N view of the state of things set forth in the preceding chapter, the field of labor for the newly-chosen evangelist was rather an unpromising one; but it must be remembered that he himself had for years been perplexed by the doctrinal difficulties prevailing among the people to whom he was sent, and therefore the better prepared to show the evils of a partisan theology, and to point out a more excellent way. Here and there, however, in the various churches of the Association, were to be found individuals dissatisfied with the popular orthodoxy of the tomes, who needed only a leader in order to throw off the yoke of human creeds and to unite upon the one foundation on which the followers of Christ first stood. These were mainly the readers of the "Christian Baptist," by whose bold and startling articles a spirit of deep and earnest inquiry had been aroused. They were, though few in number, the thinkers, the earnest and honest-hearted of the various communities in which they were found, and their views, like leaven, were slowly and silently making their way. Indications of this appeared as early as the year 1823. In that year the church at Hubbard sent to [95] the Association the following question: "Is it the opinion of this Association that any church has the privilege, according to Scripture, of holding communion without an ordained elder, or to administer other gospel ordinances?" This was answered in the negative. In the same year the following was submitted by the Nelson church: "Is it an apostolic practice for churches to have confessions of faith, constitutions, or any thing of the like nature, except the Scriptures?" This was a blow aimed at the practice of every church in the Association. To answer the question in the affirmative would have made it necessary to prove what did not admit of proof; to have given a negative answer would have condemned what was universally practiced. Action upon it was, therefore, postponed until the next year, and even then it was deemed most politic to pass it by in silence. In 1824 the Nelson church had two more questions to propose for the consideration of the Association. They were: 1. "Will this Association hold in its connection a church which acknowledges no other rule of faith and practice than the Scriptures?" 2. "In what manner were members received into the churches that were set in order by the apostles?" Plain as these questions were, it was deemed best to postpone the answers until the next year, at which time the following replies were made. To the first: "Yes; on satisfactory evidence that they walk according to this rule." To the second: "Those who believed and were baptized were added to the church." These answers were condemnatory of the almost universal practice of the Baptist Churches at that time, as they did not recognize any [96] church unless it had articles of faith corresponding to their own; and such was the universal demand for an "experience," that persons who had been baptized on a simple profession of faith in the Lord Jesus were denied membership with them.

      In the same year, from the New Lisbon church came the query: "Is it scriptural to license a brother to administer the Word and not the ordinances?" to which the answer was: "We have no such custom taught in the Scriptures." Also the following from the Nelson church: "Can Associations, in their present modifications, find their model in the New Testament?" to which the answer was: "Not exactly."

      In 1825 the Youngstown church sent up to the Association the following: "Was the practice of the primitive church an exact pattern to succeeding ages; and is every practice to be receded from which was not the practice of the primitive saints in their peculiar circumstances?" The reply was; "It is the duty and privilege of every Christian church to aim at an exact conformity to the example of the churches set in order by the apostles, and to endeavor to imitate them in all things inimitable by them."

      From the occurrences just related it will be perceived that light was increasing, and the questions from the Nelson church especially indicate that there were within it the elements of reform; and that those who held the sentiments set forth in the queries noticed were desirous of throwing off the creed which they regarded as a yoke of bondage. But of all the churches in the Association, that at Hiram, Portage County, had taken the roost advanced ground. This congregation at one time had its church covenant, [97] church articles, church constitution, and in addition to these held to the Philadelphia Confession of Faith; and it was not unusual to have all the three former read at a single church meeting. Of this dreary repetition the church clerk grew weary, and thought that the time could be better employed in reading the Scriptures. In this view several others shared; the matter was canvassed in nearly every family, and at length, at their monthly meeting, in August, 1824, it was proposed to renounce all--covenant, articles, constitution, and the Philadelphia Confession--and take the Word of God as the only rule of faith and practice. A few objected, on the ground that without their articles and church covenant they would be like a barrel without hoops, with nothing to keep them together, as without them they could neither receive nor exclude members. Two recent occurrences, however, favored those who advocated the rejection of the offensive documents in a practical way. A short time before, two members had been received without the laying on of hands after baptism, which had previously been regarded by some as much a gospel ordinance as baptism or the Lord's Supper; this was done in consequence of their minister, Rufus Freeman, refusing to lay hands on the converts, as he did not regard it as enjoined by the Scriptures; and so the articles of faith which made it necessary had the effect of making trouble instead of keeping it away. A refractory member had also been brought up for trial, but as the offense was one not specified in the church articles, and she beyond all question guilty and yet unwilling to confess her fault, she was excluded on scriptural ground. [98] An aged German brother, highly esteemed for his godly life, but who had never spoken in a church meeting before, arose, and after alluding to the above case, said: "Brethren, that trial was conducted without the use of the church articles; we have found that we can exclude disorderly members without them; if the Bible is a good rule by which to exclude evil-doers, it ought to be a good rule for right-doers to live by. I think we can do without the articles."

