FROM

THE

MILLENNIAL HARBINGER,

NEW SERIES.

VOLUME III.-----NUMBER I.

B E T H A N Y, VA. JANUARY, 1839.

      THE divine orders for evangelizing the world, and for teaching the disciples all things that they should observe to do, as recorded by Matthew and Mark, when taken together, may be correctly rendered as follows: see Matth. xxviii. 16, 18, 20. and Mark xvi. 15, 16. The eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And he came and spake, unto them, saying "All power Is given to me in heaven and in earth. Go ye, therefore, into all the world, preach the gospel to every creature, disciple all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even to the end of this state. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be condemned."

      From this portion of the divine testimony it evidently appears, 1st. That the apostolic commission is founded upon the official authority of Christ. 2d. That it embraces every human creature, without exception. 3d. That the subject matter of their preaching and teaching is exclusively intended for the salvation of the nations. 4th. The apostolic preaching was for a time entirely oral, being addressed only to the ear. Wherefore it was said that "faith comes by hearing."' 5th. That when the Apostles had fulfilled their commission, had finished their work, by publishing the gospel and law of Christ to the nations, and had left it fully recorded in the possession of the churches, it necessarily follows, that, thenceforth, oral dictation ceased to be authoritative; and, that both the church and the world must, thenceforth, depend exclusively upon what was written, for their instruction and salvation; and, consequently, that preaching of [25] proclaiming did, in its just and primary import, then for ever cease; and teaching alone remain. It is true, the word might still be proclaimed to those that never heard it, by reading to them what had been already published, referring to the evidence, both external and internal, by which it had been, and still might be, confirmed: but this we properly call teaching, the things having been already proved and published, and so made public property: the subsequent teachers, in the mean time, not pretending to produce immediate supernatural evidence for what they taught, as the first proclaimers did: wherefore their mere oral dictation could have no divine authority. These things being evidently so, church edification must, as far as verbal teaching is concerned, have thenceforth been effected by reading the sacred record, with appropriate observations and exhortations. For this alone containing all that the disciples were to believe and do, in order to secure the continued enjoyment of the divine approbation; nothing farther could be necessary, but only to read it intelligibly, and enforce it with the proper arguments, divinely furnished for that purpose.

      Now, in order to accomplish this in the most effectual manner, the true, literal, and constructive meaning of words and phrases, and also the grammatic and rational connexion of sentences and sentiments should be made so evident, that the reading may be clearly understood, and its meaning forcibly felt. And this would evidently require such profound attention, both on the part of the teacher and of the taught, that on neither part it could be done by rote, but that, on the contrary, it would require, on both sides, a previous and preparatory attention, in order to the aforesaid strict and intelligent perusal, that it might be duly understood and retained; without which all reading is mere formal trifling. Let the church then take up its Book, and read and study it thus, that so it may duly understand and retain it; and, in so doing, it will act in character; it will honor the Book of God; and, in so doing, it will both honor its Author, and edify itself; and thus enjoying the inestimable benefit, which it was divinely intended to convey to the intelligent, retentive, practical student. Thus will the church resume its proper character; that is, the school of Christ, disciples, Christians: and will not henceforth shame its Master, through its stupid, wilful, shameful ignorance of his only Book. No--For instead of its present lamentable neglect of this its primary and all-important duty, every member would be every day studiously memorizing a competent portion of it, for his daily edification and comfort--his meditation and conversation--the subject matter of his praise and prayer. These portions would also be rehearsed with interest every evening, in the family circles, for social edification, [26] with appropriate remarks, prayers and praises; and certain other portions read with pertinent questions and observations, as preparative for church edification on the Lord's day, having been previously appointed for that purpose.

