FROM

THE

MILLENNIAL HARBINGER:

FOURTH SERIES.

VOL. II.]	BETHANY, VA. DECEMBER, 1852.	[NO. XII.

      MY DEAR E.--Having dwelt so long upon the leading principles of the Reformation, it will now suffice to present a very brief statement of the results proceeding from the practical application of these principles. Among the earliest of them was the discovery that Christianity is a distinct and peculiar institution, complete in all its parts, and requiring no addition, from any system of religion previously established.

      No clear and just distinctions had heretofore been made between the different religions presented in the Bible; but, on the contrary, such were the confused notions of the religious public, that Christianity was supposed to be merely an emendation of Judaism, as the latter was, in turn, regarded as an improvement upon the more simple system of the patriarchal age. In short, it was supposed that the Bible contained but one religion, and it was usual to attempt to cover the confusion of thought and the practical incompatibilities arising from this view, under the notion that this religion was presented in three dispensations, each of which was a modification of the one that preceded it, and that in the form called Christianity, we were to find, as it were, a mere change of external rites, or a substitution of one thing for another, without any radical or essential difference in principle, administration, or authority.

      Hence, in different parties, we have so much of Judaism incorporated with Christianity, from the external pomp of Temple-worship and the simulated robes of the priesthood, to the more serious commixture of the discordant introductory principles--mere fleshly descent, and a living faith in Christ.

      There is no doubt that the false principles of Biblical interpretation in vogue, and the absurd practice of textuary preaching, had, in a good degree, occasioned, as they still continue to foster, these confused and erroneous views of Christianity; and it was quite in harmony with such views that an isolated text, taken at random from any portion of Holy Writ, should be supposed to embrace among its manifold senses a distinct enunciation of Christian doctrine.

      It is not be denied, indeed, that the great principles of religion and morality have been the same in all ages, and that the essential means of access to God and of acceptance with Him, have remained [686] unchanged since the faith of Abel. But it is equally true, that for special purposes connected with the development of the Divine character and government, there have been established, at different periods of the world's history, peculiar institutions, administrations, or economies, which, differing as they do in most important particulars, it is essential to distinguish from each other, in order to a just comprehension of any one of them. We recognize, then, as remedial systems--1st. The PATRIARCHAL INSTITUTION, which continued from the fall of Adam to the Divine mission of Moses. 2d. The JEWISH RELIGION, which remained in force from Moses until the coronation of Jesus as Lord and Messiah; and 3d. The CHRISTIAN ECONOMY, which continues from that time to the present, and is never to be superseded by any other.

      The Patriarchal institutions of religion were adapted to the early period of the world. The head of the family was its officiating priest; religious knowledge rested upon tradition, with special revelations to those who were distinguished for their faith and piety. This age had, accordingly, its own proportion of Divine truth; its own special promises; its peculiar faith; and its appropriate religious rites.

      The Mosaic system, also, had its own specific purposes to subserve. It was a theocracy; a peculiar form of government; a civil polity, as it contained the political regulations of an entire nation: yet it was, at the same time, a religion,¹ embodying in its precepts, and shadowing forth in the various types and symbols of its elaborate ritual, the most sacred truths, and revealing the Divine character in new and most important lights. As an institution, indeed, it was so peculiar and so different from any other that has ever existed, that there is not the slightest difficulty in determining its nature and defining its boundaries.

      Especially is it to be distinguished from Christianity, in whose spiritual and literal truths, its carnal and typical observances found their destined fulfilment; and to whose simple faith and all-embracing amplitude, its outward ceremonial and restricted boundaries gave place. Differing thus in its very nature and in its principles of membership, the Jewish institution contrasts with Christianity in all essential points. In its covenants, its promises, its mediator, its priesthood, its laws, its ordinances, and its sanctions, it is exhibited upon the sacred page as wholly diverse from the gospel [687] institution. How indispensable it is, then, to a just view of Christianity, that these important differences, which are so distinctly noted by the apostle to the Gentiles, in his Epistles to the Hebrews and Galatians, should be fully understood and acknowledged; and that the simple gospel of Christ should be freed from the corrupted admixture of Judaism, with which it is still contaminated in the minds of so many of the religious public!

      The same obscurity which has rested upon the land-marks of the various Divine institutions of which we have spoken, has naturally enveloped, also, the origin of the Christian Church. Some suppose its foundation to have been laid in eternity; others, concluding to await the creation of man, make Adam its first member; others postpone it to the days of Abraham; and not a few make it coeval with Moses. To any one, however, who will trust the Scriptures upon the subject, nothing can be plainer than that the Christian Church commenced its formal existence on the day of Pentecost which immediately succeeded Christ's ascension into heaven. I need here only notice some of the scriptures from which this is abundantly evident.