      The longer the discussion continued the stronger grew the party which stood up for the Bible alone, and when the motion was put that all their church rules and standards save the Bible alone should be renounced, all save three voted in its favor. One of the three, a lady, rose and said she had not voted on the motion from the fact that she had never accepted the documents which had been rejected, and for that reason could not renounce them; another gave a similar reason, leaving only one in the opposition. But this was a rare case in those days; most of the churches stood by the creed, articles, and covenant, and their opposers were generally regarded as troublers of Israel.

      As the articles of faith so often referred to expressed the views entertained at that time, and were given up with reluctance after a severe struggle, those held by the church at New Lisbon are given below, as generally expressive of the sentiments of the churches in the Mahoning Association:

      ARTICLES OF FAITH held by the Baptist church at New Lisbon. Constituted May 31, 1806:

      ARTICLE I. We believe in one God, the Creator of all the worlds, the only living and true God; a being of [99] infinite perfections, whose essence can not be comprehended by any but himself; a most pure Spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or passions, who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto, who is infinite in all his perfections, and most holy in and of himself.

      II. We believe that in this being of infinite perfections there are three subsistences or persons, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, of one substance, power, and eternity; each having the whole divine essence, yet the essence or nature undivided. The Father is of none neither begotten nor proceeding. The Son is eternally begotten of the Father. The Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father and Son, all infinite and without beginning, therefore but one God, who is not to be divided in nature and being, but distinguished by several particular relative properties and personal relations; which doctrine of the Trinity is the foundation of all our communion with God and comfortable dependence on him.

      III. We believe the Old and New Testaments to be the Word of God, and the only infallible rule of faith and practice in religious things.

      IV. We believe in the eternal and particular election of men and angels to eternal glory.

      V. We believe man to be a fallen creature and in a fallen state, and in his present state he is not able in and of himself to recover himself to a state of happiness.

      VI. We believe in a particular redemption of a definite number of persons to eternal life by the death of Christ.

      VII. We believe in a free justification by the righteousness of Christ imputed, and efficacious grace in regeneration, and the final perseverance of the saints in grace to the end.

      VIII. We believe in the resurrection of the dead, both of the righteous and ungodly, and the general judgment [100] to come, and that the saints shall forever enjoy the glory of heaven, and that the unrighteous shall be sent to eternal misery to remain forever without hope or deliverance.

      IX. We believe that baptism is an ordinance of the New Testament; and that believers are the only subjects of it, and that this ordinance ought to be administered by dipping the body all over in water.

      X. We believe that laying on of the hands (on baptized believers as such) is an ordinance of the gospel.

      XI. We believe that the Lord's Supper is an ordinance of the gospel church.

      Some of the churches had more and some fewer articles than the above, but these will serve as a fair specimen of what all the Baptist churches in that region regarded as a necessity; and their fate was one which finally overtook them all.

      When the principles of the Reformation had been imbibed by some members of that congregation; at one of their monthly meetings, after the reading of the articles, one of the brethren asked that the third article be read again, which was done; it reads as follows: "We believe the Old and New Testaments to be the Word of God, and the only infallible rule of faith and practice in religious things." He then asked: "Brethren, do we believe that article?" "Certainly, most certainly," was the reply from several. "What, then," he continued, "is the use of the rest if the article just read be true, and the Word of God is the only infallible rule of faith and practice?" Another brother who saw the point, rose and moved that the articles of faith be abandoned; some, however, insisted that time for reflection was needed, and were in favor of delaying the vote until the next [101] monthly meeting. The next meeting came, but the articles were not read as usual, nor was the matter called up then or ever after.

