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The Bereans are a sect of Protestant dissenters from the church of Scotland, who take their title from, and profess to follow the example of, the ancient Bereans, in building their system of faith and practice upon the Scriptures alone, without regard to any human authority whatever. The Bereans first assembled, as a separate society of Christians, in the city of Edinburgh, in the autumn of 1773. Mr. Barclay, a Scotch clergyman, was the founder of this sect.
The Bereans agree with the great majority of Christians respecting the doctrine of the Trinity, which they hold as a fundamental article; and they also agree, in a great measure, with the professed principles of our Orthodox churches, respecting predestination and election, though they allege that these doctrines are not consistently taught. But they differ from the majority of all sects of Christians in various other important particulars, such as,—
1. Respecting our knowledge of the Deity. Upon this subject, they say the majority of professed Christians stumble at the very threshold of revelation; and, by admitting the doctrine of natural religion, natural conscience, natural notices, &c., not founded upon revelation, or derived from it by tradition, they give up the cause of Christianity at once to the infidels, who may justly argue, as Mr. Paine, in fact, does, in his “Age of Reason,” that there is no occasion for any revelation or word of God, if man can discover his nature and perfections from his works alone. But this, the Bereans argue, is beyond the natural powers of human reason; and, therefore, our knowledge of God is from revelation alone; and, without revelation, man would never have entertained an idea of his existence.
2. With regard to faith in Christ, and assurance of salvation through his merits, they differ from almost all other sects whatsoever. These they reckon inseparable, or rather the same, because (they say) “God hath expressly declared, He [pg 110]
3. Consistently with the above definition of faith, they say that the sin against the Holy Ghost, which has alarmed and puzzled so many in all ages, is nothing else but unbelief; and that the expression, “it shall not be forgiven, neither in this world nor that which is to come,” means only that a person dying in infidelity would not be forgiven, neither under the former dispensation by Moses, (the then present dispensation, kingdom, or government, of God,) nor under the gospel dispensation, which, in respect of the Mosaic, was a kind of future world, or kingdom to come.
4. The Bereans interpret a great part of the Old Testament prophecies, and, in particular, the whole of the Psalms, [pg 111]
5. Of the absolute, all-superintending sovereignty of the Almighty, the Bereans entertain the highest idea, as well as of the uninterrupted exertion thereof over all his works, in heaven, earth, and hell, however unsearchable by his creatures. A God without election, they argue, or choice in all his works, is a God without existence, a mere idol, a nonentity. And to deny God's election, purpose, and express will, in all his works, is to make him inferior to ourselves.
The Bereans consider infant baptism as a divine ordinance, instituted in the room of circumcision, and think it absurd to suppose that infants, who, all agree, are admissible to the kingdom of God in heaven, should, nevertheless, be incapable of being admitted into his visible church on earth.
They commemorate the Lord's supper generally once a month; but, as the words of the institution fix no particular period, they sometimes celebrate it oftener, and sometimes at more distant periods, as it may suit their general convenience. They meet every Lord's day, for the purpose of preaching, praying, and exhorting to love and good works. With regard to admission and exclusion of members, their method is very simple: when any person, after hearing the Berean doctrines, professes his belief and assurance of the truths of the gospel, and desires to be admitted into their communion, he is cheerfully received, upon his profession, whatever may have been his former manner of life. But, if such a one should afterwards draw back from his good profession or practice, [pg 112]
They both recommend and practise, as a Christian duty, submission to lawful authority; but they do not think that a man, by becoming a Christian, or joining their society, is under any obligation, by the rules of the gospel, to renounce his right of private judgment upon matters of public or private importance. Upon all such subjects, they allow each other to think and act as each may see it his duty; and they require nothing more of the members, than a uniform and steady profession of the apostolic faith, and a suitable walk and conversation. (See Acts 17:11. Rom. 10:9.)
The Berean doctrines have found converts in various parts of Europe and America.
Materialists are those who maintain that the soul of man is material, or that the principle of perception and thought is not a substance distinct from the body, but the result of corporeal organization. There are others called by this name who have maintained that there is nothing but matter in the universe.
The followers of the late Dr. Priestley are considered as [pg 113]
1. That man is no more than what we now see of him; his being commenced at the time of his conception, or perhaps at an earlier period. The corporeal and mental faculties, inhering in the same substance, grow, ripen, and decay together; and whenever the system is dissolved, it continues in a state of dissolution, till it shall please that Almighty Being who called it into existence, to restore it to life again. For if the mental principle were, in its own nature, immaterial and immortal, all its peculiar faculties would be so too; whereas we see that every faculty of the mind, without exception, is liable to be impaired, and even to become wholly extinct, before death. Since, therefore, all the faculties of the mind, separately taken, appear to be mortal, the substance or principle, in which they exist, must be pronounced mortal too. Thus we might conclude that the body was mortal, from observing that all the separate senses and limbs were liable to decay and perish.
This system gives a real value to the doctrine of the resurrection from the dead, which is peculiar to revelation; on which alone the sacred writers build all our hope of future life; and it explains the uniform language of the Scriptures, which speak of one day of judgment for all mankind, and represent all the rewards of virtue, and all the punishments of vice, as taking place at that awful day, and not before. In the Scriptures, the heathen are represented as without hope, and all mankind as perishing at death, if there be no resurrection of the dead.
The apostle Paul asserts, in 1 Cor. 15:16, that “if the dead rise not, then is not Christ risen; and if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain, ye are yet in your sins: then they also who are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.” And again, verse 32, “If the dead rise not, let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die.” In the whole discourse, he does not even mention the doctrine of happiness or misery without the body.
[pg 114]If we search the Scriptures for passages expressive of the state of man at death, we shall find such declarations as expressly exclude any trace of sense, thought, or enjoyment. (See Ps. 6:5. Job 14:7, &c.)
2. That there is some fixed law of nature respecting the will, as well as the other powers of the mind, and every thing else in the constitution of nature; and consequently that it is never determined without some real or apparent cause foreign to itself, i. e., without some motive of choice; or that motives influence us in some definite and invariable manner, so that every volition, or choice, is constantly regulated and determined by what precedes it; and this constant determination of mind, according to the motives presented to it, is what is meant by its necessary determination. This being admitted to be fact, there will be a necessary connection between all things past, present, and to come, in the way of proper cause and effect, as much in the intellectual as in the natural world; so that, according to the established laws of nature, no event could have been otherwise than it has been, or is to be, and therefore all things past, present, and to come, are precisely what the Author of Nature really intended them to be, and has made provision for.
To establish this conclusion, nothing is necessary but that throughout all nature the same consequences should invariably result from the same circumstances. For if this be admitted, it will necessarily follow that, at the commencement of any system, since the several parts of it, and their respective situations, were appointed by the Deity, the first change would take place according to a certain rule established by himself, the result of which would be a new situation; after which the same laws containing another change would succeed, according to the same rules, and so on forever; every new situation invariably leading to another, and every event, from the commencement to the termination of the system, being strictly connected, so that, unless the fundamental laws of the system were changed, it would be impossible that any event should have been otherwise than it was. In all these [pg 115]
It is universally acknowledged that there can be no effect without an adequate cause. This is even the foundation on which the only proper argument for the being of a God rests. And the Necessarian asserts that if, in any given state of mind, with respect both to dispositions and motives, two different determinations, or volitions, be possible, it can be on no other principle, than that one of them should come under the description of an effect without a cause; just as if the beam of a balance might incline either way, though loaded with equal weights. And if any thing whatever—even a thought in the mind of man—could arise without an adequate cause, any thing else—the mind itself, or the whole universe—might likewise exist without an adequate cause.
This scheme of philosophical necessity implies a chain of causes and effects established by infinite wisdom, and terminating in the greatest good of the whole universe; evils of all kinds, natural and moral, being admitted, as far as they contribute to that end, or are in the nature of things inseparable from it. Vice is productive, not of good, but of evil, to us, both here and hereafter, though good may result from it to the whole system; and, according to the fixed laws of nature, our present and future happiness necessarily depends on our cultivating good dispositions.
Those persons who follow the doctrines of Arminius, who was pastor at Amsterdam, and afterwards professor of divinity at Leyden. Arminius had been educated in the opinions of Calvin; but, thinking the doctrine of that great man, with regard to free will, predestination, and grace, too severe, he [pg 116]
The distinguishing tenets of the Arminians may be comprised in the five following articles relative to predestination, universal redemption, the corruption of man, conversion, and perseverance, viz.:—
“1. That God determined to bestow pardon and present salvation on all who repent and believe in Christ, and final salvation on all who persevere to the end, and to inflict everlasting punishment on those who should continue in their unbelief, and resist his divine succors; so that election was conditional, and reprobation, in like manner, the result of foreseen infidelity and persevering wickedness, (See Ezek. 18:30-32. Acts 17:24-30. Matt. 23:37. Rom. 2:4, 5; 5:18. 1 Tim. 11:1-4. 2 Pet. 1:10; 3:9.)
“2. That Jesus Christ, by his sufferings and death, made an atonement for the sins of all mankind in general, and of every individual in particular; that, however, none but those who believe in him can be partakers of divine benefits. (See John 2:2; 3:16, 17. Heb. 2:9. Isa. 50:19, 20. 1 Cor. 8:11.)
“3. That true faith cannot proceed from the exercise of our natural faculties and powers, nor from the force and operation of free will; since man, in consequence of his natural corruption, is incapable either of thinking or doing any good thing; and that, therefore, it is necessary, in order to his conversion and salvation, that he be regenerated and renewed by the operation of the Holy Ghost, which is the gift of God through Jesus Christ.
“4. That this divine grace, or energy, of the Holy Ghost, begins and perfects every thing that can be called good in man, and, consequently, all good works are to be attributed to God alone; that, nevertheless, this grace is offered to all, and does not force men to act against their inclinations, but may be resisted, and rendered ineffectual, by the perverse will [pg 117]
“5. That God gives to the truly faithful, who are regenerated by his grace, the means of preserving themselves in this state.”
The first Armenians, indeed, had some doubt with respect to the closing part of the latter article; but their followers uniformly maintain, “that the regenerate may lose true, justifying faith, fall from a state of grace, and die in their sins.” (See Heb. 6:4-6. 2 Pet. 2:20, 21. Luke 21:35. 2 Pet. 3:17.)
This denomination arose in England, in 1729, and derived their name from the exact regularity of their lives. In 1741, they divided into two parties, under George Whitefield and John Wesley. The former adopted the sentiments of Calvin, and the latter those of Arminius. The Arminian class compose the great body of Methodists in this country and in Great Britain. Both of those men were eminently distinguished for the variety and extent of their labors.
The following are the articles of religion, as published in the “Doctrines and Discipline of the Methodist Episcopal Church:”—
“1. There is but one living and true God, everlasting, without body or parts, of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness; the Maker and Preserver of all things, visible and invisible. And in unity of this Godhead, there are three persons, of one substance, power and eternity—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
[pg 118]“2. The Son, who is the Word of the Father, the very and eternal God, of one substance with the Father, took man's nature in the womb of the blessed Virgin; so that two whole and perfect natures, that is to say, the Godhead and manhood, were joined together in one person, never to be divided, whereof is one Christ, very God and very man, who truly suffered, was crucified, dead, and buried, to reconcile his Father to us, and to be a sacrifice, not only for original guilt, but also for the actual sins of men.
“3. Christ did truly rise again from the dead, and took again his body, with all things appertaining to the perfection of man's nature, wherewith he ascended into heaven, and there sitteth, until he return to judge all men at the last day.
“4. The Holy Ghost, proceeding from the Father and the Son, is of one substance, majesty, and glory, with the Father and the Son, very and eternal God.
“5. The holy Scriptures contain all things necessary to salvation; so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as an article of faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation. By the name of the holy Scriptures, we do understand those canonical books of the Old and New Testament, of whose authority was never any doubt in the church. [Here follow the names of the canonical books of the Scriptures.]
“6. The Old Testament is not contrary to the New; for, both in the Old and New Testament, everlasting life is offered to mankind by Christ, who is the only Mediator between God and man, being both God and man. Wherefore they are not to be heard, who feign that the old fathers did look only for transitory promises. Although the law given from God by Moses, as touching ceremonies and rites, doth not bind Christians, nor ought the civil precepts thereof of necessity to be received in any commonwealth, yet, notwithstanding, no Christian whatsoever is free from the obedience of the commandments which are called moral.
“7. Original sin standeth not in the following of Adam, (as the Pelagians do vainly talk,) but it is the corruption of the [pg 119]
“8. The condition of man, after the fall of Adam, is such, that he cannot turn and prepare himself, by his own natural strength and works, to faith, and calling upon God; wherefore we have no power to do good works, pleasant and acceptable to God, without the grace of God by Christ preventing us, that we may have a good will, and working with us when we have that good will.
“9. We are accounted righteous before God, only for the merit of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ by faith, and not for our own works or deservings. Wherefore, that we are justified by faith only, is a most wholesome doctrine, and very full of comfort.
“10. Although good works, which are the fruits of faith, and follow after justification, cannot put away our sins, and endure the severity of God's judgments, yet are they pleasing and acceptable to God in Christ, and spring out of a true and lively faith, insomuch that by them a lively faith may be as evidently known, as a tree is discerned by its fruit.
“11. Voluntary works, being over and above God's commandments, which are called works of supererogation, cannot be taught without arrogancy and impiety. For by them men do declare that they do not only render unto God as much as they are bound to do, but they do more for his sake than of bounden duty is required; whereas Christ saith plainly, ‘When ye have done all that is commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants.’
“12. Not every sin willingly committed after justification, is the sin against the Holy Ghost, and unpardonable. Wherefore, the grant of repentance is not to be denied to such as fall into sin after justification; after we have received the Holy Ghost, we may depart from grace given, and fall into sin, and, by the grace of God, rise again, and amend our lives. And, therefore, they are to be condemned who say they can [pg 120]
“13. The visible church of Christ is a congregation of faithful men, in which the pure word of God is preached, and the sacraments duly administered according to Christ's ordinance, in all those things that of necessity are requisite to the same.
“14. The Romish doctrine concerning purgatory, pardon, worshipping and adoration as well of images as of relics, and also invocation of saints, is a fond thing, vainly invented, and grounded upon no warrant of Scripture, but repugnant to the word of God.
“15. It is a thing plainly repugnant to the word of God, and the custom of the primitive church, to have public prayer in the church, or to minister the sacraments, in a tongue not understood by the people.
“16. Sacraments ordained of Christ are not only badges or tokens of Christian men's profession, but rather they are certain signs of grace, and God's good-will towards us, by the which he doth work invisibly in us, and doth not only quicken, but also strengthen and confirm, our faith in him.
“There are two sacraments ordained of Christ our Lord to the gospel; that is to say, baptism and the supper of the Lord.
“Those five commonly called sacraments—that is to say, confirmation, penance, orders, matrimony, and extreme unction—are not to be counted for sacraments of the gospel, being such as have partly grown out of the corrupt following of the apostles, and partly are states of life allowed in the Scriptures, but yet have not the like nature of baptism and the Lord's supper, because they have not any visible sign or ceremony ordained of God.
“The sacraments were not ordained of Christ to be gazed upon, or to be carried about, but that we should duly use them. And in such only as worthily receive the same, they have a wholesome effect or operation; but they that receive them unworthily, purchase to themselves condemnation, as St. Paul saith. (1 Cor. 11:29.)
[pg 121]“17. Baptism is not only a sign of profession, and mark of difference, whereby Christians are distinguished from others that are not baptized, but it is also a sign of regeneration, or the new birth. The baptism of young children is to be retained in the church.
“18. The supper of the Lord is not only a sign of the love that Christians ought to have among themselves one to another, but rather is a sacrament of our redemption by Christ's death; insomuch that to such as rightly, worthily, and with faith, receive the same, the bread which we break is a partaking of the body of Christ, and likewise the cup of blessing is a partaking of the blood of Christ.
“Transubstantiation, or the change of the substance of bread and wine in the supper of our Lord, cannot be proved by Holy Writ, but is repugnant to the plain words of Scripture, overthroweth the nature of a sacrament, and hath given occasion to many superstitions.
“The body of Christ is given, taken, and eaten, in the supper, only after a heavenly and scriptural manner. And the means whereby the body of Christ is received and eaten in the supper, is faith.
“The sacrament of the Lord's supper was not by Christ's ordinance reserved, carried about, lifted up, or worshipped.
“19. The cup of the Lord is not to be denied to the lay people; for both the parts of the Lord's supper, by Christ's ordinance and commandment, ought to be administered to all Christians alike.
“20. The offering of Christ, once made, is that perfect redemption, propitiation, and satisfaction, for all the sins of the whole world, both original and actual; and there is none other satisfaction for sin but that alone. Wherefore the sacrifice of masses, in the which it is commonly said that the priest doth offer Christ for the quick and the dead, to have remission of pain or guilt, is a blasphemous fable and dangerous deceit.
“21. The ministers of Christ were not commanded by God's [pg 122]
“22. It is not necessary that rites and ceremonies should in all places be the same, or exactly alike; for they have been always different, and may be changed according to the diversity of countries, times, and men's manners, so that nothing be ordained against God's word. Whosoever, through his private judgment, willingly and purposely doth openly break the rites and ceremonies of the church to which he belongs, which are not repugnant to the word of God, and are ordained and approved by common authority, ought to be rebuked openly, that others may fear to do the like, as one that offendeth against the common order of the church, and woundeth the consciences of weak brethren.
“Every particular church may ordain, change, and abolish, rites and ceremonies, so that all things may be done to edification.
“23. The president, the congress, the general assemblies, the governors, and the councils of state, as the delegates of the people, are the rulers of the United States of America according to the division of power made to them by the Constitution of the United States, and by the constitutions of their respective states. And the said states are a sovereign and independent nation, and ought not to be subject to any foreign jurisdiction.2
“24. The riches and goods of Christians are not common, as touching the right, title, and possession, of the same, as [pg 123]
“25. As we confess that vain and rash swearing is forbidden Christian men by our Lord Jesus Christ and James his apostle, so we judge that the Christian religion doth not prohibit but that a man may swear when the magistrate requireth, in a cause of faith and charity, so it be done according to the prophet's teaching, in justice, judgment, and truth.”
The Protestant Methodists adhere to the Wesleyan Methodist doctrines, but discard certain parts of the discipline, particularly those concerning episcopacy and the manner of constituting the general conference. They seceded from the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1830, and formed a constitution and discipline of their own.
The following preamble and articles precede the constitution:—
“We, the representatives of the associated Methodist churches, in general convention assembled, acknowledging the Lord Jesus Christ as the only HEAD of the church, and the word of God as the sufficient rule of faith and practice, in all things pertaining to godliness, and being fully persuaded that the representative form of church government is the most scriptural, best suited to our condition, and most congenial with our views and feelings as fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; and whereas, a written constitution, establishing the form of government, and securing to the ministers and members of the church their rights [pg 124]
“1. A Christian church is a society of believers in Jesus Christ, and is a divine institution.