      In the first place, in order to show that it did not originate before Christ's personal ministry, it will be sufficient to quote the express language of Christ himself, who, in reference to Peter's acknowledgment that he was the Messiah, says: "On this rock I will build my church." He here uses the future tense--"I will build." So that the church was not yet founded upon this rock, its only true foundation. Christ himself, indeed, became the chief corner stone of this spiritual edifice, which is said to rest also upon his Apostles and Prophets, who were the earliest members and supports of the church.

      There are, indeed, some passages which seem to imply that the church had already an existence during the ministry of Christ on earth. These must, however, in harmony with others which are more definite, and with the facts of the case, be understood as spoken prospectively; of which style we have various examples, as, for instance, in the institution of the Lord's Supper, in which Christ speaks of his blood as shed, before the event actually occurred. It is true that the body, so to speak, of the church, was prepared during Christ's ministry; and this body was, on the day of Pentecost, quickened by the impartation of the Holy Spirit, just as God first formed the body of Adam, and afterwards "breathed into his nostrils [688] the breath of life." Just so, also, in the types of the Jewish religion, the tabernacle and the temple were first prepared, and then the Shekinah or Divine Presence took up his abode in them as the necessary sanction, without which all their religious ministrations would have been unacceptable and invalid. It was not until every thing was finished and the ark of the Lord placed beneath the Cherubims, that fire descended from heaven to consume the offered sacrifice, and that the glory of the Lord filled the temple.² Without the presence of the Holy Spirit, the Church of Christ could have no life, nor power to exercise its functions, nor could it be recognised as distinctly and formally established in the world. Hence the disciples were commanded to "tarry at Jerusalem" until they should be "endued with power from on high,"³ and they were then to proceed to preach the gospel among all nations, "beginning at Jerusalem." This was in accordance with the prophecies of Isaiah and of Micah, that out of Zion should go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.⁴ So that we have thus distinctively fixed both the place and the time at which the Christian institution should commence. It was then and there only that all things were prepared. Christ had there offered himself as a sacrifice for the sins of the world, and had thence ascended into the true holy place, to appear in the presence of God, where, having been exalted and crowned "a Prince and a Saviour, to grant repentance and remission of sins," and having, also, received of the Father the promised Holy Spirit, he communicated, upon that eventful day, those gifts and life-giving energies to his waiting disciples, by which the church was quickened into being, and enabled to assume, for the first time, its distinct and appropriate character and functions. Hence thousands were on this day converted, as related in the second chapter of Acts; and it is in the close of this same chapter that we, for the first time, find the church distinctly spoken of as an existing institution. "The Lord," we are told, "added daily to the church such as were saved."

      We find, then, that the three things required in order to the establishment of the Christian Church, were all present upon the day of Pentecost referred to, and at no antecedent period. A body of disciples was then prepared. The Lord Messiah having humbled himself to the death of the cross, was then exalted, and glorified, and constituted head over all things to his church, "which is his body, the fulness of him who filleth all in all." And, lastly, this glorious [689] head then imparted to this body that Holy Spirit which he himself received of the Father, in order that his church might be thus fitted to discharge its appropriate functions, and that its members might be all animated by one spirit, and be thereby united to each other and to God, through him. Thus, as the mission of Jesus was to the Jews, that of the Holy Spirit was to the church,⁵ and that of the church to the world.⁶

      We find, further, that the first Christian Church was that at Jerusalem; so that in a literal, as well as in a figurative sense, Jerusalem is the mother of all the churches of Christ on earth, and the pretensions of the Roman hierarchy, based upon the antiquity and authority of the church afterwards founded at Rome, are as false and unfounded as they are arrogant and presumptuous.

R. R.      

[The Millennial Harbinger, Fourth Series, 2 (December 1852): 686-690.]

      Robert Richardson's "Principles and Purposes of the Reformation" (Part III) was first published in The Millennial Harbinger, Fourth Series, Vol. 2, No. 12, December 1852. The electronic version of this essay has been produced from the College Press reprint (1976) of The Millennial Harbinger, ed. Alexander Campbell (Bethany, VA: A. Campbell, 1852), pp. 686-690.

      Pagination in the electronic version has been represented by placing the page number in brackets following the last complete word on the printed page. In the printed text, footnotes are indicated by printer's devices (asterisks, daggers, etc.); in the electronic text, they are treated as sequentially numbered endnotes. Inconsistencies in spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and typography have been retained; however, corrections have been offered for misspellings and other accidental corruptions. Emendations are as follows:

 Page       Printed Text [ Electronic Text
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 p. 687:    superceded [ superseded
 

      Addenda and corrigenda are earnestly solicited.

Ernie Stefanik
373 Wilson Street
Derry, PA 15627-9770
e_stefanik@msn.com

Created 25 July 2000.