      From this somewhat long but necessary digression it will be seen that, while there were, many things calculated to discourage the most sanguine, there were at the same time some hopeful indications; the light was dawning, which soon brightened into a glorious day.

      But to return to the newly-appointed evangelist. No one, perhaps, was as much surprised at his appointment as himself. He was at that time engaged in teaching an academy, and was making an arrangement to publish a new paper, to be called "The Millennial Herald;" he was preaching also for a small congregation in Steubenville; and wife and children demanded his care; but the call to the new field of labor so unexpected and providential he regarded as imperative, and dropping the bitterest tears he ever shed over his infant household, and abandoning all his other employments and projects, he threw himself heart and soul into the work before him.

      And now we come to the most eventful period in the life of Walter Scott. He had studied the Word of God long, earnestly, faithfully, and prayerfully. He had drunk into its spirit, and had become so fully convinced of the weakness and inefficiency of modern systems, so sick of sectarian bigotry and party strife, that he resolved to try the bold and novel experiment of preaching the gospel according to the New Testament model, as set forth in the labors of the holy men to whom Jesus had given the message of salvation to be heralded to a perishing world. He [102] made his first efforts beyond the bounds of the Association, and though a nobler purpose was never formed, the very novelty of his course almost created, in his own mind, a doubt of its propriety; and the great issue at stake, and anxiety as to the result created at times misgivings and fears. To his hearers his preaching was like the proclamation of a new religion; so different did it seem from the orthodoxy of the day, that they regarded the preacher as an amiable, but deluded, enthusiast, and he excited wonder, pity, and even scorn. His efforts, however, were not wholly fruitless; with every discourse his own convictions became stronger, and he felt assured that he had found the true path; and instead of yielding to discouragement under what seemed to be failures, he said to himself, this way is of God, and ought to succeed, and with his help it shall; and his courage and zeal rose with the difficulties he encountered until his labors were crowned with success.

      The scene of his first practical and successful exhibition of the gospel, as preached in primitive times, was at New Lisbon, Columbiana County, Ohio, the place at which he was appointed as traveling evangelist a few months before. The Baptist Church at that place had become acquainted with him at the Association, and received with pleasure an appointment from him for a series of discourses on the ancient gospel; and the citizens were glad to have a visit from the eloquent stranger. On the first Sunday after his arrival every seat in the meeting-house was filled at an early hour; soon every foot of standing room was occupied, and the doorway blocked up by an eager throng; and, inspired by the interest which [103] prevailed, the preacher began. His theme was the confession of Peter, Matt. xvi: 16: "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God," and the promise which grew out of it, that he should have intrusted to him the keys of the kingdom of heaven. The declaration of Peter was a theme upon which he had thought for years; it was a fact which he regarded the four gospels as written to establish; to which type and prophecy had pointed in all the ages gone by; which the Eternal Father had announced from heaven when Jesus came up from the waters of Jordan and the Spirit descended and abode upon him, and which was repeated again amid the awful grandeur and solemnity of the transfiguration scene. He then proceeded to show that the foundation truth of Christianity was the divine nature of the Lord Jesus--the central truth around which all others revolved, and from which they derived their efficacy and importance--and that the belief of it was calculated to produce such love in the heart of him who believed it as would lead him to true obedience to the object of his faith and love. To show how that faith and love were to be manifested, he quoted the language of the great commission, and called attention to the fact that Jesus had taught his apostles "that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." He then led his hearers to Jerusalem on the memorable Pentecost, and bade them listen to an authoritative announcement of the law of Christ, now to be made known fur the first time, by the same Peter to whom Christ had promised to give the keys of the kingdom of heaven, which he represented as meaning [104] the conditions upon which the guilty might find pardon at the hands of the risen, ascended, and glorified Son of God, and enter his kingdom.