“2. Christ is the only Head of the church, and the word of God the only rule of faith and conduct.
“3. No person who loves the Lord Jesus Christ, and obeys the gospel of God our Savior, ought to be deprived of church membership.
“4. Every man has an inalienable right to private judgment in matters of religion, and an equal right to express his opinion in any way which will not violate the laws of God, or the rights of his fellow-men.
“5. Church trials should be conducted on gospel principles only; and no minister or member should be excommunicated except for immorality, the propagation of unchristian doctrines, or for the neglect of duties enjoined by the word of God.
“6. The pastoral or ministerial office and duties are of divine appointment, and all elders in the church of God are equal; but ministers are forbidden to be lords over God's heritage, or to have dominion over the faith of the saints.
“7. The church has a right to form and enforce such rules and regulations only as are in accordance with the holy Scriptures, and may be necessary or have a tendency to carry into effect the great system of practical Christianity.
“8. Whatever power may be necessary to the formation of rules and regulations, is inherent in the ministers and members of the church; but so much of that power may be delegated, from time to time, upon a plan of representation, as they may judge necessary and proper.
“9. It is the duty of all ministers and members of the church, to maintain godliness, and to oppose all moral evil.
“10. It is obligatory on ministers of the gospel to be [pg 125]
“11. The church ought to secure to all her official bodies the necessary authority for the purposes of good government; but she has no right to create any distinct or independent sovereignties.”
We omit the constitution, as the preceding elementary principles sufficiently develop the peculiarities of this denomination.
A name first given, in Germany, to those who adhered to the doctrine of Luther; because, in 1529, they protested against a decree of the emperor Charles V., and the diet of Spires, declaring that they appealed to a general council. The same name has also been given to the Calvinists, and is now become a common denomination for all sects which differ from the church of Rome.
A sect, in the third century, that embraced the opinions of Sabellius, a philosopher of Egypt, who openly taught that there is but one person in the Godhead.
The Sabellians maintained that the Word and the Holy Spirit are only virtues, emanations, or functions of the Deity, and held that he who is in heaven is the Father of all things; [pg 126]
So called from Mr. Robert Sandeman, a Scotchman, who published his sentiments in 1757. He afterwards came to America, and established societies at Boston, and other places in New England, and in Nova Scotia.
This sect arose in Scotland about the year 1728, where it is distinguished at the present day by the name of Glassites, after its founder, Mr. John Glass, a minister of the established church.
The Sandemanians consider that faith is neither more nor less than a simple assent to the divine testimony concerning Jesus Christ, delivered for the offences of men, and raised again for their justification, as recorded in the New Testament, They also maintain that the word faith, or belief, is constantly used by the apostles to signify what is denoted by it in common discourse, viz., a persuasion of the truth of any proposition, and that there is no difference between believing any common testimony and believing the apostolic testimony, except that which results from the testimony itself, and the divine authority on which it rests.
They differ from other Christians in their weekly administration [pg 127]
They maintain a plurality of elders, pastors, or bishops, in each church, and the necessity of the presence of two elders in every act of discipline, and at the administration of the Lord's supper.
In the choice of these elders, want of learning and engagement in trade are no sufficient objections, if qualified according to the instructions given to Timothy and Titus; but second marriages disqualify for the office; and they are ordained by prayer and fasting, imposition of hands, and giving the right hand of fellowship.
In their discipline they are strict and severe, and think themselves obliged to separate from communion and worship of all such religious societies as appear to them not to profess the simple truth for their only ground of hope, and who do not walk in obedience to it. (See John 13:14, 15; 16:13. Acts 6:7. Rom. 3:27; 4:4, 5; 16:16. 1 Cor. 16:20. 2 Cor. 4:13. 1 Pet. 1:22.)
As we elsewhere give the sentiments of the ancient Bereans, Pelagians, and Sabellians, it is proper to notice those of Agricola, an eminent doctor in the Lutheran church, who flourished about the middle of the sixteenth century. The word Antinomian is derived from two Greek words, signifying against law.
It will be observed that the above names are used to denote sentiments or opinions, rather than sects or denominations.
The principal doctrines of the Antinomians, together with a short specimen of the arguments made use of in their defence, are comprehended in the following summary:—
“1. That the law ought not to be proposed to the people as a rule of manners, nor used in the church as a means of instruction; and that the gospel alone is to be inculcated and explained, both in the churches and in the schools of learning.
“For the Scriptures declare that Christ is not the lawgiver; as it is said, ‘The law was given by Moses; but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.’ Therefore the ministers of the gospel ought not to teach the law. Christians are not ruled by the law, but by the spirit of regeneration; according as it is said, ‘Ye are not under the law, but under grace.’ Therefore the law ought not to be taught in the church of Christ.
“2. That the justification of sinners is an immanent and eternal act of God, not only preceding all acts of sin, but the existence of the sinner himself.
“For nothing new can arise in God; on which account, he calls things that are not, as though they were; and the apostle saith, ‘Who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places, in Christ Jesus, before the foundation of the world.’ Besides, Christ was set up from everlasting, not only as the Head of the church, but as the surety of his [pg 129]
“3. That justification by faith is no more than a manifestation to us of what was done before we had a being.
“For it is thus expressed, in Heb. 11:1: ‘Now, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.’ We are justified only by Christ; but by faith we perceive it, and by faith rejoice in it, as we apprehend it to be our own.
“4. That men ought not to doubt of their faith, nor question whether they believe in Christ.
“For we are commanded to ‘draw near in full assurance of faith.’ (Heb. 10:22.) ‘He that believeth on the Son of God, hath the witness in himself,’ (2 John 5:10;) i. e., he has as much evidence as can be desired.
“5. That God sees no sin in believers; and they are not bound to confess sin, mourn for it, or pray that it may be forgiven.
“For God has declared, (Heb. 10:17,) ‘Their sins and iniquities I will remember no more.’ And in Jer. 50:20, ‘In those days, and in that time, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found; for I will pardon them whom I reserve.’
“6. That God is not angry with the elect, nor doth he punish them for their sins.
“For Christ has made ample satisfaction for their sins. See Isaiah 53:5, ‘He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities,’ &c. And to inflict punishment once upon the surety, and again upon the believer, is contrary to the justice of God, as well as derogatory to the satisfaction of Christ.
“7. That by God's laying our iniquities upon Christ, he became as completely sinful as we, and we as completely righteous as Christ.
“For Christ represents our persons to the Father; and we represent the person of Christ to him. The loveliness of [pg 130]
“8. That believers need not fear either their own sins or the sins of others, since neither can do them any injury.
“See Rom. 8:33, 34, ‘Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect?’ &c. The apostle does not say that they never transgress, but triumphs in the thought that no curse can be executed against them.
“9. That the new covenant is not made properly with us, but with Christ for us; and that this covenant is all of it a promise, having no conditions for us to perform; for faith, repentance, and obedience, are not conditions on our part, but Christ's; and he repented, believed, and obeyed for us.
“For the covenant is so expressed, that the performance lies upon the Deity himself. ‘For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel, after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts; and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.’ Heb. 8:10.
“10. That sanctification is not a proper evidence of justification.
“For those who endeavor to evidence their justification by their sanctification, are looking to their own attainments, and not to Christ's righteousness, for hopes of salvation.”
A denomination which arose in the fifth century, so called from Pelagius, a monk, who looked upon the doctrines which were commonly received, concerning the original corruption of human nature, and the necessity of divine grace [pg 131]
“1. That the sins of our first parents were imputed to them only, and not to their posterity; and that we derive no corruption from their fall, but are born as pure and unspotted as Adam came out of the forming hand of his Creator.
“2. That mankind, therefore, are capable of repentance and amendment, and of arriving to the highest degrees of piety and virtue, by the use of their natural faculties and powers. That, indeed, external grace is necessary to excite their endeavors, but that they have no need of the internal succors of the divine Spirit.
“3. That Adam was, by nature, mortal, and, whether he had sinned or not, would certainly have died.
“4. That the grace of God is given in proportion to our merits.
“5. That mankind may arrive at a state of perfection in this life.
“6. That the law qualified men for the kingdom of heaven, and was founded upon equal promises with the gospel.”
This denomination began about the middle of the sixteenth century. Their principal tenet is that there must have been men before Adam. One proof of this they bring from Rom. 5:12, 13, 14. The apostle says, “Sin was in the world till the law;” meaning the law given to Adam. But sin, it is evident, was not imputed, though it might have been committed, till the time of the pretended first man. “For sin is not imputed when there is no law.”
[pg 132]The election of the Jews, they say, is a consequence of the same system. It began at Adam, who is called their father or founder. God is also their Father, having espoused the Judaical church. The Gentiles are only adopted children, as being Pre-Adamites. Men (or Gentiles) are said to be made by the word of God. (Gen. 1:26, 27.) Adam, the founder of the Jewish nation, whose history alone Moses wrote, is introduced in the second chapter, as the workmanship of God's own hands, and as created apart from other men.
They argue thus:—Cain, having killed his brother Abel, was afraid of being killed himself. By whom? He married—yet Adam had then no daughter. What wife could he get? He built a town—what architects, masons, carpenters, and workmen, did he employ? The answer to all these questions is in one word—Pre-Adamites.
This reasoning is opposed by sundry texts of Scripture, (See Gen. 1:26; 2:7; 3:20. Mark 10:6. I Cor. 15:45, 47.)
Are those who believe that God, for his own glory, hath foreordained whatsoever comes to pass. (See Matt. 25:34. Rom. 8:29, 30. Eph. 1:3, 6, 11. 2 Tim. 1:9. 2 Thess. 11:13. 1 Pet. 1:1, 2. John 6:37; 17:2-24. Rev. 13:8; 17:8. Dan. 4:35. 1 Thess. 5:19. Matt. 11:26. Exod. 4:21. Prov. 16:4. Acts 13:48.)
Orthodoxy literally signifies correct opinions. The word is generally used to denote those who are attached to the Trinitarian scheme of Christian doctrine.
[pg 133]The following article is found in the “Spirit of the Pilgrims,” vol. v. No. 1, and is supposed to have been written by the late Rev. Benjamin B. Wisner, D. D., pastor of the Old South church, Boston.
The following summary contains the more material parts of the Orthodox faith. Those who embrace this system believe,—
“That, since the fall of Adam, men are, in their natural state, altogether destitute of true holiness, and entirely depraved.
“That men, though thus depraved, are justly required to love God with all the heart, and justly punishable for disobedience; or, in other words, they are complete moral agents, proper subjects of moral government, and truly accountable to God for their actions.
“That in the unspeakable wisdom and love of God was disclosed a plan of redemption for sinful men.
“That, in the development of this plan, God saw fit to reveal so much concerning the nature and the mode of the divine existence, as that he is manifested to his creatures as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; and that these three, each partaking of all the attributes of the Deity, and being entitled to receive divine worship and adoration, are the one living and true God.
“That the Son of God, laying aside the glory which he had with the Father from everlasting, came down from heaven, took upon himself man's nature, and by his humiliation, sufferings, and death, made an atonement for the sins of the world.
“That, in consequence of this atonement, the offer of pardon and eternal life was freely made to all; so that those who truly repent of sin, and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, will be saved.
“That men are naturally so averse to God and holiness, that, if left to themselves, they reject the offers of salvation, and neither repent of sin nor truly believe in a Savior.
[pg 134]“That God, being moved with infinite love and compassion, sends forth the Holy Spirit, according to his sovereign pleasure, by whose beneficent energy an innumerable multitude of the human family are renewed, sanctified, and prepared for heaven; while others are suffered to pursue the course which they have freely chosen, and in which they obstinately persevere till the day of salvation is past.
“That God, in his providential dispensations, in the bestowment of his saving mercy, and in his universal government, exhibits his adorable perfections, in such a manner as will call forth the admiration and love of all holy beings forever.
“That believers are justified by faith, through the efficacy of the atonement, so that all claims of human merit, and all grounds of boasting, are forever excluded.
“That the law of God is perpetually binding upon all moral beings, and upon believers not less than other men, as a rule of life; and that no repentance is genuine unless it bring forth fruits meet for repentance, and no faith is saving unless it produce good works.
“That those who have been renewed by the Spirit will be preserved by the power of God, and advanced in holiness unto final salvation. And,
“That Christ, as the great King of the universe, the Lord and Proprietor of created beings, will judge the world at the last day, when the righteous will be received to life eternal, and the wicked will be consigned to endless punishment.”
“Since the reformation from Popery, those who profess to admit these doctrines, and others necessarily connected with them, and forming a part of the same system, have been denominated Orthodox, while to those who openly reject them, or any considerable part of them, this appellation has been denied.
“It is not to be inferred, however, that the Orthodox have been, or are, entirely unanimous on the subject of religion. In matters comparatively unessential, and in their modes of [pg 135]
“Again: persons may disagree, to a certain extent, at least, in their statements and explanations of the most essential doctrines, and yet be properly and equally Orthodox. In illustration of this remark, several examples will be given.
“All Orthodox Christians believe in the full inspiration of the sacred Scriptures; or that the holy men, through whose instrumentality the world originally received these Scriptures, spake and wrote ‘as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.’ They believe in this as a fact of the utmost importance. But there have been various modes of stating, explaining, and illustrating this fact. Some, for instance, have spoken of two or three kinds of inspiration; others have insisted that there can be but one kind; while others have thought it better to state the subject in general terms, without attempting very minutely to define or explain them.
“All Orthodox Christians believe in the doctrine of the Trinity, or that the one God exists in a threefold distinction, commonly called persons,—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. They believe this as a revealed fact, and as an essential part of the Christian doctrine. But how differently [pg 136]
“All Orthodox Christians believe in the universality of God's eternal purposes, in the certainty of their execution, and that they are so executed as not to obstruct or impair the free agency of man. But respecting the manner of God's executing his purposes,—whether by the instrumentality of motives, or by a direct efficiency,—persons having equal claims to the appellation of Orthodox, have not been agreed.
“All the Orthodox believe in the natural and entire depravity of man; or that, in consequence of the sin of his first progenitors, and previous to regeneration, every thing within him, going to constitute moral character, is sinful. But how many theories have been framed to account for the connection of our sin with that of Adam! And how many explanations have been put upon the doctrine of entire depravity! Some have made this depravity to extend to all the powers of the soul; others have restricted it to our voluntary exercises and actions; while others have confined it chiefly to a moral taste, disposition, or instinct, which is regarded as back of our voluntary exercises, and the source of them.
“All the Orthodox believe in the doctrine of atonement; but all do not state or explain this important doctrine after the same manner. Some suppose the atonement of Christ to consist wholly in his obedience, others wholly in his sufferings, and others in both his obedience and sufferings. Some hold that Christ suffered the penalty of the law for sinners, and others that he only opened a way in which, on condition of repentance, this penalty may be remitted. Some think the atonement made only for the elect, while others regard it as the propitiation for the sins of the whole world.
“The doctrine of instantaneous regeneration by the special operations of the Holy Spirit, is believed by all who have any claim to be called Orthodox. But this doctrine, like the others mentioned, is variously stated and explained. Some [pg 137]
“Another doctrine of the Orthodox system is, that of justification by faith in Christ. But this, also, has been differently stated and explained. Some think the believer justified by Christ's righteousness, others by the influence of his sufferings and death, and others by the joint efficacy of both his obedience and sufferings. Some believe justification to be the same as forgiveness, while others regard it as implying, not only forgiveness, but also a title to eternal life.
“It is evident, from the examples here given, that, although Orthodoxy denotes a general system of important doctrines or facts on the subject of religion, it is not to be inferred, either by friends or foes, that Orthodox Christians are tied up to precisely the same views of subjects, or that there exists no diversity of sentiment among them. There is, and always has been, a diversity of sentiment, in regard not only to modes and forms, but to the statement, proofs, and explanations, of the most important doctrines. Some of them, to be sure, are little more than verbal; but others are real, are fitted to excite interest, and are entitled to very serious consideration. Still, as they are all held in avowed consistency with that great series of facts which go to constitute the Orthodox system, they should not be regarded as placing their advocates beyond the proper limits of Orthodoxy. They constitute a wide field of important discussion, over which those who agree in holding the Head,—in holding the great doctrines of redemption by the blood of Christ, and of sanctification [pg 138]
Every person appointed or elected a professor in the Theological Institution at Andover, in the state of Massachusetts, shall, on the day of his inauguration into office, publicly make and subscribe the following Creed and Declaration:—
Creed.
“I believe that there is one, and but one, living and true God; that the word of God, contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament, is the only perfect rule of faith and practice; that, agreeably to those Scriptures, God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth; that in the Godhead are three Persons, the Father, the Son, and [pg 139]
Declaration.
“And, furthermore, I do solemnly promise that I will open and explain the Scriptures to my pupils with integrity and faithfulness; that I will maintain and inculcate the Christian faith, as expressed in the creed, by me now repeated, together with all the other doctrines and duties of our holy religion, so far as may appertain to my office, according to the best light God shall give me, and in opposition, not only to Atheists and Infidels, but to Jews, Papists, Mahometans, Arians, Pelagians, Antinomians, Arminians, Socinians, Sabellians, Unitarians, and Universalists, and to all heresies and errors, ancient and modern, which may be opposed to the gospel of Christ, or hazardous to the souls of men; that, by my instruction, counsel, and example, I will endeavor to promote true piety and godliness; that I will consult the good of this Institution, and the peace of the churches of our Lord Jesus Christ on all occasions; and that I will religiously conform to the constitution and laws of this Seminary, and to the statutes of this foundation.”
The foregoing creed is considered a summary of what is commonly called the Assembly's Catechism.
The Westminster Assembly met in London, in the reign of Charles I, A. D. 1643. It was a synod of learned divines, assembled by order of parliament, for the purpose of settling the government, liturgy, and doctrine, of the church of England.
Considerable anxiety existed, a few years since, in regard to the Orthodoxy of the Rev. Dr. Taylor, professor of divinity at Yale College, at New Haven, in the state of Connecticut. The following letter from Dr. Taylor to the Rev. Dr. Hawes, of Hartford, contains a full exposition of the religious views of that distinguished theologian:—
Yale College, Feb. 1, 1832.
“Dear Brother:
“I thank you for yours of the 23d ult., in which you express your approbation of my preaching during the protracted meetings at Hartford. This expression of fraternal confidence is grateful to me, not because I ever supposed that we differed in our views of the great doctrines of the gospel, but because, for some reason or other, an impression has been made, to some extent, that I am unsound in the faith. This impression, I feel bound to say, in my own view, is wholly groundless and unauthorized. You think, however, that ‘I owe it to myself, to the institution with which I am connected, and to the Christian community, to make a frank and full statement of my views of some of the leading doctrines of the gospel, and that this cannot fail to relieve the minds of many, who are now suspicious of my Orthodoxy.’