      On Lord's day morning, say at 10 o'clock, the church meets to spend four hours together, with a short interval of half an hour; the worship commences with the celebration of the resurrection by appropriate singing, prayer, reading and singing. Here it is worthy of remark, that not only each of the four Evangelists close their respective narratives with each an account of the resurrection; but the Apostle Paul also, in his first epistle to the Corinthians, 15th chapter, gives us a very interesting doctrinal view of the certainty and import of this glorious and all-important event: so that, if we choose to be directed by time, that great index to human affairs, we have a chapter for every first day in each month, even when there happens to be five, and each of these the peculiar record of a different witness. After an hour spent in this most blissful exercise, in which we celebrate the happy event of our own justification in our Surety's resurrection, "who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification," we may next proceed in the office of teaching, by reading correctly, with proper explanatory remarks, practical observations, and suitable exhortations, the portions of holy scripture previously appointed; the disciples, in the mean time, all strictly attending with open books; that so they may not only be edified by the observations and exhortations, but also be duly instructed to read the scriptures correctly and intelligently; and thus, in due time, become duly acquainted with the Divine Book, which never can be the case in the present mode of proceeding. This exercise being over, intermit after singing and prayer. After half an hour's interval, the disciples having come together again to commemorate the Lord's death; that all-important subject being introduced by singing, then, after reading with pertinent remarks some portion of the sacred record relative to this most solemn and interesting event; and commemorating it as divinely prescribed; having concluded this part of the worship with singing, the teachers might next profitably proceed to review the morning lecture, by asking such pertinent questions as the text duly and retentively understood, will fairly answer: then, after appointing with suitable remarks and exhortations, the lessons for the week, to be duly prepared for the next meeting, dismiss with singing and prayer; each, at parting, contributing something to the common stock for religious purposes, as God has prospered him. Thus would church edification cease to be done by proxy, and so become the common business of all concerned; every one, according to his [27] ability and opportunity, thus laboring to promote his own edification, and also to contribute to that of others. And thus church edification properly becoming a church business, the overseers and rulers would be justly exempt from the enormous task of studying for the whole congregation; having henceforth only to attend to their own appropriate duties of teaching and ruling, by directing the studies, correcting the mistakes, enforcing the duties, and so securing the proficiency of all concerned; withal correcting or rejecting the disobedient and unruly, thus preserving good order and decorum in the house of God. Thus would Christian edification become truly general and progressive, each doing and enjoying his part. And seeing that all enjoyment lies in employment, and that whatever a man sows, that shall he also reap, both in quantity and quality; it would, therefore, appear impossible to imagine, how Christian edification can otherwise be duly promoted and secured, than by thus availing ourselves of the due use of the holy scriptures, both publicly and privately. It would also appear that there is no other scriptural way of getting rid of, what we generally call text-teaching; that is, attempting to edify the church by saying what we please, and placing it all to the account of a detached sentence or two, previously read for that purpose. There appears, indeed, but two just and consistent ways of using the holy scriptures to edification: the one is, the reading of them with respect to their proper contextual connexion; the other is, the taking of the amount of the divine testimony upon a particular topic, by collecting together into one view, the various passages that mention said topic: that by so doing, we may duly ascertain the import of the divine testimony concerning it; having the sum of the evidence fully before us. Now in either of these ways of using the holy scriptures for public edification, we have done with the aforesaid text-preaching; for, in both, we come directly and immediately to the text itself, to receive our instruction directly from it, contextually text and grammatically understood. What remains, then, but that we so use the holy scriptures, for promoting and securing those all-important purposes?

      But Would not the adoption of this, or any other plan of procedure, look too much like a human formula or liturgy? We answer in the negative. For there is nothing here proposed; but what must be done by social agreement, if we act socially at all; namely, the time of day to meet and spend together, and how we shall proceed in the use of the means divinely appointed for our edification, so that all things, that we ought to do, be "done decently, and in order,"--"all things for the use of edifying," according to the divine canon: 1 Cor. xiv. 26. And, as to the subject matter of our religious exercises, we propose nothing but [28] what is divinely appointed; viz. The didactic use of the holy scriptures, and the observances therein appointed, for edification of the church.

      There is, we are sorry to see and hear it, a superstitious scrupulosity to which men are liable--pernicious extremes--against which we should be continually upon our guard. Hear it. "Wherefore," say they, "because much evil has been done by church articles, creeds, and formulas; therefore, we'll have no church records of any sort." They might just as well say, 'Because there have been so many private and public frauds and impositions practised by printing and writing, therefore we'll have nothing more to do with either; we'll do all hereafter by memory and word of mouth.' What a preposterous conclusion would this be! The very reverse should be adopted; viz. That, whereas we have heretofore committed ourselves, and been imposed upon, by printing and writing, we will henceforth be very cautious what use we make of either.

