have an instance of this in what Paul says to the Athenians. "God," says he, "has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained, whereof he hath given an assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead." There are two inductions here from the fact of Christ's resurrection; to wit, that God had appointed a day of judgment, and that he has chosen Christ as judge. The dependence of these conclusions upon the premises may not be at first apparent; but upon a moment's reflection it will be seen that to admit the fact of the [580] resurrection, carries the mind at once into another world--into the midst of another scene, in which man is to conclude his part so obviously imperfect here, and imperfect too from the very want of a day of judgment--an equitable distribution of rewards and punishments. It grants at once a connexion between the world of matter and the world of spirit, and supposes a fixed and determinate plan, and train of events to be brought to a close upon a certain day. And as all intelligent beings are with evident propriety judged by one who is possessed of the same nature, and the administration of rewards and punishments constitute the most honorable and responsible office which any one could possibly sustain, the conclusion would be perfectly natural, that the man who was first in honor, as evinced by his resurrection from the dead had been already chosen to this office. Our Lord thus speaks of himself, John v. "As the Father raiseth up the dead and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth whom he will: for the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son, that all men should honor the Son," &c. Again, "As the Father has life in himself, so has he given to the Son to have life in himself [to rise from the dead,] and hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of Man."
Further--It is declared in the last fact of the gospel, that Christ "rose the third day according to the scriptures." Here the resurrection of all men is an obvious deduction. There is nothing in man which renders it necessary that he should die. It is to him a strange and unexpected phenomenon. He does not die from necessity, but from appointment. "It is appointed unto all men once to die." Our experience teaches us that such is the appointment of God. When, therefore, we witness the death of a fellow-mortal, we infer at once the divine appointment, and our own impending fate as participants of the same nature, and obnoxious to the same penalty. All grant this to be a proper and lawful induction from the fact. The converse, then, will be equally just, and the resurrection of a man will be as certain an evidence that all will rise--that it is equally a divine appointment that after death there shall be a resurrection to judgment.--Thus again Paul reasons from the resurrection of Christ; that as death came by a man, so does the resurrection also; and that all shall rise in their proper order, "Christ the first fruits," &c. It may be objected here that as we have many facts or cases to prove mortality, and but one in proof of immortality, the evidence for the latter is insufficient. But this objection will not hold; for the time is not yet arrived at which we might expect more cases, and the one we have is given to [581] us, as it were, before the time, for the express purpose of being to us a proof of what should follow at the appointed season--to give us an exemplification of all the conditions or stages in human destiny. From the ripening of a single ear of wheat before the harvest, we should most certainly, by induction, infer the ripening of the rest. Thus life and immortality have been brought to light by the gospel.
But it is not my present purpose to trace out the consequences resulting from the gospel facts. This were to transcribe the greater part of the New Testament. I wish here only to show how extensive these are, and how naturally they arise from these facts so few and simple. I will only add, that however various the conclusions drawn from the same facts by different Apostles, they never clash with each other. Paul may admire the wisdom of God therein displayed, and show its wonderful results; Peter may rejoice in his faithfulness; while John is impressed with the conclusion that God is love, inferring that if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. Yet all their deductions are in harmony; and, like the rays of light issuing from the sun, which are concentric, but distinct; and converging, however widely diffused: these are separate, though proceeding from a common centre, and are traced to this, however remote they may appear.
He, then, who believes the gospel, believes the Bible; believes every thing necessary to salvation; every thing which can or ever did rejoice, redeem, or exalt one of Adam's race. What can be added to the gospel? What more can be desired by man, sinful and mortal, than to be delivered from sin and to be blessed with immortality? And how perfectly suited, then, the gospel of Christ to the wants and circumstances of the human family!
How great is the wisdom displayed by our heavenly Father, in thus basing religion upon facts rather than own theory or authority! How great has been the folly of men in reversing this procedure! Facts may be proved by witnesses, and the inductions from them being inevitable, absolute certainty is the result. But theories depend upon the vanity of human reason, and are as uncertain and fallible as the source from which they spring. It is, then, most desirable that men should abandon a course which has proved so fatal to the peace, unity, and prosperity of Christendom, and unite together in the belief of the facts of the gospel; and in the participation of those privileges; the practice of those precepts and the enjoyment of these lofty and exhilarating hopes which immediately and necessarily result from them. [582]
R. R.
{*} Tonic, dominant, and subdominant.
[The Millennial Harbinger, December 1839, pp. 577-582.
ABOUT THE ELECTRONIC EDITION
Robert Richardson's six-part essay "The Gospel" was first published in The Millennial Harbinger, New Series, Vol. III, No. III, March 1839, pp. 97-101; No. IV, April 1839, pp. 145-149; No. V, May 1839, pp. 222-225; No. VII, July 1839, pp. 314-316; No. X, October 1839, pp. 433-436; No. XII, December 1839, pp. 577-582. The electronic version of the essay has been transcribed from the College Press (1980) reprint of The Millennial Harbinger, ed. Alexander Campbell (Bethany, VA: A. Campbell, 1839).
Pagination has been represented by placing the page number in brackets following the last complete word on the printed page. I have let stand certain variants in spelling and punctuation; however, I have offered corrections for typographical/printing errors. Emendations are as follows:
Printed Text [ Electronic Text
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
p. 98: profit any one, [ profit any one.
p. 222: their conjecture [ this conjecture
p. 223: of God.[dagger] [ of God.{**}
[dagger] Compare [ {**} Compare
Acts ii. d1; [ Acts ii. 21;
p. 435: earned and illiterate. [ learned and illiterate.
feets himself [ feels himself
p. 436: Autralasia [ Australasia
p. 578: derived. give [ derived, give
p. 581: insufficient But [ insufficient. But
Note.--The correction on p. 222 is from "Errata," Millennial Harbinger (1839): 597.
Addenda and corrigenda are earnestly solicited.
Ernie Stefanik
373 Wilson Street
Derry, PA 15627-9770
412.694.8602
stefanik@westol.com
Created 28 September 1997.
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