“Here I must be permitted to say, that the repeated and full statements of my opinions, which I have already made to the public, would seem to be sufficient to prevent or remove such suspicions. The course you propose, however, may furnish information to some who would desire it before they form an opinion, as well as the means of correcting the misrepresentations of others. I therefore readily comply with your request, and submit to your disposal the following statement of my belief on some of the leading doctrines of the gospel. I believe,—
“1. That there are three persons in one God,—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
[pg 143]“2. That the eternal purposes of God extend to all actual events, sin not excepted; or that God foreordains whatsoever comes to pass, and so executes these purposes, as to leave the free moral agency of man unimpaired.
“3. That all mankind, in consequence of the fall of Adam, are born destitute of holiness, and are by nature totally depraved; in other words, that all men, from the commencement of moral agency, do, without the interposition of divine grace, sin, and only sin, in all their moral conduct.
“4. That an atonement for sin has been made for all mankind by the Lord Jesus Christ; that this atonement was necessary to magnify the law, and to vindicate and unfold the justice of God in the pardon of sin; and that the sinner who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ is freely justified on the ground of his atoning sacrifice, and on that ground alone.
“5. That the change in regeneration is a moral change, consisting in a new, holy disposition, or governing purpose of the heart, as a permanent principle of action; in which change, the sinner transfers the supreme affection of his heart from all inferior objects to the living God, chooses him as the portion of his soul, and his service and glory as his supreme good, and thus, in respect to moral character, becomes a new man.
“6. That this moral change is never produced in the human heart by moral suasion, i. e., by the mere influence of truth and motives, as the Pelagians affirm, but is produced by the influence of the Holy Spirit, operating on the mind through the truth, and in perfect consistency with the nature of moral action, and laws of moral agency.
“7. That all men (in the words of the article of your church) may accept of the offers of salvation freely made to them in the gospel, but that no one will do this, except he be drawn by the Father.
“8. That the necessity of the influence of the Holy Spirit in regeneration results solely from the voluntary perverseness [pg 144]
“9. That the renewing grace of God is special, in distinction from that which is common, and is resisted by the sinful mind, inasmuch as it is that which is designed to secure, and does infallibly secure, the conversion of the sinner.
“10. That all who are renewed by the Holy Spirit are elected or chosen of God from eternity, that they should be holy, not on account of foreseen faith, or good works, but according to the good pleasure of his will.
“11. That all who are renewed by the Holy Spirit, will, through his continual influence, persevere in holiness to the end, and obtain eternal life.
“Such is my faith in respect to some of the lending doctrines of the gospel. These doctrines I preach; these I teach in the theological department of this Seminary; these I have repeatedly published to the world. With what truth or justice any regard me as a ‘teacher of theology, introducing heresy into our churches,’ the candid can judge.
“But it may be asked, whether, after all, there are not some points on which I differ from my brethren generally, or, at least, from some of them. I answer,—It would be strange if any two man should be found to agree exactly in all the minute matters of religious opinion. With respect, however, to what is properly considered the Orthodox or Calvinistic system of doctrines, as including the great facts of Christianity, and as opposed to, and distinguished from, the Unitarian, Pelagian, and Arminian systems, I suppose there is between the Orthodox ministry and myself an entire agreement. In respect to comparatively minor points, and philosophical theories, and modes of defending the Calvinistic system of doctrines, there has always been, as you are aware, a diversity of opinion, with freedom of discussion, among the Calvinists in this country, especially in New England, but which [pg 145]
“I do not believe that the posterity of Adam are, in the proper sense of the language, guilty of his sin; or that the ill desert of that sin is truly theirs; or that they are punished for that sin. But I do believe that, by the wise and holy constitution of God, all mankind, in consequence of Adam's sin, become sinners by their own act.
“I do not believe that the nature of the human mind, which God creates, is itself sinful; or that God punishes men for the nature which he creates; or that sin pertains to any thing in the mind which precedes all conscious mental exercise or action, and which is neither a matter of consciousness nor of knowledge. But I do believe that sin, universally, is no other than selfishness, or a preference of one's self to all others,—of some inferior good to God; that this free, voluntary preference is a permanent principle of action in all the unconverted; and that this is sin, and all that in the Scriptures is meant by sin. I also believe that such is the nature of the human mind, that it becomes the occasion of universal sin in men in all the appropriate circumstances of their existence, and that, therefore, they are truly and properly said to be sinners by nature.
“I do not believe that sin can be proved to be the necessary means of the greatest good, and that, as such, God prefers it, on the whole, to holiness in its stead; or that a God of sincerity and truth punishes his creatures for doing that which he, on the whole, prefers they should do, and which, as the means of good, is the best thing they can do. But I do believe that holiness, as the means of good, may be better than sin; that it may be true that God, all things considered, prefers holiness to sin in all instances in which the latter takes place, and, therefore, sincerely desires that all men [pg 146]
“I do not believe that the grace of God can be truly said to be irresistible, in the primary, proper import of this term. But I do believe that, in all cases, it may be resisted by man as a free moral agent, and that, when it becomes effectual to conversion, as it infallibly does in the case of all the elect, it is unresisted.
“I do not believe that the grace of God is necessary, as Arminians and some others maintain, to render man an accountable agent, and responsible for rejecting the offers of eternal life. But I do believe that man would be such an agent, and thus responsible, were no such grace afforded, and that otherwise ‘grace would be no more grace.’
“I do not believe that it is necessary that the sinner, in using the means of regeneration, should commit sin in order to become holy. But I do believe that, as a moral agent, he is qualified so to use these means, i. e., the truth of God when present to his mind, as to become holy at once; that he is authorized to believe that, through the grace of the Holy Spirit, this may be done; and that, except in so doing, he cannot be truly and properly said to use the means of regeneration.
“I do not believe that we are authorized to assure the sinner, [pg 147]
“I have dwelt the more on some of these particulars, because much pains has been taken, by some individuals, to make the impression that I have departed from the true faith respecting the influences of the Holy Spirit, even denying his influences altogether. So far is this from the fact, that, as you well know, no one attaches higher importance to this doctrine than I do, preaches it more decisively, or appreciates more highly its practical relations and bearings. In my own view, the power of the gospel on the mind of the sinner very much consists in the two great facts of his complete moral agency as the basis of his obligation, of his guilt, and of his duty;—and of his dependence on the sovereign grace of God, resulting from his voluntary perverseness in sin. Without the latter, we could, in my opinion, neither show the Christian what thanks he owes his Deliverer from sin, nor awaken the sinner to flee from the wrath to come. This doctrine seems to be indispensable to destroy the presumptuous reliance of the sinner on future repentance, as it shows him how fearfully he provokes an offended God to withhold the grace on which all depends. At the same time, one thing is indubitably certain, viz., that God never revealed the doctrine of the sinner's dependence on his Spirit, to present the sinner from doing his duty at once. God does not call sinners to instant compliance with the terms of life, and then assure them that such compliance is utterly out of the question, and to be wholly despaired of. The opposite impression, however, is not uncommon; and it is an error not less fatal to immediate repentance, than the fond hope of [pg 148]
“In the earlier revivals of this country, great prominence was given, in the preaching, to the doctrine of dependence, in the forms of regeneration, election, &c. This was what was to be expected from the Calvinistic preachers of the time, in view of the prevalence of Arminianism. In the more recent revivals, however, a similar prominence seems to be given to moral agency, in the forms of present obligation to duty, its present practicability, &c. The preaching, thus distinguished in its more prominent characteristics, has been undeniably owned and blessed by the Spirit of God, although we are very apt to believe that what is true of one kind of preaching at one time, must be true of it at another. Now, I believe that both the doctrines of dependence and moral accountability must be admitted by the public mind, to secure upon that mind the full power of the gospel. I also believe that greater or less prominence should be given to the one or the other of these doctrines, according to the prevailing state of public opinion. When, at the earlier periods alluded to, the doctrine of dependence was dwelt on chiefly, (I do not suppose exclusively,) the public mind believed enough—I might say too much—concerning the free moral agency of man, and had not so well learned as since to pervert the doctrine of dependence to justify the waiting attitude of a passive recipient. And, then, both doctrines told with power on the mind and the conscience, and, through God, were attended with great and happy results. But the prominence given to the doctrine of dependence, in preaching, was continued, until, if I mistake not, it so engrossed the public attention, and so obscured or weakened the doctrine of responsibility, that many fell into the opposite error of quietly waiting for God's interposition. Hence, when this prevailing error is again corrected by a more prominent exhibition of man's responsibility, in the form of immediate obligation, &c., the power of both doctrines is again combined on [pg 149]
“I have thus stated, more minutely, perhaps, than you anticipated, my views and opinions. I could wish that they might be satisfactory to all our Orthodox brethren. I have [pg 150]
Emanuel Swedenborg, the father of this sect, was the son of a bishop of West Gothnia, in the kingdom of Sweden, whose name was Swedberg, a man of considerable learning and celebrity in his time. The son was born at Stockholm, January 29, 1688, and died in London, 1772. He enjoyed early the advantages of a liberal education, and, being naturally endowed with uncommon talents for the acquirement of learning, his progress in the sciences was rapid and extensive, and he soon distinguished himself by several publications in the Latin language, which gave proof of equal genius and erudition. It may reasonably be supposed that, under the care of his pious and reverend father, our author's religious instruction was not neglected. This, indeed, appears plain from the general tenor of his life and writings, which [pg 151]
Baron Swedenborg had many eccentricities; but perhaps the most remarkable circumstance respecting him was his asserting that, during the uninterrupted period of twenty-seven years, he enjoyed open intercourse with the world of departed spirits, and during that time was instructed in the internal sense of the sacred Scriptures, hitherto undiscovered.
Articles of Faith, Of the New Church, signified by the New Jerusalem in the Revelation.
“1. That Jehovah God, the Creator and Preserver of heaven and earth, is Love Itself and Wisdom Itself, or Good Itself and Truth Itself: That he is One both in Essence and in Person, in whom, nevertheless, is the Divine Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, which are the Essential Divinity, the Divine Humanity, and the Divine Proceeding, answering to the soul, the body, and the operative energy, in man: And that the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is that God.
“2. That Jehovah God himself descended from heaven, as Divine Truth, which is the Word, and took upon him Human Nature for the purpose of removing from man the powers of hell, and restoring to order all things in the spiritual world, and all things in the church: That he removed from man the powers of hell, by combats against and victories over them; in which consisted the great work of Redemption: That by the same acts, which were his temptations, the last of which was the passion of the cross, he united, in his Humanity, Divine Truth to Divine Good, or Divine Wisdom to Divine Love, and so returned into his Divinity in [pg 152]
“3. That the Sacred Scripture, or Word of GOD, is Divine Truth itself; containing a Spiritual Sense heretofore unknown, whence it is divinely inspired, and holy in every syllable; as well as a Literal Sense, which is the basis of its Spiritual Sense, and in which Divine Truth is in its fulness, its sanctity, and its power; thus that it is accommodated to the apprehension both of angels and men: That the spiritual and natural senses are united, by correspondences, like soul and body, every natural expression and image answering to, and including, a spiritual and divine idea: And thus that the Word is the medium of communication with heaven, and of conjunction with the Lord.
“4. That the government of the Lord's Divine Love and Wisdom is the Divine Providence; which is universal, exercised according to certain fixed laws of Order, and extending to the minutest particulars of the life of all men, both of the good and of the evil: That in all its operations it has respect to what is infinite and eternal, and makes no account of things transitory, but as they are subservient to eternal ends; thus that it mainly consists, with man, in the connection of things temporal with things eternal; for that the continual aim of the Lord, by his Divine Providence, is to join man to himself and himself to man, that he may be able to give him the felicities of eternal life: And that the laws of permission are also laws of the Divine Providence; since evil cannot be prevented without destroying the nature of man as an accountable agent; and because, also, it cannot be removed unless it be known, and cannot be known unless it appear. Thus that no evil is permitted but to prevent a greater; and all is overruled, by the Lord's Divine Providence, for the greatest possible good.
“5. That man is not life, but is only a recipient of life [pg 153]
“6. That man, during his abode in the world, is, as to his spirit, in the midst between heaven and hell, acted upon by influences from both, and thus is kept in a state of spiritual equilibrium between good and evil; in consequence of which he enjoys free will, or freedom of choice, in spiritual things as well as in natural, and possesses the capacity of either turning himself to the Lord and his kingdom, or turning himself away from the Lord, and connecting himself with the kingdom of darkness: And that, unless man had such freedom of choice, the Word would be of no use, the church would be a mere name, man would possess nothing by virtue of which he could be conjoined to the Lord, and the cause of evil would be chargeable on GOD himself.
“7. That man at this day is born into evil of all kinds, or with tendencies towards it: That, therefore, in order to his entering the kingdom of heaven, he must be regenerated, or created anew; which great work is effected in a progressive manner, by the Lord alone, by charity and faith as mediums, during man's coÖperation: That, as all men are redeemed, all are capable of being regenerated, and, consequently saved, every one according to his state: And that the regenerate man is in communion with the angels of heaven, and the unregenerate with the spirits of hell: But that no one is condemned for hereditary evil, any further than as he makes it his own by actual life; whence all who die in infancy are saved, special means being provided by the Lord in the other life for that purpose.
“8. That Repentance is the first beginning of the Church in man; and that it consists in a man's examining himself, both in regard to his deeds and his intentions, in knowing and acknowledging his sins, confessing them before the Lord, [pg 154]
“9. That Charity, Faith, and Good Works, are unitedly necessary to man's salvation; since charity, without faith, is not spiritual, but natural; and faith, without charity, is not living, but dead; and both charity and faith, without good works, are merely mental and perishable things, because without use or fixedness: And that nothing of faith, of charity, or of good works, is of man; but that all is of the Lord, and all the merit is his alone.
“10. That Baptism and the Holy Supper are sacraments of divine institution, and are to be permanently observed; Baptism being an external medium of introduction into the Church, and a sign representative of man's purification and regeneration; and the Holy Supper being an external medium to those who receive it worthily, of introduction, as to spirit, into heaven, and of conjunction with the Lord; of which also it is a sign and seal.
“11. That, immediately after death, which is only a putting off of the material body, never to be resumed, man rises again in a spiritual or substantial body, in which he continues to live to eternity; in heaven, if his ruling affections, and hence his life, have been good; and in hell, if his ruling affections, and thence his life, have been evil.
[pg 155]“12. That Now is the time of the Second Advent of the Lord which is a Coming, not in Person, but in the power and glory of his Holy Word: That it is attended, like his first Coming, with the restoration to order of all things in the spiritual world, where the wonderful divine operation, commonly expected under the name of the Last Judgment, has in consequence been performed; and with the preparing of the way for a New Church on the earth,—the first Christian Church having spiritually come to its end or consummation, through evils of life and errors of doctrine, as foretold by the Lord in the Gospels: And that this New or Second Christian Church, which will be the Crown of all Churches, and will stand forever, is what was representatively seen by John, when he beheld the holy city, New Jerusalem, descending from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.”
The leading theological works of Swedenborg are, the Heavenly Arcana, in twelve octavo volumes, giving an explanation of the books of Genesis and Exodus, being a key to what he calls the internal or spiritual sense of the sacred Scriptures. The next in importance is the Apocalypse Explained, in six octavo volumes, containing a full explanation of that book.
From his last work, The True Christian Religion, we make the following extracts, to show some of his peculiar views and style of writing:—
“Concerning the Spiritual World.
“The spiritual world has been treated of in a particular work concerning Heaven and Hell, in which many things of that world are described; and, because every man, after death, comes into that world, the state of men there is also described. Who does not know, or may not know, that man lives after death? both because he is born a man, created an image of God, and because the Lord teaches it in his word. [pg 156]
“That man is equally a man after death, although he does not then appear to the eyes of the material body, may be evident from the angels seen by Abraham, Hagar, Gideon, Daniel, and some of the prophets,—from the angels seen in the Lord's sepulchre, and afterwards, many times, by John, concerning whom in the Revelation,—and especially from the Lord himself, who showed that he was a man by the touch and by eating, and yet he became invisible to their eyes. Who can be so delirious, as not to acknowledge that, although he was invisible, he was still equally a man? The reason why they saw him was, because then the eyes of their spirit were opened; and, when these are opened, the things which are in the spiritual world appear as clearly as those which are in the natural world. The difference between a man in the natural world and a man in the spiritual world is, that the latter is clothed with a substantial body, but the former with a material body, in which, inwardly, is his substantial body; and a substantial man sees a substantial man as clearly as a material man sees a material man; but a substantial man cannot see a material man, nor a material man [pg 157]
“From the things seen for so many years, I can relate the following: That there are lands in the spiritual world, as well as in the natural world, and that there are also plains, and valleys, and mountains, and hills, and likewise fountains and rivers; that there are paradises, gardens, groves, and woods; that there are cities, and in them palaces and houses; and also that there are writings and books; that there are employments and tradings; and that there are gold, silver, and precious stones; in a word, that there are all things whatsoever that are in the natural world; but those in heaven are immensely more perfect. But the difference is, that all things that are seen in the spiritual world are created in a moment by the Lord, as houses, paradises, food, and other things; and that they are created for correspondence with the interiors of the angels and spirits, which are their affections and thoughts thence; but that all things that are seen in the natural world exist and grow from seed.
“Since it is so, and I have daily spoken there with the nations and people of this world,—thus not only with those who are in Europe, but also with those who are in Asia and in Africa, thus with those who are of various religions,—I shall add, as a conclusion to this work, a short description of the state of some of them. It is to be observed, that the state of every nation and people in general, as well as of each individual in particular, in the spiritual world, is according to the acknowledgment of God, and the worship of him; and that all who in heart acknowledge a God, and, after this time, those who acknowledge the Lord Jesus Christ to be God, the Redeemer and Savior, are in heaven; and that those who do not acknowledge him are under heaven, and are there instructed; and that those who receive are raised up into heaven, and that those who do not receive are cast down into hell.”
Swedenborg says, “The Dutch are easily distinguished [pg 158]
“The cities in which the Dutch live are guarded in a singular manner: all the streets in them are covered with roofs, and there are gates in the streets, so that they may not be seen from the rocks and hills round about: this is done on account of their inherent prudence in concealing their designs, and not divulging their intentions; for such things, in the spiritual world, are drawn forth by inspection. When any one comes for the purpose of exploring their state, and is about to go out, he is led to the gates of the streets, which are shut, and thus is led back, and led to others, and this even to the highest degree of vexation, and then he is let out; this is done that he may not return. Wives, who affect dominion over their husbands, live at one side of the city, and do not meet their husbands, except when they are invited, which is done in a civil manner; and then they also lead them to houses, where consorts live without exercising dominion over each other, and show them how clean and elegant their houses are, and what enjoyment of life they have, and that they have these things from mutual and conjugal love. Those wives who attend to these things, and are affected by them, cease to exercise dominion, and live together with their husbands; and then they have a habitation assigned to them nearer to the middle, and are called angels: the reason is, because truly conjugal love is heavenly love, which is without dominion.