      After a rapid yet graphic review of Peter's discourse, he pointed out its effect on those that heard him, and bade them mark the inquiry which a deep conviction of the truth they had heard forced from the lips of the heart-pierced multitudes, who, in their agony at the discovery that they had put to death the Son of God, their own long-expected Messiah, "cried out, Men and brethren, what shall we do?" and then, with flashing eye and impassioned manner, as if he fully realized that he was but re-echoing the words of one who spake as the Spirit gave him utterance, he gave the reply, "Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." He then, with great force and power, made his application; he insisted that the conditions were unchanged, that the Word of God meant what it said, and that to receive and obey it was to obey God and to imitate the example of those who, under the preaching of the apostles, gladly accepted the gospel message. His discourse was long, but his hearers marked not the flight of time; the Baptists forgot, in admiration of its scriptural beauty and simplicity, that it was contrary to much in their own teaching and practice; some of them who had been, in a measure, enlightened before, rejoiced in the truth the moment they perceived it; and to others, who had long been perplexed by the difficulties and contradictions of the discordant views of the day, it was like light to weary travelers long benighted and lost. [105]

      The man of all others, however, in that community who would most have delighted in and gladly accepted those views, so old and yet so new, was not there, although almost in hearing of the preacher, who, with such eloquence and power, was setting forth the primitive gospel. This was Wm. Amend, a pious, God-fearing man, a member of the Presbyterian Church, and regarded by his neighbors as an "Israelite indeed." He had for some time entertained the same views as those Mr. Scott was then preaching in that place for the first time, but was not aware that any one agreed with him. He was under the impression that all the churches--his own among the number--had departed from the plain teachings of the Word of God. He had discovered, some time before, that infant baptism was not taught in the Bible, and, consequently, that he was not a baptized man; the mode of baptism seemed also to him to have been changed, and he sought his pastor, and asked to be immersed. He endeavored to convince him that he was wrong, but finding that he could not be turned from his purpose, he proposed to immerse him privately, lest others of his flock might be unsettled in their minds by his doing so, and closed by saying that baptism was not essential to salvation. Mr. Amend regarded every thing that Christ had ordained as being essential, and replied that he should not immerse him at all; that he would wait until he found a man who believed the gospel, and who could, without any scruple, administer the ordinance as he conceived it to be taught in the New Testament.

      He was invited a day or two before to hear Mr. Scott, but knowing nothing of his views, he supposed that [106] he preached much as others did, but agreed to go and hear him. It was near the close of the services when he reached the Baptist church and joined the crowd at the door, who were unable to get into the house. The first sentence he heard aroused and excited him; it sounded like that gospel which he had read with such interest at home, but never had heard from the pulpit before. He now felt a great anxiety to see the man who was speaking so much like the oracles of God, and pressed through the throng into the house. Mr. Dibble, the clerk of the church, saw him enter, and knowing that he had been seeking and longing to find a man who would preach as the Word of God read, thought within himself, "Had Mr. Amend been here during all this discourse I feel sure he would have found what he has so long sought in vain. I wish the preacher would repeat what he said before he came in." Greatly to his surprise the preacher did give a brief review of the various points of his discourse, insisting that the Word of God meant what it said, and urging his hearers to trust that Word implicitly. He rehearsed again the Jerusalem scene, called attention to the earnest, anxious cry of the multitude, and the comforting reply of the apostle, "Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." He invited any one present who believed with all his heart, to yield to the terms proposed in the words of the apostle, and show by a willing obedience his trust in the Lord of life and glory. Mr. Amend pressed his way through the crowd to the preacher and made known his purpose; made a public declaration of his [107] belief in the Lord Jesus Christ and his willingness to obey him, and, on the same day, in a beautiful, clear stream which flows on the southern border of the town, in the presence of a great multitude, he was baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.

      This event, which forms an era in the religious history of the times, took place on the 18th of November, 1827, and Mr. Amend was, beyond all question, the first person in modern times who received the ordinance of baptism in perfect accordance with apostolic teaching and usage. [108]

[LEWS 95-108]