      No voluntary society can be united but in sentiment; nor co-operate for the purpose of its union, but in consequence of a certain agreement to act by certain rules; these, therefore, ought to be well and certainly known to all concerned. This being as plain as demonstration, therefore every church should, of course, have a fair and explicit record of its sentimental agreement, and rules of procedure for accomplishing the ends of its association; and this both for its own sake, and that of the public. That by this means the members might fairly understand each other, and so be duly prepared to act in concert; also, that, as a society, they might defend themselves against misrepresentation: and lastly, for the sake of such as might feel disposed to become members; that they might clearly understand the rules and sentiments that characterize and govern the society, with which they are about to unite. And who sees not the justice and propriety of such a course; yea, the indispensable necessity of it, not merely for the essential purposes just mentioned, but also for the still more special purpose of self-preservation; that said society be not a mere ephemeral production, the offspring and tenant of a day, liable to some destructive change every hour, which cannot be prevented for want of a demonstrable, fixed, and constitutional unity? To prevent, then, this fatal catastrophe, let its formative, essential, and regulating principles be well and truly defined, that so they may be duly understood and defended; also, its rules of self government and co-operation so clearly and definitely stated, that none can ignorantly mistake his duty.

      Thus will the society, if constitutionally right, be rendered intelligent, permanent, and prosperous. Wherefore, for those very important purposes, the following specimen of a Church [29] Record is respectfully submitted to the consideration of the churches of the proposed reformation:--

      1. A declaration of sentiment.
      2. The names of the members at the date of the book.
      3. A record of additions by baptism, by letter, or otherwise.
      4. A record of deaths; also, of dismissals, specifying the time and causes.
      5. An account of contributions and expenditures.

      We, the undernamed, disciples of the primitive apostolic gospel of Jesus Christ, meeting in ----------, &c. ----------, declare, 1st. That, considering the disunion, disaffection, and discord, so generally prevailing amongst the professors of Christianity, in direct opposition to the most express declarations of the divine will, and to the manifest subversion of the benign and blissful intentions of our holy religion, feel in duty bound by the divine authority, to have no fellowship with those destructive evils, by conscientiously abstaining from the evil causes which have produced them, and which still continue to keep them up; namely, teaching and practising the doctrines and commandments of men; and making their inferences and opinions articles of faith and terms of communion; against all which unauthorized and ruinous practices we enter our humble and earnest protest; taking the Divine Word alone as the only and all-sufficient, rule and expression of our faith and obedience.

      2d. That thus taking the Holy Scriptures alone, as the only perfect and all-sufficient expression of the divine will, it is our earnest desire, and sincere intention, to reduce them to practice; and so to make a rule of them, and be ruled by them; that we may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God--be made wise to salvation, thoroughly fitted for every good work.

      3d. That we heartily approve and fellowship all, as the genuine and approved disciples of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who conscientiously and dutifully disapproving of the above evils, take the Holy Scriptures alone, as the only and adequate ride and expression of their faith and duty: and so make it their constant and diligent study, night and day, to understand, believe, and obey them.

[The Millennial Harbinger (January 1839): 25-30.]

      Thomas Campbell's "The Divine Order for Evangelizing the World" was first published in The Millennial Harbinger, Vol. 3 (New Series), No. 1, January 1839. The electronic version of the essay has been produced from the College Press reprint (1976) of The Millennial Harbinger, ed. Alexander Campbell (Bethany, VA: A. Campbell, 1839), pp. 25-30.

      Pagination in the electronic version has been represented by placing the page number in brackets following the last complete word on the printed page. I have let stand variations and inconsistencies in the author's (or editor's) use of italics, capitalization, punctuation, and spelling in the essay. Emendations are as follows:

            Printed Text [ Electronic Text
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
 p. 25:     the disciptes [ the disciples
 

      Addenda and corrigenda are earnestly solicited.

Ernie Stefanik
Derry, PA

Created 15 February 1998.
Updated 9 July 2003.