“With respect to the English nation, the best of them are in the centre of all Christians, because they have interior intellectual light. This does not appear to any one in the natural [pg 159]
“For this reason, they have moderators appointed over them in the spiritual world; and priests are given to them, of high reputation and eminent talents, in whose opinions, from this their natural disposition, they acquiesce.
“There are two great cities, like London, into which most of the English come after death: it has been given me to see the former city, and also to walk over it. The middle of that city is where the merchants meet in London, which is called the Exchange: there the moderators dwell. Above that middle is the east, below it is the west, on the right side is the south, on the left side is the north. In the eastern quarter, those dwell who have preËminently led a life of charity: there are magnificent palaces. In the southern quarter the wise dwell, with whom there are many splendid things. In the northern quarter, those dwell who have preËminently loved the liberty of speaking and writing. In the western quarter, those dwell who boast of justification by faith atone. On the right there, in this quarter, is the entrance into this city, and also a way out of it: those who live ill are sent out there. The ministers who are in the west, and teach that faith alone, dare not enter the city through the great streets, but through narrow alleys; since no other inhabitants are tolerated in the city itself, than those who are in the faith of charity. I have heard them complaining of the preachers from the west, that they compose their sermons with such art and eloquence, and introduce into them the strange doctrine of justification by faith, that they do not know whether good ought to be done or not. They preach faith as intrinsic good, and separate this from the good of charity, which they [pg 160]
“Concerning the Popish Saints in the Spiritual World.
“It is known that man has innate or hereditary evil from parents; but it is known to few in what that dwells, in its fulness: it dwells in the love of possessing the goods of all others, and in the love of ruling; for this latter love is such, that, as far as the reins are given to it, so far it bursts forth, until it burns with the desire of ruling over all, and, at length, wishes to be invoked and worshipped as a god. This love is the serpent, which deceived Eve and Adam; for it said to the woman, God doth know, in the day that ye eat of the fruit of that tree, your eyes will be opened, and then ye will be as God. (Gen. iii. 4, 5.) As far, therefore, as man, without restraint, rushes into this love, so far he averts himself from God, and turns to himself, and becomes a worshipper of himself; and then he can invoke God with a warm mouth from the love of self, but with a cold heart from contempt of God. And then, also, the divine things of the church may serve for means; but, because the end is dominion, the means are regarded no more than as they are subservient to it. Such a person, if he is exalted to the highest honors, is, in his own imagination, like Atlas bearing the terraqueous globe upon his shoulders, and like Phoebus, with his horses, carrying the sun around the world.
“Since man hereditarily is such, therefore all who, by papal bulls, have been made saints, in the spiritual world are removed from the eyes of others, and concealed, and all intercourse with their worshippers is taken away from them; the reason is, lest that most pernicious root of evil should be excited in them, and they should be brought into such fantastic deliriums as there are with demons. Into such deliriums [pg 161]
“Many of the Roman Catholic persuasion, especially the monks, when they come into the spiritual world, inquire for the saints, particularly the saint of their order; but they do not find them, at which they wonder; but afterwards they are instructed that they are mixed together, either with those who are in heaven, or with those who are in the earth below; and that, in either case, they know nothing of the worship and invocation of themselves, and that those who do know, and wish to be invoked, fall into deliriums, and talk foolishly. The worship of saints is such an abomination in heaven, that, if they only hear it, they are filled with horror; since, as far as worship is ascribed to any man, so far it is withheld from the Lord; for thus, he alone is not worshipped; and, if the Lord alone is not worshipped, a discrimination is made, which destroys communion, and the happiness of life flowing from it. That I might know what the Roman Catholic saints are, in order that I might make it known, as many as a hundred were brought forth from the earth below, who knew of their canonization. They ascended behind my back, and only a few before my face; and I spoke with one of them, who, they said, was Xavier. He, while he talked with me, was like a fool; yet he could tell, that, in his place, where he was shut up with others, he was not a fool, but that he becomes a fool as often as he thinks that he is a saint, and wishes to be invoked. A like murmur I heard from those who were behind my back. It is otherwise with the saints, so called, in heaven: these know nothing at all of what is done on earth; nor is it given them to speak with any of the Roman Catholic persuasion, who are in that superstition, lest any idea of that thing should enter into them.
“From this their state, every one may conclude that invocations of them are only mockeries; and, moreover, I can assert, that they do not hear their invocations on earth, any more than their images do at the sides of the streets, nor any [pg 162]
“There appears, sometimes, to the people of Paris, who are in the spiritual world, in a society, a certain woman of a common stature, in shining raiment, and of a face, as it were, holy; and she says that she is Genevieve; but, when any begin to adore her, then her face is immediately changed, and also her raiment, and she becomes like an ordinary woman, and reproves them for wishing to adore a woman, who, among her companions, is in no higher estimation than as a maid-servant, wondering that the men of the world should be captivated by such trifles.
“To the above, I shall add this, which is most worthy of attention. Once, Mary, the Mother of the Lord, passed by, and was seen overhead in white raiment; and then, stopping a while, she said that she was the mother of the Lord, and that he was indeed born of her; but that he, being made God, put off all the human from her, and that, therefore, she now adores him as her God; and that she is unwilling that any one should acknowledge him for her son, since in him all is divine.”
The term Fighting or Wet Quaker is applied to those who retain the Quaker faith, but adopt the manners and costume, of other denominations. The celebrated Nathaniel [pg 163]
“When the British army had possession of Philadelphia, a committee of three of the leading men of the society of Friends had permission to go to the head-quarters of General Washington, relative to some matters of inconvenience of some of their brethren, within Washington's command. The general listened to them with his usual courtesy and wisdom, but could not determine the business till the next day. In the mean time, he told them he would put them under the protection of an officer of their own society, and thereupon sent for General Nathaniel Greene; and when he arrived, in full uniform, he introduced ‘the Friends’ to each other. After a little silence, Friend James Pemberton turned slowly to General Greene, and said, ‘Dost thou profess to be one of our persuasion?’ ‘O, yes,’ said the general; ‘I was so educated.’ The committee looked at each other, and upon the general's sword, when one of them said, ‘May I ask General Greene what part of our land thou wast born and brought up in?’ ‘O, yes, yes,’ replied Greene; ‘I'm from Rhode Island.’ ‘Oho,’ rejoined more than one of them, ‘yes, yes, a Rhode Island Quaker! Yes, Friend Greene, we are satisfied with thy explanation, and will accept of thy kind offer.’ Greene betrayed a momentary flush of disconcertion, at which, it was said, Washington's countenance half smiled at the Rhode Island Quaker!”
Mr. George Rapp and other emigrants arrived from Germany, and settled in the interior of Pennsylvania, about the year 1805. They formed an economy on the primitive plan of having “all things in common.” They appear to have [pg 164]
A sectary, by the name of Dorrel, appeared in Leyden, Mass., about fifty years ago, and made some proselytes. The following are some of his leading sentiments:—Jesus Christ is, as to substance, a spirit, and is God. He took a body, died, and never rose from the dead. None of the human race will ever rise from their graves. The resurrection, spoken of in Scripture, is only one from sin to spiritual life, which consists in perfect obedience to God. Written revelation is a type of the substance of the true revelation, which God makes to those whom he raises from spiritual death. The substance is God revealed in the soul. Those who have it are perfect, are incapable of sinning, and have nothing to do with the Bible. The eternal life, purchased by Christ, was an eternal succession of natural generation. Heaven is light, and hell is darkness. God has no wrath. There is no opposition between God and the devil, who have equal power in their respective worlds of light and darkness. Those who are raised are free from all civil laws; are not bound by the marriage covenant; and the perfect have a right to promiscuous intercourse. Neither prayer nor any other worship is necessary. There is no law but that of nature. There is no future judgment, nor any knowledge [pg 165]
One of Dorrel's lectures was attended by Captain Ezekiel Foster, of Leyden, a man of good sense, of a strong, muscular frame, and a countenance which bespoke authority. When Dorrel came to the declaration of his extraordinary powers, he had no sooner uttered the words, “No arm can hurt my flesh,” than Foster rose, indignant at the imposture he was practising on his deluded followers, and knocked down Dorrel with his fist. Dorrel, in great trepidation, and almost senseless, attempted to rise, when he received a second blow, at which he cried for mercy. Foster engaged to forbear, on condition that he would renounce his doctrines, but continued beating him. Soon a short parley ensued, when Dorrel consented, and did renounce his doctrines in the hearing of all his astonished followers. He further told them, that his object was to see what fools he could make of mankind. His followers, ashamed and chagrined at being made the dupes of such an unprincipled fellow, departed in peace to their homes. Dorrel promised his assailant, upon the penalty of his life never to attempt any similar imposition upon the people.
These people profess to believe in one God, who is fully acquainted with all his own works; but they believe there are some things done by wicked agents, of which God has no knowledge. They reject the idea of Christ's divinity, and of any thing special in regeneration. They pretend to miraculous gifts, such as healing the sick, and praying down the judgments of God upon those who oppose them. They deny any thing peculiarly sacred in the Christian Sabbath, although they generally meet on that day for religious worship, but without much regard to order. They reject the ordinances of baptism and the Lord's supper. They are opposed to Bible societies, and other moral and religious institutions of the day, particularly to temperance societies.
This sect arose about the year 1812, in the county of Merrimack, N. H. where a few societies exist. Jacob Osgood is their leader.
This is a sect calling themselves Seventh-Day Baptists, that arose in New England about the year 1674. John and James Rogers were their leaders. They were peculiar in their language, dress, and manners; they employed no physician, nor used any medicine: they paid no regard to the Christian Sabbath, and disturbed and abused those that did. It is said that a few of this people still remain. See the Battle-Axe, a work published by them a few years ago, at their printing establishment, at Groton, Conn.
This denomination sprang up in Italy, in the thirteenth century, and was thence propagated through almost all the countries of Europe. The society that embraced this new discipline, ran in multitudes, composed of persons of both sexes, and all ranks and ages, through the public streets, with whips in their hands, lashing their naked bodies with the most astonishing severity, with a view to obtain the divine mercy for themselves and others, by their voluntary mortification and penance. This sect made their appearance anew in the fourteenth century, and taught, among other things, that flagellation was of equal virtue with baptism and other sacraments; that the forgiveness of all sins was to be obtained by it from God, without the merit of Jesus Christ; that the old law of Christ was soon to be abolished, and that a new law, enjoining the baptism of blood, to be administered by whipping, was to be substituted in its place.
A new denomination of Whippers arose in the fifteenth century, who rejected the sacraments and every branch of external worship, and placed their only hopes of salvation in faith and flagellation.
The followers of Jemima Wilkinson, who was born in Cumberland, R. I. In 1776, she asserted that she was taken sick, and actually died, and that her soul went to heaven. Soon after, her body was reanimated with the spirit and power of Christ, upon which she set up as a public teacher, and declared she had an immediate revelation for all she delivered, and was arrived to a state of absolute perfection. It is also said she pretended to foretell future events, to discern [pg 168]
Jemima made some converts in Rhode Island and New York, and died in 1819. She is said to have been a very beautiful, but artful woman.
Water-Drinkers, a branch of the Encratites, a sect in the second century, who abstained from marriage, wine, and animal food; who carried their aversion to wine so far, that they substituted water in the holy communion, though some refused it only in their morning ceremonies. It is well known that the ancient Christians mingled water with their wine for sacred use, partly, perhaps, for economy, and partly from sobriety; but Cyprian gives a mystical reason—because the wine and water represent Christ and his people united.
The Baxterian strikes into a middle path between Arminianism and Calvinism, and thus endeavors to unite both schemes. With the Calvinist, he professes to believe that a certain number, determined upon in the divine councils, will be infallibly saved; and with the Arminian, he joins in rejecting the doctrine of reprobation, as absurd and impious;—admits that Christ, in a certain sense, died for all, and supposes that such a portion of grace is allotted to every man, as renders it his own fault if he does not attain to eternal life.
This conciliatory system was espoused by the famous Nonconformist, Richard Baxter, who was celebrated for the acuteness of his controversial talents, and the utility of his practical writings.
Among Baxterians are ranked both Watts and Doddridge. Dr. Doddridge, indeed, has this striking remark—“That a Being who is said not to tempt any one, and even swears that he desires not the death of a sinner, should irresistibly determine millions to the commission of every sinful action of their lives, and then, with all the pomp and pageantry of a universal judgment, condemn them to eternal misery, on account of these actions, that hereby he may promote the happiness of others who are, or shall be, irresistibly determined to virtue, in the like manner, is of all incredible things to me the most incredible!”
In the scale of religious sentiment, Baxterianism seems to be, with respect to the subject of divine favor, what Arianism is with respect to the person of Christ. It appears to have been considered by some pious persons as a safe middle way between two extremes.
The following letter from Rev. William Miller to Rev. Joshua V. Himes contains a synopsis of Mr. Miller's views on this interesting subject:—
“Rev. J. V. Himes:
“My dear brother: You have requested a synopsis of my views of the Christian faith. The following sketch will give you some idea of the religious opinions I have formed, by a careful study of the word of God:—
“I believe all men, coming to years of discretion, do and will disobey God; and this is, in some measure, owing to corrupted nature by the sin of our parent. I believe God will not condemn us for any pollution in our father; but the soul that sinneth shall die. All pollution of which we may be partakers from the sins of our ancestors, in which we could have no agency, can and will be washed away in the blood and sacrifice of Jesus Christ, without our agency. But all sins committed by us as rational, intelligent agents, can only be cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ, through our repentance and faith. I believe in the salvation of all men who receive the grace of God by repentance and faith in the mediation of Jesus Christ. I believe in the condemnation of all men who reject the gospel and mediation of Christ, and thereby lose the efficacy of the blood and righteousness of our Redeemer, as proffered to us in the gospel. I believe in practical godliness, as commanded us in the Scriptures, (which are our only rule of faith and practice,) and that they only will be entitled to heaven and future blessedness, who obey and keep the commandments of God, as given us in the Bible, which is the word of God. I believe in God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is a Spirit, omnipresent, omniscient, having all power, Creator, Preserver, and self-existent. [pg 171]
“I believe the Bible is the revealed will of God to man, and all therein is necessary to be understood by Christians in the several ages and circumstances to which they may refer;—for instance, what may be understood to-day, might not have been necessary to have been understood a thousand years ago; for its object is to reveal things new and old, that the man of God may be thoroughly furnished for, and perfected in, every good word and work, for the age in which he lives. I believe it is revealed in the best possible manner for all people, in every age and under every circumstance, to understand, and that it is to be understood as literal as it can be and make good sense; and that in every case where the language is figurative, we must let the Bible explain its own figures. We are in no case allowed to speculate on the Scriptures, and suppose things which are not clearly expressed, nor reject things which are plainly taught. I believe all of the prophecies are revealed to try our faith, and to give us hope, without which we could have no reasonable hope. I believe that the Scriptures do reveal unto us, in plain language, that Jesus Christ will appear again on this earth; that he will come in the glory of God, in the clouds of heaven, with all his saints and angels; that he will raise the dead bodies of all his saints who have slept, change the bodies of all that are alive on the earth that are his, and both these living and raised saints will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. There the saints will be judged and presented to the Father, without spot or wrinkle. Then the gospel [pg 172]
“Then will the promise of God to his Son be accomplished—‘I will give him the heathen for his inheritance, and the utmost parts of the earth for his possession.’ Then ‘the whole earth shall be full of his glory.’ And then will the holy people take possession of their joint heirship with Christ, and his promise be verified, ‘The meek shall inherit the earth,’ and the kingdom of God will have come, and ‘his will done in earth as in heaven.’ After a thousand years shall have passed away, the saints will all be gathered and encamped in the beloved city. The sea, death, and hell, will give up their dead, which will rise up on the breadths of the earth, out of the city, a great company like the sand of the sea-shore. The devil will be let loose, to go out and deceive this wicked host. He will tell them of a battle against the saints, the beloved city; he will gather them in the battle around the camp of the saints. But there is no battle; the devil has deceived them. The saints will judge them; the justice of God will drive them from the earth into the lake of fire and brimstone, where they will be tormented day and night, forever and ever. ‘This is the second death.’ After [pg 173]
“I understand that the judgment day will be a thousand years long. The righteous are raised and judged in the commencement of that day, the wicked in the end of that day. I believe that the saints will be raised and judged about the year 1843, according to Moses' prophecy, Lev. ch. 26; Ezek. ch. 39; Daniel, ch. 2, 7, 8-12; Hos. 5:1-3; Rev., the whole book; and many other prophets have spoken of these things. Time will soon tell if I am right, and soon he that is righteous will be righteous still, and he that is filthy will be filthy still. I do most solemnly entreat mankind to make their peace with God, to be ready for these things. 'The end of all things is at hand.' I do ask my brethren in the gospel ministry to consider well what they say before they oppose these things. Say not in your hearts, ‘My Lord delayeth his coming.’ Let all do as they would wish they had if it does come, and none will say they have not done right if it does not come. I believe it will come; but if it should not come, then I will wait and look until it does come. Yet I must pray, ‘Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly.’
“This is a synopsis of my views. I give it as a matter of faith. I know of no scripture to contradict any view given in the above sketch. Men's theories may oppose. The ancients believed in a temporal and personal reign of Christ on earth. The moderns believe in a temporal, spiritual reign as a millennium. Both views are wrong; both are too gross and carnal. I believe in a glorious, immortal, and personal reign of Jesus Christ, with all his people, on the purified earth forever. I believe the millennium is between the two resurrections and two judgments, the righteous and the wicked, the just and the unjust. I hope the dear friends of Christ will lay by all prejudice, and look at and examine these three views by the only rule and standard, the Bible.
“William Miller.”
[pg 174]A Bible Chronology, From Adam To Christ.
