FROM

THE

E V A N G E L I S T ,

BY WALTER SCOTT.

Go you into all the world, proclaim the good news to the whole creation:--he who be- lieveth and is immersed shall be saved; and he, who believeth not shall be condemned.
MESSIAH.
NO. 5.	CARTHAGE, MAY 5, 1834.	VOL. 3.

      In its first principles of faith, repentance and baptism the kingdom of heaven was introduced in the days of John the Baptist: in its facts and power it came when Jesus arose from the dead and sent down the Holy Spirit from heaven: but in several other matters, as the union of Jews and Gentiles, proclamation and church-order, it was perfected only under the apostles: it came, therefore, per gradatim or gradually, and might in this respect be compared, as the Saviour said, to wheat which a man sowed in his field, and which grew up imperceptibly, "first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear." This explains why John said the kingdom was approaching, and Jesus said it was come. In its first principles of reformation &c. it was come when John Baptized; but in power and spirit and other matters, it was in prospective--and only approaching.

      It is asked, Was John's Baptism Christian Baptism? In answer I would say, that it were just as good sense to ask, Was John's faith Christian faith? Or, Was John's repentance Christian repentance? The reformation which John enjoined was the reformation which Christ enjoined; and the faith he required was the faith which Jesus required: John required them to believe 'on Him that was to come,' and pointed to Jesus as that personage, saying, 'I saw and bare record that this is the Son of God.' Now this is the very faith which Jesus demanded; for when the Jews asked him, what was the work which God required them to do, he answered, This is the work of God that you believe on him whom he hath sent. [97]

      But to return to the first question, Was John's Baptism Christ's Baptism: In relation to it I would ask the following: Did John's baptism introduce men into the Kingdom of God? This brings the first question within our reach; for I answer, that John's baptism did introduce those who obeyed it into the Kingdom; now if it did, then it is a rite or ordinance of that Kingdom; and if it belonged to the kingdom of heaven then it is Christ's, and if it is Christ's then the question is answered and the difficulty is obviated. But supposing that men who repented and were baptized by John, did not enter the kingdom of God, what then is to be done with the following scriptures? How do we dispose of them? The law and the prophets were until John; since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it. Luke xvi. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, that the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. How did men press into the kingdom of God? And, How did the publicans and harlots show the scribes and Pharisees the way into it? Certainly by no other way than by reformation and baptism being commanded to believe on him who was to come after, that is, on Messiah.

      Why then were some of John's disciples baptized over again? No doubt it was because their first immersion had been administered after the death of John. For John's mission became defunct at his death; and as the Saviour after that event, became the exclusive teacher in the kingdom those who would enter that kingdom must needs enter it by his authority, all other authority being dead in the person of the Baptist.

      The state of the case is this; John was a man sent of God to prepare a people for Jesus by reformation and baptism; the people reformed and were baptized and constituted the subjects of a new kingdom waiting for him that was to come--their Prince; he did come, and was baptized, and also entered that kingdom in the way appointed by God the Father: All this is made the subject of a parable, in John, x. which shows, that the baptized are the sheep, Christ is the shepherd, the kingdom is the fold, and John the porter. Christ immediately took up the baptism of the kingdom and the other principles of faith and reformation adding to the testimony which is necessary to faith, increasing the motives necessary to repentance, and finally, after his resurrection, ordering baptism from that time forward to be administered in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

SILAS.

[The Evangelist 3 (May 1834): 97-98.]

FROM

THE

E V A N G E L I S T ,

BY WALTER SCOTT.

Go you into all the world, proclaim the good news to the whole creation:--he who be- lieveth and is immersed shall be saved; and he, who believeth not shall be condemned.
MESSIAH.
NO. 6.	CARTHAGE, JUNE 2, 1834.	VOL. 3.

      Among the rarest and most important thoughts on parables I have ever seen published a writer in the Evangelist, under the name of Alumnus has given an exposition of the parable of the tares and the wheat and of the phrase Kingdom of heaven; in which he discriminates between the Church and the Kingdom, making the latter a word of much more comprehensive import than the former. The Kingdom is explained to comprehend the King, the subjects, the territory possessed, the laws, and manners and customs by which it is identified and governed; while the word church, more limited in its signification, is used for the subjects of the Kingdom, either in the aggregate, or portioned out into distinct assemblies. This was a desideratum for understanding the parable already named, and is as enlightening as it is new, startling, and interesting.

      Alumnus has demonstrated clearly that, the territory of the kingdom of heaven being co-extensive with the great globe itself, a man may be in it without enjoying the privileges of a denizen; this is correct, and perfectly analogous to all our conceptions of society; for how many, at the present time, have their residence within these United States, who, from want of enfranchisement, are debarred the privileges of freemen, and cannot appear at the poles! It is a fact, then, that a man may stand in the territory of the kingdom, and yet not be a subject of the kingdom. But is it not a corollary from the above, that persons may belong to the kingdom and not be in the territory? A man may be a subject of Louis Philip, and yet live in England and not in France; may not a man, then, belong to the Messiah and not stand within the territory of his glorious empire? Undoubtedly; because if we can be in the territory and not be subjects; we may [121] be subjects and not be in the territory. But the reader will say how is it possible, that a subject of Messiah's reign should get beyond the bounds of the territory and not get out of the world, seeing the world has been given to Messiah as the bounds of his kingdom? Before replying to this it may be asked whether the subjects, the king, the territory, and laws of the kingdom of heaven were contemporaneously called into existence? was a territory granted and guaranteed to Messiah before laws were formed, or subjects gathered? Or were subjects gathered before the grant of the territory? I answer, these things came into existence not contemporaneously but in succession, first the subjects, next the king, then the laws, and finally the territory, after the king had ascended into heaven, for it was not until Jesus was glorified that the uttermost parts of the earth were given to him for a possession. If John's disciples were introduced into the kingdom by baptism, and we have seen they were, then here are subjects of the kingdom before the grant of the territory, subjects who when they took allegiance to the king who was to come, stood, for the time being, without any territory. Rome was not built in a day; neither was Jerusalem; neither was the kingdom of heaven; it arose gradually.

      I know, that those who were immersed by John were called his disciples, and baptism was called John's baptism; still I do not think, that this should be adduced to invalidate the saying of Jesus our Lord, who assures us, that the Law was until John, but, from that time, the kingdom of heaven was preached and all men pressed into it. The saying of John that the kingdom was approaching and that of Jesus, it was come, are perfectly reconciled, if it be admitted, that the New Institution was introduced gradually.

SILAS.

[The Evangelist 3 (June 1834): 121-122.]

      Robert Richardson's "The Kingdom of Heaven" was first published in The Evangelist, Vol. 3, No. 5, May 1834; No. 6, June 1834. The electronic version of this two-part essay has been produced from the College Press reprint (1980) of The Evangelist, ed. Walter Scott (Cincinnati, OH: Walter Scott, 1834), pp. 97-98, 121-122. The text has been scanned by Colvil Smith and formatted by Ernie Stefanik.

      Pagination in the electronic version has been represented by placing the page number in brackets following the last complete word on the printed page. 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. 98:     Luke xvi, [ Luke xvi.
 

      Addenda and corrigenda are earnestly solicited.

Created 7 September 2000.