By William Miller.
| No. | Names of Patriarchs, &c. | Age. | A. M. | B. C. | Reference. |
| Creation, | 1 | 4157 | Gen. i., ii. | ||
| 2. | Adam | 130 | 130 | 4027 | Gen. v. 3. |
| 3. | Enos | 90 | 325 | 3832 | Gen. v. 6. |
| 4. | Cainan | 70 | 395 | 3762 | Gen. v. 9. |
| 5. | Mahalaleel | 65 | 460 | 3697 | Gen. v. 15. |
| 6. | Jared | 162 | 622 | 3535 | Gen. v. 18. |
| 7. | Enoch | 65 | 687 | 3470 | Gen. v. 21. |
| 8. | Methuselah | 187 | 874 | 3283 | Gen. v. 25. |
| 9. | Lamech | 182 | 1056 | 3101 | Gen. v. 28. |
| 10. | Noah | 600 | 1656 | 2501 | Gen. vii. 6. |
| The Flood | 1 | 1657 | 2500 | Gen. viii. 13. | |
| 11. | Shem | 2 | 1659 | 2498 | Gen. xi. 10. |
| 12. | Arphaxad | 35 | 1694 | 2463 | Gen. xi. 12. |
| 13. | Salah | 30 | 1724 | 2433 | Gen. xi. 14. |
| 14. | Heber | 34 | 1758 | 2399 | Gen. xi. 16. |
| 15. | Peleg | 30 | 1788 | 2369 | Gen. xi. 18. |
| 16. | Reu | 32 | 1820 | 2337 | Gen. xi. 20. |
| 17. | Serug | 30 | 1850 | 2307 | Gen. xi. 22. |
| 18. | Nahor | 29 | 1879 | 2278 | Gen. xi. 24. |
| 19. | Terah's life | 2054 | 2084 | 2073 | Gen. xi. 32. |
| 20. | Exode, &c. | 4305 | 2514 | 1643 | Exod. xii. 40, 41. |
| 21. | Wilderness | 40 | 2554 | 1603 | Josh. v. 6; xiv. 7. |
| 22. | Joshua | 256 | 2579 | 1578 | Josh. xxiv. 29. |
| 1. | Elders and Anarchy,7 | 18 | 2597 | 1560 | See Josephus. |
| 2. | Under Cushan | 8 | 2605 | 1552 | Judges iii. 8. |
| 3. | Othniel | 40 | 2645 | 1512 | Judges iii. 11. |
| 4. | Eglon | 18 | 2663 | 1494 | Judges iii. 14. |
| 5. | Ehud | 80 | 2743 | 1414 | Judges iii. 30. |
| 6. | Jabin | 20 | 2763 | 1394 | Judges iv. 3. |
| 7. | Barak | 40 | 2803 | 1354 | Judges v. 31. |
| 8. | Midianites | 7 | 2810 | 1347 | Judges vi. 1. |
| 9. | Gideon | 40 | 2850 | 1307 | Judges viii. 28. |
| 10. | Abimelech | 3 | 2853 | 1304 | Judges ix. 22. |
| 11. | Tola | 23 | 2876 | 1281 | Judges x. 2. |
| 12. | Jair | 22 | 2898 | 1259 | Judges x. 3. |
| 13. | Philistines | 18 | 2916 | 1241 | Judges x. 8. |
| 14. | Jephthah | 6 | 2922 | 1235 | Judges xii. 7. |
| 15. | Ibzan | 7 | 2929 | 1228 | Judges xii. 9. |
| 16. | Elon | 10 | 2939 | 1218 | Judges xii. 11. |
| 17. | Abdon | 8 | 2947 | 1210 | Judges xii. 14. |
| 18. | Philistines | 40 | 2987 | 1170 | Judges xiii. 1. |
| 19. | Eli | 408 | 3027 | 1130 | 1 Sam. iv. 18. |
| 20. | Samuel, prophet | 249 | 3051 | 1106 | 1 Sam. vii. 2-17. |
| 1. | Saul, King | 40 | 3091 | 1066 | Acts xiii. 21. |
| 2. | David | 40 | 3131 | 1026 | 2 Sam. v. 4. |
| 3. | Solomon | 40 | 3171 | 986 | 1 Kings xi. 42. |
| 4. | Rehoboam | 17 | 3188 | 969 | 2 Chron. xii. 13. |
| 5. | Abijam | 3 | 3191 | 966 | 1 Kings xv. 2. |
| 6. | Asa | 41 | 3232 | 925 | 1 Kings xv. 10. |
| 7. | Jehoshaphat | 25 | 3257 | 900 | 1 Kings xxii. 42. |
| 8. | Jehoram | 5 | 3262 | 895 | 2 Kings viii. 17. |
| 9. | Ahaziah | 1 | 3263 | 894 | 2 Kings viii. 26. |
| 10. | Athaliah, his mother | 6 | 3269 | 888 | 2 Kings xi. 3, 4. |
| 11. | Joash | 40 | 3309 | 818 | 2 Kings xii. 1. |
| 12. | Amaziah | 29 | 3338 | 819 | 2 Kings xiv. 2. |
| Interregnum10 | 11 | 3349 | 808 | 2 Kings xv. 1, 2. | |
| 13. | Azariah | 52 | 3401 | 756 | 2 Kings xv. 2. |
| 14. | Jotham | 16 | 3417 | 740 | 2 Kings xv. 33. |
| 15. | Ahaz | 16 | 3433 | 724 | 2 Kings xvi. 2. |
| 16. | Hezekiah | 29 | 3462 | 695 | 2 Kings xviii. 2. |
| 17. | Manasseh | 55 | 3517 | 640 | 2 Kings xxi. 1. |
| 18. | Amon | 2 | 3519 | 638 | 2 Kings xxi. 19. |
| 19. | Josiah | 31 | 3550 | 607 | 2 Kings xxii. 1. |
| 20. | Jehoahaz | 3550 | 607 | 2 Kings xxiii. 31. | |
| 21. | Jehoiakim | 11 | 3561 | 596 | 2 Kings xxiii. 36. |
| The 70 years of Captivity began | 70 | 3631 | 526 | 2 Chron. xxxvi. 5-10. | |
| Cyrus | 6 | 3637 | 520 | Rollin i. p. 354. | |
| Cambyses | 7 | 3644 | 513 | Rollin i. p. 366. | |
| Darius Hystaspes | 36 | 3680 | 477 | Rollin ii. p. 9. | |
| Xerxes | 13 | 3693 | 464 | Rollin ii. p. 9. | |
| Artaxerxes Longimanus | 7 | 3700 | 457 | Ezra vii. 10-13. | |
| Birth of Christ11 | 457 | 4157 | |||
| Add present year, 1840 | 1840 | 5997 | |||
| To 1843 | 3 | 6000 |
Mr. Miller adduces the following texts of Scripture in support of his sentiments:—Rev. 22:20. Ps. 130:6. 1 Thess. 3:13. Ps. 50:4. Rev. 11:15. Isa. 2:19-21. John 5:28. 1 Thess. 4:17. 2 Thess. 1:5-7. 1 Cor. 15:52. Rev 5:9. Dan. 7:9-14. Rev. 14:14-16. Matt. 26:64. Isa. 27:13. Matt. 24:29. Rev. 20:11. Isa. 66:15, 16. Mal. 4:1. Isa. 5:24. Rev. 19:18. Ezek. 39:17-20. Dan. 2 35, 44. Isa. 17:13. Rev. 13:1-7; 20:10. Isa. 24:20, 23. 2 Pet. 3:13. Rev. 19:8; 21:2. Heb. 4:9-11; 6:2, 3. Isa. 35:10; 65:17. Rev. 20:6; 20:9. Zech. 8:5. Rev. 3:12; 5:10, 20:2, 3, 7; 21:1; 20:8, 9, 13. Rom. 7:5. 1 Pet. 4:6. Ps. 59:6-14. Jer. 4:12. Rev. 21:12, 27. Zech. 14:9-11. 1 Cor. 6:2. Rev. 20:9, 14, 15. Mal. 4:2. Isa. 4:3-5. Hos. 13:14. Rom. 8:17. Rev. 21:23; 22:5. Jer. 31:12-14. Eph. 1:10. Tit. 2:13. Rev. 4:11. Eph. 6:13. Heb. 10:36, 37.
The believers in Mr. Miller's theory are numerous, and converts to his doctrines are increasing.
Mr. Miller was born at Hampton, N. Y., Feb. 15, 1782. He is a farmer, of common school education, and possesses strong intellectual and colloquial powers. He is a man of unexceptionable character, is a member of the Baptist church, in good standing, and has a license to preach the gospel. For the last fifteen years, he has almost exclusively devoted himself to investigating Scripture prophecies, and in promulgating his peculiar views of them to the world.
The Rev J. V. Himes and Rev. J. Litch, No. 14 Devonshire Street, Boston, publish the Signs of the Times, a weekly paper, devoted to Miller's views. They also publish Miller's works, and a variety of other books, embracing similar sentiments.
This is a term which has been applied to a considerable number of persons in various parts of the Northern States, principally in New England, who have recently come out of the various religious denominations with which they were connected;—hence the name. They have not themselves assumed any distinctive name, not regarding themselves as a sect, as they have not formed, and do not contemplate forming, any religious organization. They have no creed, believing that every one should be left free to hold such opinions on religious subjects as he pleases, without being held accountable for the same to any human authority. Hence, as might be expected, they hold a diversity of opinions on many points of belief upon which agreement is considered essential by the generality of professing Christians. Amongst other subjects upon which they differ is that of the authority of the Scriptures of the Old and the New Testaments, some among them holding the prevailing belief of their divine inspiration, whilst others regard them as mere human compositions, and subject them to the same rules of criticism as they do any other book, attaching to them no authority any further than they find evidence of their truth. They believe the commonly-received opinion of the plenary inspiration of the writers of those books to be unfounded, not claimed by the writers themselves, and therefore unscriptural, as well as unreasonable. Whilst, then, they believe the authors of the Gospels to have been fallible men, liable to err both in relation to matters of fact and opinion, they believe they find in their writings abundant evidence of their honesty. Therefore they consider their testimony satisfactory as regards the main facts there stated of the life of Jesus Christ, at least so far, that there can be no difficulty in deducing therefrom the great principles of the religion which he taught. They all believe him to have been a divinely-inspired teacher, and his religion, therefore, to be a revelation of eternal truth. They [pg 178]
This class of persons agree in the opinion that he only is a Christian who has the spirit of Christ; that all such as these are members of his church, and that it is composed of none others; therefore that membership in the Christian church is not, and cannot, in the nature of things, be determined by any human authority. Hence they deem all attempts to render the church identical with any outward organizations as utterly futile, not warranted by Christ himself, and incompatible with its spiritual character. Having no organized society, they have no stations of authority or superiority, which they believe to be inconsistent with the Christian idea, (Matt. 23:8,)—“But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.” (Matt. 20:25, 26,)—“Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you.”
As might be inferred from the foregoing, they discard all outward ordinances as having no place in a spiritual religion the design of which is to purify the heart, and the extent of whose influence is to be estimated, by its legitimate effects in producing a life of practical righteousness, and not by any mere arbitrary sign, which cannot be regarded as a certain [pg 179]
Their views of worship correspond, as they believe, with the spiritual nature of the religion they profess. They believe that true Christian worship is independent of time and place; that it has no connection with forms, and ceremonies, and external arrangements, any further than these are the exponents of a divine life; that it spontaneously arises from the pure in heart at all times and in all places: in short, they regard the terms Christian worship and Christian obedience as synonymous, believing that he gives the highest and only conclusive evidence of worshipping the Creator, who exhibits in his life the most perfect obedience to his will. These views they consider in perfect harmony with the teachings of Jesus, particularly in his memorable conversation with the woman of Samaria.
They also agree in the belief that the religion of Christ asserts the equality of all men before God; that it confers upon no man, or class of men, a monopoly of Heaven's favors; neither does it give to a portion of his children any means of knowing his will not common to the race. They believe the laws of the soul are so plain that they may be easily comprehended by all who sincerely seek to know them, without the intervention of any human teacher or expounder. Hence they regard no teaching as authoritative but that of the Spirit of God, and reject all priesthoods but the universal priesthood which Christianity establishes. They believe that every one whose soul is imbued with a knowledge of the truth is qualified to be its minister, and it becomes his duty and his pleasure, by his every word and action, to preach it to the world. It follows, then, that, as Christ prepares and appoints his own ministers, and as they receive their commissions only from him, they are accountable to him alone for their exercise, and not to any human authority whatsoever. They therefore reject all human ordinations, appointments, or control, or any designation by man of an order of men to preach the gospel, as invasions of his rightful prerogative.
[pg 180]Amongst the prevailing sins, against which they feel bound to bear testimony, are slavery and war; and it is alleged as the main reason why many of them have disconnected themselves from the professedly Christian denominations to which they belonged, that those bodies gave their sanction to those anti-Christian practices. They believe slaveholding to be sinful under all circumstances, and that, therefore, it should be immediately abandoned. They believe, not only that national wars are forbidden by Christianity, but that the taking of human life for any purpose, by governments or individuals, is incompatible with its spirit. A large proportion of them, also, consider all resort to punishment, as a penalty for crime, equally inconsistent with the law of love. Hence they deem it their duty to withhold their voluntary sanction or support from human governments, and all institutions which claim the right to exercise powers which they thus regard as unlawful.
In various places, these persons hold meetings on the first day of the week, which are conducted consistently with their views of Christian freedom and equality. It is understood that the object of thus meeting together, is to promote their spiritual welfare. For this purpose, they encourage a free interchange of sentiment on religious subjects, without any restraint or formality. They have no prescribed exercises, but every one is left free to utter his thoughts as he may feel inclined; and even those who differ from them in opinion are not only at liberty, but are invited, to give expression to their thoughts. They believe this to be the only mode of holding religious meetings consistent with the genius of their religion, and for an example of like gatherings they refer to those of the primitive Christians. They meet on the first day of the week, not because they believe it incumbent to devote that portion of time more than any other to objects regarded as peculiarly religious,—for they regard all days as equally holy, and equally devoted to the service of the Lord,—but merely because they have become habituated to abstain from their [pg 181]
The practical acknowledgment of the moral equality of the sexes is another distinguishing characteristic of these people. They regard woman as equally qualified to hold any station in society from which she is not excluded by her physical disability; and that she alone must decide for herself what position she shall occupy, or what duties in the community she shall perform; the control of woman never, as they conceive, having been delegated to man by the Creator. Therefore they consider her equal in all mental and intellectual pursuits. And when they associate together for religious and benevolent objects, they exercise the various duties pertaining to them indiscriminately.
The number of persons who hold a similarity of opinions on these subjects cannot be known. It is, at present, comparatively small, but rapidly increasing.
Persons so called from the practice of jumping during the time allotted for religious worship. This singular practice began, it is said, in the western part of Wales, about the year 1760. It was soon after defended by Mr. William Williams, (the Welsh poet, as he is sometimes called,) in a pamphlet, which was patronized by the abettors of jumping in religious assemblies. Several of the more zealous itinerant preachers encouraged the people to cry out, “Goganiant,” (the Welsh word for glory,) “Amen,” &c. &c., to put themselves in violent agitations, and, finally, to jump until they were quite exhausted, so as often to be obliged to fall down on the floor, or the field, where this kind of worship was held.
This denomination of Christians holds that a personal profession of faith and an immersion in water are essential to baptism. There are several bodies of Baptists in the United States, which will be found under their different names. The Regular or Associated Baptists are, in sentiment, moderate Calvinists, and form the most numerous body of Baptists in this country.
The Baptists being Independent, or Congregational, in their form of church government, their ecclesiastical assemblies disclaim all right to interfere with the concerns of individual churches. Their public meetings, by delegation from different churches, are held for the purpose of mutual advice and improvement, but not for the general government of the whole body.
The following Declaration of Faith, with the Church Covenant, was recently published by the Baptist Convention of New Hampshire, and is believed to express, with little variation, the general sentiments of the Regular or Associated Baptists:—
“I. Of the Scriptures.—We believe the Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired, and is a perfect treasure of heavenly instruction; that it has God for its Author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter; that it reveals the principles by which God will judge us, and therefore is, and shall remain to the end of the world, the true centre of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and opinions, should be tried.
“II. Of the true God.—That there is one, and only one, true and living God, whose name is JEHOVAH, the Maker and Supreme Ruler of heaven and earth; inexpressibly glorious in holiness; worthy of all possible honor, confidence, and love; revealed under the personal and relative distinctions of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost [pg 183]
“III. Of the Fall of Man.—That man was created in a state of holiness, under the law of his Maker, but by voluntary transgression fell from that holy and happy state; in consequence of which all mankind are now sinners, not by constraint, but choice; being by nature utterly void of that holiness required by the law of God, wholly given to the gratification of the world, of Satan, and of their own sinful passions, and therefore under just condemnation to eternal ruin, without defence or excuse.
“IV. Of the Way of Salvation.—That the salvation of sinners is wholly of grace, through the mediatorial offices of the Son of God, who took upon him our nature, yet without sin; honored the law by his personal obedience, and made atonement for our sins by his death; being risen from the dead, he is now enthroned in heaven; and uniting in his wonderful person the tenderest sympathies with divine perfections, is every way qualified to be a suitable, a compassionate, and an all-sufficient Savior.
“V. Of Justification.—That the great gospel blessing which Christ, of his fulness, bestows on such as believe in him, is justification; that justification consists in the pardon of sin and the promise of eternal life, on principles of righteousness; that it is bestowed, not in consideration of any works of righteousness which we have done, but solely through his own redemption and righteousness; that it brings us into a state of most blessed peace and favor with God, and secures every other blessing needful for time and eternity.
“VI. Of the Freeness of Salvation.—That the blessings of salvation are made free to all by the gospel; that it is the immediate duty of all to accept them by a cordial and obedient faith; and that nothing prevents the salvation of the greatest sinner on earth, except his own voluntary refusal to submit to the Lord Jesus Christ; which refusal will subject him to an aggravated condemnation.
“VII. Of Grace in Regeneration.—That, in order to [pg 184]
“VIII. Of God's Purpose of Grace.—That election is the gracious purpose of God, according to which he regenerates, sanctifies, and saves sinners; that, being perfectly consistent with the free agency of man, it comprehends all the means in connection with the end; that it is a most glorious display of God's sovereign goodness, being infinitely wise, holy, and unchangeable; that it utterly excludes boasting, and promotes humility, prayer, praise, trust in God, and active imitation of his free mercy; that it encourages the use of means in the highest degree; that it is ascertained by its effects in all who believe the gospel; is the foundation of Christian assurance; and that to ascertain it with regard to ourselves, demands and deserves our utmost diligence.
“IX. Of the Perseverance of Saints.—That such only are real believers as endure unto the end; that their persevering attachment to Christ is the grand mark which distinguishes them from superficial professors; that a special Providence watches over their welfare; and they are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.
“X. Harmony of the Law and Gospel.—That the law of God is the eternal and unchangeable rule of his moral government; that it is holy, just, and good; and that the inability which the Scriptures ascribe to fallen men to fulfil its precepts, arises entirely from their love of sin; to deliver them from which, and to restore them, through a Mediator, to unfeigned obedience to the holy law, is one great end of the gospel, and of the means of grace connected with the establishment of the visible church.
“XI. Of a Gospel Church.—That a visible church of Christ is a congregation of baptized believers, associated by [pg 185]
“XII. Of Baptism and the Lord's Supper.—That Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water, in the name of the Father, Son, and Spirit; to show forth, in a solemn and beautiful emblem, our faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Savior, with its purifying power; that it is prerequisite to the privileges of a church relation, and, to the Lord's supper, in which the members of the church, by the use of bread and wine, are to commemorate together the dying love of Christ,—preceded always by solemn self-examination.
“XIII. Of the Christian Sabbath.—That the first day of the week is the Lord's day, or Christian Sabbath, and is to be kept sacred to religious purposes, by abstaining from all secular labor and recreations; by the devout observance of all the means of grace, both private and public; and by preparation for that rest which remaineth for the people of God.
“XIV. Of Civil Government.—That civil government is of divine appointment, for the interests of good order of human society; and that magistrates are to be prayed for, conscientiously honored, and obeyed, except in things opposed to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the only Lord of the conscience, and the Prince of the kings of the earth.
“XV. Of the Righteous and the Wicked.—That there is a radical and essential difference between the righteous and the wicked; that such only as through faith are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and sanctified by the Spirit of our God, are truly righteous in his esteem; while all such as continue in impenitence and unbelief are in his sight wicked, and under the curse; and this distinction holds among men both in and after death.
[pg 186]“XVI. Of the World to come.—That the end of this world is approaching; that, at the last day, Christ will descend from heaven, and raise the dead from the grave to final retribution; that a solemn separation will then take place; that the wicked will be adjudged to endless punishment, and the righteous to endless joy; and that this judgment will fix forever the final state of men, in heaven or hell, on principles of righteousness.
“Church Covenant.—having been, as we trust, brought by divine grace to embrace the Lord Jesus Christ, and to give up ourselves wholly to him, we do now solemnly and joyfully covenant with each other, to walk together in him with brotherly love, to his glory as our common Lord. We do, therefore, in his strength engage,
“That we will exercise a mutual care, as members one of another, to promote the growth of the whole body in Christian knowledge, holiness, and comfort; to the end that we may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.
“That, to promote and secure this object, we will uphold the public worship of God and the ordinances of his house, and hold constant communion with each other therein; that we will cheerfully contribute of our property for the support of the poor, and for the maintenance of a faithful ministry of the gospel among us.
“That we will not omit closet and family religion at home, nor allow ourselves in the too common neglect of the great duty of religiously training up our children, and those under our care, with a view to the service of Christ and the enjoyment of heaven.
“That we will walk circumspectly in the world, that we may win their souls; remembering that God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind, that we are the light of the world and the salt of the earth, and that a city set on a hill cannot be hid.
“That we will frequently exhort, and, if occasion shall require, admonish, one another, according to Matthew 18th, in the spirit of meekness; considering ourselves, lest we also [pg 187]
“And may the God of peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make us perfect in every good work to do his will; working in us that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”
(See Matt. 3:5, 6, 11, 13-16; 20:22, 23; 21:25; 28:19. Mark 1:4, 5, 8, 9, 10; 11:30; 16:15, 16. Luke 3:3, 7, 12, 16, 21; 7:29, 30; 12:50; 20:4. John 1:28, 31, 33; 3:22, 23; 4:1, 2. Acts 1:5,2 2; 2:38, 41; 8: 12, 13, 36-39; 9:18; 10:37, 47, 48; 13:24; 16:15, 33; 18:8, 25; 19:4, 5; 22:16. Rom. 6:3, 4. 1 Cor. 1: 13-17; 10:2; 12:13; 15:29. Gal. 3:27. Eph. 4:5. Col. 2:12. Heb. 6:2. 1 Pet. 3:31.)
“This denomination claims an immediate descent from the apostles, and asserts that the constitution of their churches is from the authority of Jesus Christ himself, and his immediate successors. Many others, indeed, deduce their origin as a sect from much later times, and affirm that they first sprang up in Germany in the sixteenth century. This denomination of Christians is distinguished from others by their opinions respecting the mode and subjects of baptism. Instead of administering the ordinance by sprinkling or pouring water, they maintain that it ought to be administered only by immersion: such, they insist, is the meaning of the Greek word baptizo, to wash or dip, so that a command to baptize is a command to immerse. They also defend their practice from the phrase buried with him in baptism, from the first administrators' repairing to rivers, and the practice of the primitive church, after the apostles.
“With regard to the subjects of baptism, this denomination alleges that it ought not to be administered to children or [pg 188]
“They further insist that all positive institutions depend entirely upon the will and declaration of the institutor; and that, therefore, reasoning by analogy from previous abrogated rites is to be rejected, and the express commands of Christ respecting the mode and subjects of baptism ought to be our only rule.
“They observe that the meaning of the word baptizo signifies immersion or dipping only; that John baptized in Jordan; that he chose a place where there was much water; that Jesus came up out of the water; that Philip and the eunuch went down both into the water; that the terms washing, purifying, burying in baptism, so often mentioned in Scripture, allude to this mode; that immersion only was the practice of the apostles and the first Christians; and that it was only laid aside from the love of novelty, and the coldness of our climate. These positions, they think, are so clear from Scripture, and the history of the church, that they stand in need of but little argument to support them.”
There are some interesting facts connected with the history [pg 189]
Thus he became the founder of a new order of things. Several of his friends afterwards joined him, and in that infant settlement he sustained the twofold character of minister and lawgiver. He formed a constitution on the broad principle of civil and religious liberty, and thus became the first ruler that recognized equal rights. Nearly a century and a half after that, when the Americans achieved their independence, thirteen of the states united in forming a government for themselves, and adopted that principle; thus America became, what the little colony of Providence had been before, a refuge for the persecuted for conscience sake. It has been well observed that the millions in both hemispheres who are now rejoicing in the triumph of liberal principles, should unite in erecting a monument to perpetuate the memory of Roger Williams, the first governor who held liberty of conscience, as well as of person, to be the birthright of man.
In the year 1639, Mr. Williams formed the first Baptist [pg 190]
Those who maintain that baptism ought always to be performed by immersion. The word is compounded of ana “new,” and baptistes, “a Baptist,” signifying that those who have been baptized in their infancy, ought to be baptized anew. It is a word which has been indiscriminately applied to Christians of very different principles and practices. The English and Dutch Baptists do not consider the word as at all applicable to their sect, because those persons whom they baptize they consider as never having been baptized before, although they have undergone what they term the ceremony of sprinkling in their infancy.
The first church gathered, of this order, was in New Durham, N. H., in the year 1780, principally by the instrumentality of Elder Benjamin Randall, who then resided in [pg 191]
They believe that, by the death of Christ, salvation was provided for all men; that, through faith in Christ, and sanctification of the Spirit,—though by nature entirely sinners,—all men may, if they improve every means of grace in their power, become new creatures in this life, and, after death, enjoy eternal happiness; that all who, having actually sinned, die in an unrenewed state, will suffer eternal misery.
Respecting the divine attributes of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, they in substance agree with other Orthodox Christians. They hold the holy Scriptures to be their only rule of religious faith and practice, to the exclusion of all written creeds, covenants, rules of discipline, or articles of organization. They consider that elders and deacons are the officers of the church designed in the Scriptures, and maintain that piety, and a call to the work, are the essential qualifications of a minister, without regard to literary attainments.
Are those who keep the seventh day of the week as the Sabbath. They are to be found principally, if not wholly, among the Baptists. They object to the reasons which are generally alleged for keeping the first day, and assert that the change from the seventh to the first was effected by Constantine, [pg 192]
1. That God hath required the seventh or last day of every week to be observed by mankind, universally, for the weekly Sabbath.
2. That this command of God is perpetually binding on man till time shall be no more.
3. That this sacred rest of the seventh-day Sabbath is not by divine authority changed from the seventh and last to the first day of the week, and that the Scripture doth nowhere require the observation of any other day of the week for the weekly Sabbath, but the seventh day only. They hold, in common with other Christians, the distinguishing doctrines of Christianity.
This appellation is given to those who hold the imposition of hands, subsequent to baptism, and generally on the admission of candidates into the church, as an indispensable prerequisite for church membership and communion. They support their peculiar principle chiefly from Heb. 6:1, 2—“Therefore, leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptism, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment,” As these two verses contain six distinct propositions, one of which is the laying on of hands, these brethren have, from thence, acquired the name of Six-Principle Baptists, to distinguish them from others, whom they sometimes call Five-Principle Baptists. They have fourteen churches in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
A party from the society of Friends, in Pennsylvania, separated in the year 1691. It was headed by the famous George Keith. They practised baptism, and received the Lord's supper, but retained the language, dress, and manners, of the Friends, or Quakers.
Are those who practise the baptism of children, without regard to personal faith.
Pedobaptists, in common with all others, claim for their practice an apostolical origin; and, although they differ much in theological opinions, in forms of church government, and modes of worship, yet they all adopt substantially the same mode of reasoning in their defence of pedobaptism. They say that the church, under both the old and new dispensations, has ever been the same, although under a different form; that infants, as well as parents, were admitted into the church under the earlier dispensations, the rite of circumcision being the sign of their introduction, into it; and that the Christian dispensation (as the Savior came not to destroy, but to fulfil, the law and the prophets) did not annul or abridge any of the privileges of the church that were possessed under the dispensations of former times. But as the right of children, who are bound to their parents by the strongest natural tie, to be solemnly and visibly dedicated to God, and to come within the pale and under the watch of the church, is a blessing and a privilege, we are entitled to ask for the passages in the New Testament which require its [pg 194]
A second argument in favor of infant baptism is derived from the repeated accounts, in the Acts, of the baptism of whole families. The families referred to are those of Lydia, a seller of purple in the city of Thyatira, of the jailer, in the same city, and of Cornelius, the centurion, of CÆsarea. Instances of this kind are not to be considered as conclusively proving the Scripture authority of infant baptism of themselves; but they form a presumptive argument, in its favor, of great weight.
And, further, it may be shown, from ecclesiastical history, that the baptism of infants was practised in the time of the primitive Christians. This being the fact, the conclusion seems to follow irresistibly, that they received the practice from the apostles, and that it was, therefore, known and recognized by the Savior himself; and, if it were known and recognized by him, or even introduced, subsequently and solely, by those he commissioned, it must be received, in either case, as the will of Christ, and as a law of the Christian dispensation.
Again, they say that the particular mode of baptism can not be determined from the meaning of the word baptizo, which may mean either to immerse or to lave, according to the particular connection in which it is found. (See Mark 7:4. Heb. 9:10.)
None of the accounts of baptism, which are given in the [pg 195]
The circumstances attending the baptism of the jailer and his family are of such a nature as to render the opinion of its being performed by immersion improbable. The baptism was evidently performed at midnight, and within the limits of the prison,—a time and a situation evidently implying some other mode than plunging. Similar views will hold in respect to the baptism of the three thousand at the season of Pentecost.
As, therefore, there are no passages of Scripture which positively require immersion, but various scriptural considerations against it, besides its being always inconvenient, and not unfrequently impracticable, the Pedobaptists have ever thought it fit and requisite, as a general rule, to practise baptism by sprinkling or laving.
The Greek church, in all its branches,—whether in the frozen regions of Siberia, or in the torrid zone,—practise trine immersion. All Pedobaptists require of adults, who seek for baptism, a personal profession of their faith, and so far agree with the Baptists. They also, with the Baptists, allow immersion to be valid baptism; but, in opposition to them, the Baptists deny that any other mode of administering this rite is valid. (See Exod. 14:22. Isa. 44:3. Matt. 3:11; 19:13. Mark 7:4. Acts 2:39; 19:2, 5. Rom. 4:11; 11:17. 1 Cor. 7:14; 10:2. Eph. chap. 2. Heb. 9:10, 13, 14.)
The term Pedobaptist is derived from two Greek words—pais, a child, and baptismos, baptism. This mode of baptism is practised by nearly the whole Christian world, except the Baptists and Friends.
A name given to those who object to the baptism of infants. The word is derived from the Greek words signifying against, a child, and I baptize.
Those Christians who are usually designated by this name in the United States, and who are also called Liberal Christians, are mostly Congregationalists, and are found principally in New England.
They acknowledge no other rule of faith and practice than the holy Scriptures, which they consider it the duty of every man to search for himself, prayerfully, and with the best exercise of his understanding. They reject all creeds of human device, as generally unjust to the truth of God and the mind of man, tending to produce exclusiveness, bigotry, and divisions, and at best of doubtful value. They regard, however, with favor the earliest creed on record, commonly called the Apostles', as approaching nearest to the simplicity of the gospel, and as imbodying the grand points of the Christian faith.
They adopt the words of St. Paul, (1 Cor. 8:6,) “To us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.” They make great account of the doctrine of God's paternal character and government, and continually set it forward as the richest source of consolation, and the most powerful motive to repentance and improvement.
Receiving and trusting in Christ as their Lord, Teacher, Mediator, Intercessor, Savior, they hold in less esteem [pg 197]
They believe that the Holy Ghost is not a distinct person in the Godhead, but that power of God, that divine influence, by which Christianity was established through miraculous aids, and by which its spirit is still shed abroad in the hearts of men.
They advocate the most perfect toleration. They regard charity as the crowning Christian grace,—the end of the commandment of God. They consider a pure and lofty morality as not only inseparable from true religion, but the most acceptable service that man can render to his Maker, and the only indubitable evidence of a believing heart.
They believe that sin is its own punishment, and virtue its own rewarder; that the moral consequences of a man's good or evil conduct go with him into the future life, to afford him remorse or satisfaction; that God will be influenced in all his dealings with the soul by mercy and justice, punishing no more severely than the sinner deserves, and always for a benevolent end. Indeed, the greater part of the denomination are Restorationists.
Unitarians consider that, besides the Bible, all the Ante-Nicene fathers—that is, all Christian writers for three centuries after the birth of Christ—give testimony in their favor, against the modern popular doctrine of the Trinity. As for antiquity, it is their belief that it is really on their side.
In the First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians, which was written towards the close of the first century,—and the evidence for the genuineness of which is stronger than for that of any other of the productions attributed to the apostolical fathers,—the supremacy of the Father is asserted or implied throughout, and Jesus is spoken of in terms mostly [pg 198]
Justin Martyr, the most distinguished of the ancient fathers of the church, who flourished in the former part of the second century, and whose writings (with the exception of those attributed to the apostolic fathers) are the earliest Christian records next to the New Testament, expressly says, “We worship God, the Maker of the universe, offering up to him prayers and thanks. But, assigning to Jesus, who came to teach us these things, and for this end was born, the ‘second place’ after God, we not without reason honor him.”
The germ and origin of the doctrine of the Trinity, the Unitarians find in the speculations of those Christianized philosophers of the second century, whose minds were strongly tinctured with the Platonic philosophy, combined with the emanation system, as taught at Alexandria, and held by Philo. From this time they trace the gradual formation of the doctrine through successive ages down to Athanasius and Augustine; the former of whom, A. D. 362, was the first to insist upon the equality of the Holy Ghost with the Father and the Son; and the latter, about half a century afterwards, was the first to insist upon their numerical unity.
In all ages of the church, there have been many learned and pious men who have rejected the Trinity as unscriptural and irrational. The first attempt, at the council of Nice, to establish and make universal the Trinitarian creed, caused disturbances and dissensions in the church, which continued for ages, and produced results the most deplorable to every benevolent mind which exalts charity over faith.
Soon after the reformation, the Unitarian faith was avowed by Martin Cellarius, who was then finishing his studies at Wittenberg, where Luther was professor. In 1546, the Unitarian opinions made a considerable movement in Italy, and several persons of learning and eminence were [pg 199]
In England, the number of Unitarians was considerable, according to Strype, as early as 1548; and in 1550, he represents the Unitarian doctrine as spreading so fast that the leading Churchmen were alarmed, and “thought it necessary to suppress its expression by rigid measures.” These “rigid measures,” such as imprisonment and burning, were successful for a time. But afterwards, the “heresy” gained new and able supporters, such as Biddle, Firmin, Dr. S. Clarke, Dr. Lardner, Whiston, Emlyn, Sir Isaac Newton, &c., and has been spreading to this day.
In the north of Ireland, the Unitarians compose several presbyteries. There are also congregations of Unitarians in Dublin, and in other southern cities of the kingdom.
In Scotland, there are chapels of this character in Edinburgh, Glasgow, and other principal places.
In the United States, Unitarian opinions were not prevalent till towards the close of the last century. Since that time, however, they have advanced rapidly, and have been embraced by some of the wisest and best men in the land.
Of late years, the Congregational Unitarians have generally abstained from controversy, in the United States. They have, however, published and circulated extensively a large number of tracts, of a doctrinal and practical character. They have at the present time assumed a positive condition, gained a strong and permanent hold amongst the Christian sects, and are manifesting new signs of vitality and usefulness.
The following proof-texts are some of those upon which the Unitarians rest their belief in the inferiority of the Son to the Father:—John 8:17, 18. John 17:3. Acts 10:38 1 Tim. 2:5. 1 John 4:14. Rom. 8:34 1 Cor. 11:3. [pg 200]
A denomination which sprung up in England towards the close of the sixteenth century. They derive their name from their leader, Robert Brown.
This denomination did not differ in point of doctrine from the church of England, or from the other Puritans; but they apprehended, according to Scripture, that every church ought to be confined within the limits of a single congregation, and that the government should be democratical. They maintained the discipline of the church of England to be Popish and antichristian, and all her ordinances and sacraments invalid. Hence they forbade their people to join with them in prayer, in hearing the word, or in any part of public worship. They not only renounced communion with the church of England, but with all other churches, except such as were of the same model.
This name was given to a party which appeared in England in the year 1565, who opposed the liturgy and ceremonies of the church of England.
They acquired this denomination from their professed design to establish a purer form of worship and discipline.
[pg 201]Those who were first styled Puritans were Presbyterians, but the term was afterwards applied to others who differed from the church of England.
Those who separated from the church of England were also styled Dissenters.
The followers of Antoinette Bourignon, a lady in France, who pretended to particular inspirations. She was born at Lisle, in 1616. At her birth, she was so deformed that it was debated some days in the family whether it was not proper to stifle her as a monster; but, her deformity diminishing, she was spared, and afterwards obtained such a degree of beauty, that she had her admirers. From her childhood to her old age she had an extraordinary turn of mind. She set up for a reformer, and published a great number of books, filled with very singular notions; the most remarkable of which are entitled “The Light of the World,” and “The Testimony of Truth.” In her confession of faith, she professes her belief in the Scriptures, the divinity and atonement of Christ. She believed, also, that man is perfectly free to resist or receive divine grace; that God is ever unchangeable love towards all his creatures, and does not inflict any arbitrary punishment, but that the evils they suffer are the natural consequence of sin; that religion consists not in outward forms of worship, nor systems of faith, but in an entire resignation to the will of God. She held many extravagant notions, among which, it is said, she asserted that Adam, before the fall, possessed the principles of both sexes, that, in an ecstasy, God represented Adam to her mind in his original state, as also the beauty of the first world, and how he had drawn from it the chaos; and that every thing was bright, transparent, and darted forth life and ineffable glory, with a number of other wild ideas. She dressed like a hermit, [pg 202]
A complete system of the religious doctrines of the Jews is contained in the five books of Moses, their great lawgiver, who was raised up to deliver them from their bondage in Egypt, and to conduct them to the possession of Canaan, the promised land.
The principal sects among the Jews, in the time of our Savior, were the Pharisees, who placed religion in external ceremony; the Sadducees, who were remarkable for their incredulity; and the Essenes, who were distinguished by an austere sanctity.
The Pharisees and Sadducees are frequently mentioned in the New Testament; and an acquaintance with their principles and practices serves to illustrate many passages in the sacred history. At present, the Jews have two sects—the Caraites, who admit no rule of religion but the law of Moses; and the Rabbinists, who add to the laws the tradition of the Talmud, a collection of the doctrines and morality of the Jews. The expectation of a Messiah is the distinguishing feature of their religious system. The word Messiah signifies one anointed, or installed into an office by an unction.
Christians believe that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, in whom all the Jewish prophecies are accomplished. The Jews, infatuated with the idea of a temporal Messiah, who is to subdue the world, still wait for his appearance.
The most remarkable periods in the history of the Jews are the call of Abraham, the giving of the law by Moses, their establishment in Canaan under Joshua, the building of the temple by Solomon, the division of the tribes, their captivity in Babylon, their return under Zerubbabel and the [pg 203]
Maimonides, an illustrious rabbi, drew up for the Jews, in the eleventh century, a confession of faith, which all Jews admit. It is as follows:—
“1. I believe, with a true and perfect faith, that God is the Creator, whose name be blessed, Governor, and Maker, of all creatures, and that he hath wrought all things, worketh and shall work forever.
“2. I believe, with a perfect faith, that the Creator, whose name be blessed, is one, and that such a unity as in him can be found in none other, and that he alone hath been our God, is, and forever shall be.
“3. I believe, with a perfect faith, that the Creator, whose name be blessed, is not corporeal, nor to be comprehended with any bodily property, and that there is no bodily essence that can be likened unto him.
“4. I believe, with a perfect faith, the Creator, whose name be blessed, to be the first and the last, that nothing was before him, and that he shall abide the last forever.
“5. I believe, with a perfect faith, that the Creator, whose name be blessed, is to be worshipped, and none else.
“6. I believe, with a perfect faith, that all the words of the prophets are true.
“7. I believe, with a perfect faith, the prophecies of Moses, our master,— may he rest in peace;—that he was the father and chief of all wise men that lived before him, or ever shall live after him.
“8. I believe, with a perfect faith, that all the law which at this day is found in our hands, was delivered by God himself to our master, Moses. God's peace be with him.
“9. I believe, with a perfect faith, that the same law is never to be changed, nor another to be given us of God, whose name be blessed.
“10. I believe, with a perfect faith, that God, whose name be blessed, understandeth all the works and thoughts of [pg 204]
“11. I believe, with a perfect faith, that God will recompense good to them that keep his commandments, and will punish them who transgress them.
“12. I believe, with a perfect faith, that the Messiah is yet to come; and, although he retard his coming, yet I will wait for him till he come.
“13. I believe, with a perfect faith, that the dead shall be restored to life, when it shall seem fit unto God the Creator, whose name be blessed, and memory celebrated, world without end. Amen.”
This people constitute one of the most singular and interesting portions of mankind. For about three thousand years, they have existed as a distinct nation; and, what is remarkable, by far the greatest part of this time they have been in bondage and captivity.
The calling of Abraham, the father and founder of this nation; the legislation of Moses; the priesthood of Aaron: the Egyptian bondage; the conquest of Canaan, and the history of the Jews to the coming of the Messiah; their cruel and injurious treatment of this august and innocent personage,—are facts which the Scriptures disclose, and with which, it is presumed, every reader is well acquainted.
For about eighteen hundred years, this wonderful people have maintained their peculiarities of religion, language, and domestic habits, among Pagans, Mahometans, and Christians, and have suffered a continued series of reproaches, privations, and miseries, which have excited the admiration and astonishment of all who have reflected on their condition.
The siege and destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, the Roman general, was one of the most awful and distressing scenes that mortals ever witnessed; and the details, as given by Josephus, are enough to make humanity shudder. During the siege, which lasted nearly five months, upwards of eleven hundred thousand Jews perished. John and Simon, [pg 205]
In addition to the terrors of the Roman sword, this devoted nation was exposed to famine, pestilence, and the implacable fury of contending parties among themselves, which all conspired together to make the siege of Jerusalem surpass, in horror, every account of any other siege in the records of the world.
A small portion, indeed, of this wretched, ruined nation were permitted to remain, and establish themselves in Judea, who, by degrees, reorganized a regular system of government, which became the centre of Jewish operations, not only for those in Judea, but for such as were dispersed in other nations. But the yoke of foreign masters was so grievous and burdensome, that they were continually restless and impatient; and, in consequence of a general revolt under the emperor Adrian, in 134, they were a second time slaughtered in multitudes, and were driven to madness and despair. Bither, the place of their greatest strength, was compelled to surrender, and Barchochba, their leader, who pretended to be the Messiah, was slain, and five hundred and eighty thousand fell by the sword in battle, besides vast numbers who perished by famine, sickness, fire, and other calamities.
Kings have enacted the severest laws against them, and employed the hand of executioners to ruin them. The seditious multitudes, by murders and massacres, have committed outrages against them, if possible, still more violent and [pg 206]
The Romans and Spaniards have probably done more than any other nations to oppress and destroy this people; and the inquisition has doomed multitudes of them to torture and death.
At different times, they were accused of poisoning wells, rivers, and reservoirs of water, and, before any proof of these strange and malicious charges was produced, the populace in many parts of Germany, Italy, and France, have fallen upon them with merciless and murderous severity. At one time, the German emperor found it necessary to issue an edict for their banishment, to save them from the rage of his exasperated and unrestrained subjects.
As the Jews have generally been the bankers and brokers of the people among whom they have resided, and have made a show of much wealth, this has tempted their avaricious adversaries to impose upon them enormous taxes and ruinous fines.
Muley Archy, a prince of one of the Barbary states, by seizing the property of a rich Jew, was enabled to dispossess his brother of the throne of Morocco.
The English parliament of Northumberland, in 1188, for the support of a projected war, assessed the Jews with 60,000 pounds, while only 70,000 were assessed upon the Christians; which proves either that the Jews were immensely rich, or that the parliament was extremely tyrannical.
The English king John was unmercifully severe upon this [pg 207]
About the beginning of the 16th century, the Jews in Persia were subjected to a tax of two millions of gold. Long would be the catalogue of injuries of this kind, which this outcast and hated nation has sustained. Numerous are the cases in which those who have become deeply in debt to them for borrowed money, have procured their banishment, and the confiscation of their property, as the readiest way to cancel their demands; and, as they have ever been addicted to usurious practices, they have, by this means, furnished plausible pretexts to their foes to fleece and destroy them.
The fraternal disposition of this people led them to seek the society of each other; and, notwithstanding the wideness of their dispersion, in process of time, they, by uniting under different leaders, formed two communities of considerable extent, known by the name of the eastern and western Jews. The western Jews inhabited Egypt, Judea, Italy, and other parts of the Roman empire; the eastern Jews settled in Babylon, Chaldea, Persia, &c. The head of the western division was known by the name of the patriarch, while he who presided over the eastern Jews, was called the prince of the captivity. The office of patriarch was abolished, by imperial laws, about 429, from which time the western Jews were solely under the rule of the chiefs of their synagogues, whom they called primates. But the princes of the captivity had a longer and more splendid sway. They resided at [pg 208]
The existence of a succession of these imaginary potentates, from the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, the Jews have ever been strenuous in maintaining, partly to aggrandize their nation, and partly to deprive Christians of the benefit of an argument furnished by the prophecy of Jacob, concerning the termination of the Jewish polity and independence, soon after the coming of the Messiah.
Notwithstanding the world, in general, has shown a spirit of hostility and contempt for the remnant of Israel, yet they have found a few, in every age, who, either from motives of policy or justice, have treated them with kindness and respect. The first Mahometan caliphs, a number of the Roman pontiffs, and some of the Asiatic and European sovereigns, have shown them friendship and protection. Don Solomon, a learned and illustrious Jew of Portugal, in the 12th century, was raised to the highest military command in that kingdom. Casimir the Great, of Poland, in the 14th century, received the Jews as refugees into his kingdom, and granted them extensive privileges; and from that time to the present, they have been more numerous in that country than in any other in Europe.
For many centuries, this persecuted race found a favorite asylum in Holland, and, by their dexterity and success in commerce, became very affluent.
Cromwell, seeing the benefit which the Netherlands had derived from this money-making and money-lending community, was very desirous to recall them to England, from which they had been exiled about three hundred and fifty years. The celebrated Manasses Ben Israel had many interviews with the Protector; and so high were the expectations of the Israelites, from the clemency and authority of this illustrious [pg 209]
In France and the United States, the Jews are admitted to equal rights with all other citizens, which cannot be said of any other nations in Christendom. In the United States, they have acquired this freedom, of course, with all other citizens of this free country. In France, they were admitted to it by Bonaparte; and afterwards, in 1807, by his directions, they convened a Grand Sanhedrim, consisting, according to ancient custom, of 70 members, exclusive of the president. The number and distinction of the spectators of this Sanhedrim greatly added to the solemnity of the scene. This venerable assembly passed and agreed to various articles respecting the Mosaic worship, and their civil and ecclesiastical concerns.
The extreme aversion of the Jews to every thing which bears the Christian name, and their obstinate attachment to their ancient religion, have, in former years, discouraged all attempts to convert them to the Christian faith. And not only has their conversion been neglected, but for many centuries they have been persecuted, plundered, and destroyed, by those who have called themselves Christians; they have not been permitted to enter their churches as worshippers, nor their dwellings as guests, nor reside in their territories, where Pagans and Mahometans have found an unmolested abode. While we, then, blame the blindness and incredulity of the descendants of Abraham, let us lament the folly and unkindness of the professed disciples of the mild and compassionate Redeemer. But a different spirit is now prevailing in many parts of Christendom, and a new era, as to the tribes of Israel, seems about to burst upon the world. Societies are formed in Europe and America for their benefit, and a disposition is said to be increasing, among the Jews, favorable [pg 210]
The history of this people certainly forms a striking evidence of the truth of divine revelation. They are a living and perpetual miracle, continuing to subsist as a distinct and peculiar race for upwards of three thousand years, intermixed among almost all the nations of the world, flowing forward in a full and continued stream, like the waters of the Rhone, without mixing with the waves of the expansive lake through which the passage lies to the ocean of eternity.
The natives of Canada have an idea of the Supreme Being; and they all, in general, agree in looking upon him as the First Spirit, and the Governor and the Creator of the world. It is said that almost all the nations of the Algonquin language give this Sovereign Being the appellation of the Great Hare. Some, again, call him Michabou, and others Atahocan. Most of them hold the opinion that he was born upon the waters, together with his whole court, entirely composed of four-footed animals, like himself; that [pg 211]
The Agreskoui of the Hurons, and the Agreskouse of the Iroquois, is, in the opinion of these nations, the Sovereign Being, and the god of war. These Indians do not give the same original to mankind with the Algonquins; they do not ascend so high as the first creation. According to them, there were, in the beginning, six men in the world; and, if you ask them who placed them there, they answer you, they do not know.
The gods of the Indians have bodies, and live much in the same manner as themselves, but without any of those inconveniences to which they are subject. The word spirit, among them, signifies only a being of a more excellent nature than others.
According to the Iroquois, in the third generation there came a deluge, in which not a soul was saved; so that, in order to repeople the earth, it was necessary to change beasts into men.
Beside the First Being, or the Great Spirit, they hold an infinite number of genii, or inferior spirits, both good and evil, who have each their peculiar form of worship.
They ascribe to these beings a kind of immensity and omnipresence, and constantly invoke them as the guardians of mankind. But they never address themselves to the evil genii, except to beg of them to do them no hurt.
They believe in the immortality of the soul, and say that the region of their everlasting abode lies so far westward, that the souls are several months in arriving at it, and have vast difficulties to surmount. The happiness which they hope to enjoy is not believed to be the recompense of virtue [pg 212]
The natives of New England believed not only a plurality of gods, who made and governed the several nations of the world, but they made deities of every thing they imagined to be great, powerful, beneficial, or hurtful to mankind. Yet they conceived an Almighty Being, who dwells in the south-west regions of the heavens, to be superior to all the rest. This Almighty Being they called Kichtan, who at first, according to their tradition, made a man and woman out of a stone, but, upon some dislike, destroyed them again; and then made another couple out of a tree, from whom descended all the nations of the earth; but how they came to be scattered and dispersed into countries so remote from one another, they cannot tell. They believed their Supreme God to be a good being, and paid a sort of acknowledgment to him for plenty, victory, and other benefits.
But there is another power, which they called Hobamocko, (the devil,) of whom they stood in greater awe, and worshipped merely from a principle of fear.
The immortality of the soul was universally believed among them. When good men die, they said, their souls go to Kichtan, where they meet their friends, and enjoy all manner of pleasures; when wicked men die, they go to Kichtan also, but are commanded to walk away, and wander about in restless discontent and darkness forever.
After the coming of the white people, the Indians in New Jersey, who once held a plurality of deities, supposed there were only three, because they saw people of three kinds of complexion, viz., English, negroes, and themselves.
It was a notion generally prevailing among them, that the same God who made them did not make us, but [pg 213]
With regard to a future state of existence, many of them imagined that the Chichung, i. e., the shadow, or what survives the body, will, at death, go southward, to some unknown, but curious place,—will enjoy some kind of happiness, such as hunting, feasting, dancing, or the like; and what they suppose will contribute much to their happiness in the next state, is, that they shall never be weary of these entertainments.
Those who have any notion about rewards and sufferings in a future state, seem to imagine that most will be happy, and that in the delightful fields, chasing the game, or reposing themselves with their families; but the poor, frozen sinners cannot stir one step towards that sunny region. Nevertheless, their misery has an end; it is longer or shorter, according to the degree of their guilt; and, after its expiation, they are permitted to become inhabitants of the Indian paradise.
The Indians of Virginia gave the names of Okee, Quioccos, or Kiwasa, to the idol which they worshipped. These names might possibly be so many epithets, which they varied according to the several functions they ascribed to this deity, or the different notions they might form to themselves of it in their religious exercises and common discourses. Moreover, they were of opinion that this idol is not one sole being, but that there were many more of the same nature, besides the tutelary gods. They gave the general name of Quioccos to all these genii, or beings, so that the name of Kiwasa might be particularly applied to the idol in question.
These savages consecrated chapels and oratories to this deity, in which the idol was often represented under a variety of shapes. They even kept some of these in the most retired [pg 214]
The sacerdotal vestment of their priests was like a woman's petticoat plaited, which they put about their necks, and tied over the right shoulder; but they always kept one arm out, to use it as occasion required. This cloak was made round at bottom, and descended no lower than the middle of the thigh; it was made of soft, well-dressed skins, with the hair outwards.
These priests shaved their heads close, the crown excepted, where they left only a little tuft, that reached from the top of the forehead to the nape of the neck, and even on the top of the forehead. They here left a border of hair, which, whether it was owing to nature, or the stiffness contracted by the fat and colors with which they daubed themselves, bristled up, and came forward like the corner of a square cap.
The natives of Virginia had a great veneration for their priests; and the latter endeavored to procure it, by daubing themselves all over in a very frightful manner, dressing themselves in a very odd habit, and tricking up their hair after a very whimsical manner. Every thing they said was considered as an oracle, and made a strong impression on the minds of the people; they often withdrew from society, and lived in woods or in huts, far removed from any habitation. They were difficult of access, and did not give themselves any trouble about provisions, because care was always taken to set food for them near their habitations. They were always addressed in cases of great necessity. They also acted in the quality of physicians, because of the great knowledge they were supposed to have of nature. In fine, peace or war was determined by their voice; nor was any thing of importance undertaken without first consulting them.
They had not any stated times nor fixed days, on which they celebrated their festivals, but they regulated them only by the different seasons of the year; as, for instance, they [pg 215]
After their return from war, or escaping some danger, they lighted fires, and made merry about them, each having his gourd-bottle, or his little bell, in his hand. Men, women, and children, often danced in a confused manner about these fires. Their devotions, in general, consisted only of acclamations of joy, mixed with dances and songs, except in seasons of sorrow and affliction, when they were changed into howlings. The priests presided at this solemnity, dressed in their sacerdotal ornaments, part of which were the gourd-bottle, the petticoat above mentioned, and the serpents' or weasels' skins, the tails of which were dexterously tied upon their heads like a tiara, or triple crown. These priests began the song, and always opened the religious exercise, to which they often added incantations, part of the mysteries of which were comprehended in the songs. The noise, the gestures, the wry faces, in a word, every thing, contributed to render these incantations terrible.
The Deists believe in a God, but reject a written revelation from him. They are extravagant in their encomiums on natural religion, though they differ much respecting its nature, extent, obligation, and importance. Dr. Clarke, in his treatise on Deism, divides them into four classes, according to the number of articles comprised in their creed.
The first are such as pretend to believe the existence of in eternal, infinite, independent, intelligent Being, and who, [pg 216]
The second sort of Deists are those who believe not only the being, but also the providence, of God, with respect to the natural world, but who, not allowing any difference between moral good and evil, deny that God takes any notice of the morally good or evil actions of men; these things depending, as they imagine, on the arbitrary constitution of human laws.
A third sort of Deists there are, who, having right apprehensions concerning the natural attributes of God and his all-governing providence, and some notion of his moral perfections also, yet, being prejudiced against the notion of the immortality of the soul, believe that men perish entirely at death, and that one generation shall perpetually succeed another, without any further restoration or renovation of things.
A fourth and last sort of Deist are such as believe the existence of a Supreme Being, together with his providence in the government of the world; also all the obligations of natural religion, but so far only as these things are discoverable by the light of nature alone, without believing any divine revelation.
These, the learned author observes, are the only true Deists; but, as their principles would naturally lead them to embrace the Christian revelation, he concludes there is now no consistent scheme of Deism in the world. Dr. Clarke then adds, “The heathen philosophers—those few of them who taught and lived up to the obligations of natural religion—had, indeed, a consistent scheme of Deism, as far as it went. But the case is not so now; the same scheme is not any longer consistent with its own principles; it does not now lead men to embrace revelation, as it then taught them to hope for it. Deists in our days, who reject revelation when [pg 217]
Dr. Paley observes, “Of what a revelation discloses to mankind, one, and only one, question can be properly asked.—Was it of importance to mankind to know or to be better assured of? In this question, when we turn our thoughts to the great Christian doctrine of a resurrection from the dead and a future judgment, no doubt can be possibly entertained. He who gives me riches or honors does nothing; he who even gives me health, does little in comparison with that which lays before me just grounds for expecting a restoration to life, and a day of account and retribution, which thing Christianity hath done for millions.”
The Atheists are those who deny the existence of God; this is called speculative Atheism. Professing to believe in God, and yet acting contrary to this belief, is called practical Atheism. Absurd and irrational as Atheism is, it has had its votaries and martyrs. In the seventeenth century, Spinosa was its noted defender. Lucilio Venini, a native of Naples also publicly taught Atheism in France; and, being [pg 218]
Archbishop Tillotson says, “I appeal to any man of reason, whether any thing can be more unreasonable than obstinately to impute an effect to chance, which carries in the very face of it all the arguments and characters of a wise design and contrivance. Was ever any considerable work in which there were required a great variety of parts, and a regular and orderly disposition of those parts, done by chance? Will chance fit means to ends, and that in ten thousand instances, and not fail in any one? How often might a man, after he had jumbled a set of letters in a bag, fling them out upon the ground, before they would fall into an exact poem! yea, or so much as make a good discourse in prose! And may not a little book be as easily made by chance as the great volume of the world? How long might a man be in sprinkling colors upon canvass with a careless hand, before they would happen to make the exact picture of a man! And is a man easier made by chance than his picture? How long might twenty thousand blind men, who should be sent out from several remote parts of England, wander up and down before they would all meet upon Salisbury Plain, and fall into rank and file in the exact order of an army! And yet this is much more easy to be imagined than how the innumerable blind parts of matter should rendezvous themselves into a world. A man that sees Henry the Seventh's chapel at Westminster, might with as good reason maintain (yea, with much better, considering the vast difference betwixt that little structure and the huge fabric of the world) that it was never contrived or built, by any means, but that the stones did by chance grow into those curious figures into which they seem to have been cut and graven; and that, upon a time, (as tales usually begin,) the materials of that building—the stone, mortar, timber, iron, lead, and glass—happily met together, and very fortunately ranged themselves into that delicate order in which we see them now, so close compacted, that it [pg 219]
Lord Bacon remarks, that “A little philosophy inclineth a man's mind to Atheism, but depth in philosophy bringeth men's minds about to religion; for, while the mind of man looketh upon second causes scattered, it may rest in them, and go no farther; but when it beholdeth the chain of them confederated and linked together, it must needs fly to Providence and Deity.”
Abner Kneeland's “Philosophical Creed,” as he terms it, is probably a good definition of the views of those who consider the universe as an immense animal,
Mr. Kneeland says, “I believe in the existence of a [pg 220]
Mahometanism is a scheme of religion formed and propagated by Mahomet, who was born at Mecca, A. D. 569, and died at Medina, in 632.
His system is a compound of Paganism, Judaism, and Christianity; and the Koran, which is their Bible, is held in great reverence. It is replete with absurd representations, and is supposed to have been written by a Jew. The most eloquent passage is allowed to be the following, where God is introduced, bidding the waters of the deluge to cease:—“Earth, swallow up the waters; heaven, draw up those thou [pg 221]
This religion is still professed and adhered to by the Turks and Persians, and by several nations in Asia and Africa. The best statistical writers estimate the number of Mahometans in the world at about one hundred and forty millions.
Mahomet descended from an honorable tribe, and from the noblest family of that tribe; yet his original lot was poverty. By his good conduct, he obtained the hand of a widow of wealth and respectability, and was soon raised to an equality with the richest people in Mecca.
Soon after his marriage, he formed the scheme of establishing a new religion, or, as he expressed it, of replanting the only true and ancient one professed by Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and all the prophets, by destroying the gross idolatry into which most of his countrymen had fallen, and weeding out the corruptions and superstitions which the later Jews and Christians had, as he thought, introduced into their religion, and reducing it to its original purity, which consisted chiefly in the worship of one God.
The Mahometans divide their religion into two general parts, faith and practice, of which the first is divided into six distinct branches—belief in God, in his angels, in his Scriptures, in his prophets, in the resurrection and final judgment, and in God's absolute decrees. The points relating to practice are, prayer, with washings, alms, fasting, pilgrimage to Mecca, and circumcision.
They believe that both Mahomet and those among his followers who are reckoned orthodox, had, and continue to have, just and true notions of God, and that his attributes appear so plain from the Koran itself, and all the Mahometan divines, that it would be loss of time to refute those who suppose the God of Mahomet to be different from the true God, and only a fictitious deity, or idol of his own creation.
They believe that the existence of angels, and their purity, are absolutely required to be believed in the Koran; and he [pg 222]
As to the Scriptures, the Mahometans are taught by the Koran, that God, in divers ages of the world, gave revelations of his will in writing to several prophets, the whole and every one of which it is absolutely necessary for a good Moslem to believe. The number of these sacred books were, according to them, one hundred and four; of which ten were given to Adam, fifty to Seth, thirty to Edris or Enoch, ten to Abraham, and the other four, being the Pentateuch, the Psalms, the Gospel, and the Koran, were successively delivered to Moses, David, Jesus, and Mahomet; which last being the seal of the prophets, those revelations are now closed, and no more are to be expected. All these divine books, except the four last, they agree now to be entirely lost, and their contents unknown, though the Sabians have several books which they attribute to some of the antediluvian prophets. And of those four, the Pentateuch, Psalms, and Gospel, they say, have undergone so many alterations and corruptions, that, though there may possibly be some part of the true word of God therein, yet no credit is to be given to the present copies in the hands of the Jews and Christians.
They believe that the number of the prophets which have been from time to time sent by God into the world, amounts to no less than 224,000, according to one Mahometan tradition; or to 124,000, according to another; among whom 313 were apostles, sent with special commissions to reclaim mankind from infidelity and superstition; and six of them brought new laws or dispensations, which successively abrogated the preceding: these were Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, [pg 223]
They believe in a general resurrection and a future judgment.
The time of the resurrection the Mahometans allow to be a perfect secret to all but God alone; the angel Gabriel himself acknowledging his ignorance in this point, when Mahomet asked him about it. However, they say the approach of that day may be known from certain signs which are to precede it.
After the examination is past, and every one's work weighed in a just balance, they say that mutual retaliation will follow, according to which every creature will take vengeance one of another, or have satisfaction made them for the injuries which they have suffered. And, since there will then be no other way of returning like for like, the manner of giving this satisfaction will be by taking away a proportional part of the good works of him who offered the injury, and adding it to those of him who suffered it; which being done, if the angels (by whose ministry this is to be performed) say, “Lord we have given to every one his due, and there remaineth of this person's good works so much as equalleth the weight of an ant,” God will, of his mercy, cause it to be doubled unto him, that he may be admitted into paradise; but if, on the contrary, his good works be exhausted, and there remain evil works only, and there be any who have not yet received satisfaction from him, God will order that an equal weight of their sins be added unto his, that he may be punished for them in their stead, and he will be sent to hell laden with both. This will be the method of God's dealing with mankind. [pg 224]
The trials being over, and the assembly dissolved, the Manometans hold that those who are to be admitted into paradise will take the right hand way, and those who are destined into hell-fire will take the left; but both of them must first pass the bridge called in Arabic al Sirat, which, they say, is laid over the midst of hell, and described to be finer than a hair, and sharper than the edge of a sword; so that it seems very difficult to conceive how any one shall be able to stand upon it; for which reason most of the sect of the Motazalites reject it as a fable; though the orthodox think it a sufficient proof of the truth of this article, that it was seriously affirmed by him who never asserted a falsehood, meaning their prophet, who, to add to the difficulty of the passage, has likewise declared that this bridge is beset on each side with briers and hooked thorns, which will, however, be no impediment to the good; for they shall pass with wonderful ease and swiftness, like lightning, or the wind, Mahomet, and his Moslems leading the way; whereas the wicked, what with the slipperiness and extreme narrowness of the path, the entangling of the thorns, and the extinction of the light which directed the former to paradise, will soon miss their footing, and fall down headlong into hell, which is gaping beneath them.
As to the punishment of the wicked, the Mahometans are taught that hell is divided into seven stories or apartments, one below another, designed for the reception of as many distinct classes of the damned.
The first, which they call Jehenan, they say, will be the receptacle of those who acknowledged one God, that is, the wicked Mahometans; who, after having been punished according to their demerits, will at length be released; the second, named Ladha, they assign to the Jews; the third, [pg 225]
Mahomet has, in his Koran and traditions, been very exact in describing the various torments of hell, which, according to him, the wicked will suffer, both from intense heat and excessive cold. The degrees of these pains will also vary in proportion to the crimes of the sufferer, and the apartment he is condemned to; and he who is punished the most lightly of all will be shod with shoes of fire, the fervor of which will cause his skull to boil like a caldron. The condition of these unhappy wretches, as the same prophet teaches, cannot be properly called either life or death; and their misery will be greatly increased by their despair of being ever delivered from that place, since, according to that frequent expression in the Koran, they must remain therein forever. It must be remarked, however, that the infidels alone will be liable to eternity of damnation; for the Moslems, or those who have embraced the true religion, and have been guilty of heinous sins, will be delivered thence after they shall have expiated their crimes by their sufferings. The time which these believers shall be detained there, according to a tradition handed down from their prophet, will not be less than nine hundred years, nor more than seven thousand. And, as to the manner of their delivery, they say that they shall be distinguished by the marks of prostration on those parts of their bodies with which they used to touch the ground in prayer, and over which the fire will therefore have no power; and that, being known by this characteristic, they will be released by the [pg 226]
The righteous, as the Mahometans are taught to believe, having surmounted the difficulties, and passed the sharp bridge above mentioned, before they enter paradise, will be refreshed by drinking at the Pond of their prophet, who describes it to be an exact square, of a month's journey in compass; its water, which is supplied by two pipes from al Cawthay, one of the rivers of paradise, being whiter than milk or silver, and more odoriferous than musk, with as many cups set round it as there are stars in the firmament; of which water whoever drinks will thirst no more forever. This is the first taste which the blessed will have of their future and now near-approaching felicity.
Though paradise be so very frequently mentioned in the Koran, yet it is a dispute among the Mahometans, whether it be already created, or to be created hereafter; the Motazalites and some other sectaries asserting that there is not at present any such place in nature, and that the paradise which the righteous will inhabit in the next life will be different from that from which Adam was expelled. However, the orthodox profess the contrary, maintaining that it was created even before the world, and describe it from their prophet's traditions in the following manner:—
They say it is situated in the seventh heaven, and next under the throne of God; and, to express the amenity of the place, tell us that the earth of it is of the finest wheat-flour, or of the purest mask, or, as others will have it, of saffron; that its stones are pearls and jacinths, the walls of its building enriched with gold and silver, and that the trunks of all its trees are of gold; among which the most remarkable is the tree called tuba, or the tree of happiness. Concerning this [pg 227]
As plenty of water is one of the greatest additions to the pleasantness of any place, the Koran often speaks of the rivers of paradise as a principal ornament thereof: some of these rivers, they say, flow with water, some with milk, some with wine, and others with honey; all taking their rise from the root of the tree tuba.
But all these glories will be eclipsed by the resplendent and ravishing girls of paradise, called, from their large black eyes, Hur al oyun, the enjoyment of whose company will be a principal felicity of the faithful. These, they say, are created, not of clay, as mortal women are, but of pure musk; being, as their prophet often affirms in his Koran, free from all natural impurities, of the strictest modesty, and secluded from public view in pavilions of hollow pearls, so large that, as some traditions have it, one of them will be no less than sixty miles square.
The name which the Mahometans usually give to this happy mansion is al Jannat, or “the Garden;” and sometimes they call it the “Garden of Paradise,” the “Garden of Eden,” the “Garden of Abode,” the “Garden of Pleasure,” and the like; by which several appellations some understand [pg 228]
The orthodox doctrine is, that whatever hath or shall come to pass in this world, whether it be good or whether it be bad, proceedeth entirely from the divine will, and is irrevocably fixed and recorded from all eternity in the preserved table; God having secretly predetermined not only the adverse and prosperous fortune of every person in this world, in the most minute particulars, but also his faith or infidelity, his obedience or disobedience, and consequently his everlasting happiness or misery after death; which fate or predestination it is not possible by any foresight or wisdom to avoid.
The pilgrimage to Mecca is so necessary a point of practice, that, according to a tradition of Mahomet, he who dies without performing it, may as well die a Jew or a Christian; and the same is expressly commanded in the Koran.
What is principally reverenced in Mecca, and gives sanctity to the whole, is a square stone building, called the Caaba. Before the time of Mahomet, this temple was a place of worship for the idolatrous Arabs, and is said to have contained no less than three hundred and sixty different images, equalling in number the days of the Arabian year. They were all destroyed by Mahomet, who sanctified the Caaba, and appointed it to be the chief place of worship for all true believers. The Mussulmen pay so great a veneration to it, that they believe a single sight of its sacred walls, without any particular act of devotion, is as meritorious in the sight of God as the most careful discharge of one's duty, for the space of a whole year, in any other temple.
The Mahometans have an established priesthood and a [pg 229]
The rapid success which attended the propagation of this new religion was owing to causes that are plain and evident, and must remove, or rather prevent, our surprise, when they are attentively considered. The terror of Mahomet's arms, and the repeated victories which were gained by him and his successors, were, no doubt, the irresistible arguments that persuaded such multitudes to embrace his religion, and submit to his dominion. Besides, his law was artfully and marvellously adapted to the corrupt nature of man, and, in a most particular manner, to the manners and opinions of the Eastern nations, and the vices to which they were naturally addicted; for the articles of faith which it proposed were few in number, and extremely simple; and the duties it required were neither many nor difficult, nor such as were incompatible with the empire of appetites and passions. It is to be observed, further, that the gross ignorance under which [pg 230]
To show the subtlety of Mahomet's mind, and the extreme ignorance of his followers, we give the story of that impostor's night journey from Mecca to Jerusalem, and from thence to heaven.
The story, as related in the Koran, and believed by the Mahometans, is this: “At night, as he lay in his bed, with his best beloved wife Ayesha, he heard a knocking at his door; upon which, arising, he found there the angel Gabriel, with seventy pair of wings, expanded from his sides, whiter than snow, and clearer than crystal, and the beast Alborak standing by him; which, they say, is the beast on which the prophets used to ride, when they were carried from one place to another, upon the execution of any divine command. Mahomet describes it to be a beast as white as milk, and of a mixed nature, between an ass and a mule, and also of a size between both; but of such extraordinary swiftness as to equal even lightning itself.
“As soon as Mahomet appeared at the door, the angel Gabriel kindly embraced him, saluted him in the name of God, and told him that he was sent to bring him unto God, into heaven, where he should see strange mysteries, which were not lawful to be seen by any other man. He prayed him, then, to get upon Alborak; but the beast, having lain idle and unemployed from the time of Christ to Mahomet, was grown so mettlesome and skittish, that he would not stand still for Mahomet to mount him, till at length he was forced to bribe [pg 231]
“On their arrival at the first heaven, the angel knocked at the gate; and, informing the porter who he was, and that he had brought Mahomet, the friend of God, he was immediately admitted. This first heaven, he tells us, was all of pure silver; from whence he saw the stars hanging from it by chains of gold, each as big as Mount Noho, near Mecca, in Arabia. On his entrance, he met a decrepit old man, who, it seems, was our first father, Adam; and, as he advanced, he saw a multitude of angels in all manner of shapes—in the shape of birds, beasts, and men. We must not forget to observe that Adam had the piety immediately to embrace the prophet, giving God thanks for so great a son, and then recommended himself to his prayers. From this first heaven he tells us that he ascended into the second, which was at the distance of five hundred years' journey above it, and this he makes to be the distance of every one of the seven heavens, each above the other. Here the gates being opened to him as before, at his entrance he met Noah, who, rejoicing much at the sight of him, recommended himself to his prayers. This heaven was all of pure gold, and there were twice as many angels in it as in the former; for he tells us that the number of angels in every heaven increased as he advanced. From this second heaven he ascended into the third, which was made of precious stones, where he met Abraham, who also recommended himself to his prayers; Joseph, the son of Jacob, did the same in the fourth heaven, which was all of emerald; Moses [pg 232]
“The angel Gabriel, having brought him thus far, told him that he was not permitted to attend him any farther, and therefore directed him to ascend the rest of the way to the throne of God by himself. This he performed with great difficulty, passing through rough and dangerous places, till he came where he heard a voice saying unto him, ‘O Mahomet, salute thy Creator;’ whence ascending higher, he came into a place where he saw a vast expansion of light, so exceedingly bright, that his eyes could not bear it. This, it seems, was the habitation of the Almighty, where his throne was placed; on the right side of which, he says, God's name and his own were written in these Arabic words: ‘La ellah ellallah Mahomet reful ollah;’ that is, ‘There is no God but God, and Mahomet is his prophet,’ which is at this day the creed of the Mahometans. Being approached to the divine presence, he tells us that God entered into a familiar converse with him, revealed to him many hidden mysteries, made him understand the whole of his law, gave him many things in charge concerning his instructing men in the knowledge of it, and, in conclusion, bestowed on him several privileges above the rest of mankind. He then returned, and found the angel Gabriel waiting for him in the place where he left him. The angel led him back along the seven heavens, through which he had brought him, and set him again upon the beast Alborak, which stood tied to the rock near Jerusalem. Then he conducted him back to Mecca, in the same manner as he brought him thence; and all this within the space of the tenth part of one night.”
Dr. Joseph White thus concludes one of his discourses on [pg 233]
An infidel sect, organized in France, some years since, whose fundamental principle is, that religion is to perfect the social condition of man; therefore Christianity is no longer suitable for society, because it separates the Christian from other men, and leads him to live for another world. The world requires a religion that shall be of this world, and, consequently, a God of this world. They reject whatever they suppose to have been derived from the philosophy of the East; they consider the Deity neither as spirit nor matter, but as including the whole universe, and are thus plainly Pantheists; and they regard evil as nothing more than an indication of the progress which mankind are doomed make, in order to be freed from it; in itself, they maintain it is [pg 234]
What is very curious in the history of the Simonians is, that they were, at first, merely philosophers, and not at all the founders of a religion. They spoke of science and industry, but not of religious doctrines. All at once, however, it seemed to occur to them to teach a religion. Then their school became a church, and their association a sect. It is evident that, with them, religion was not originally the end of their institution, but has been employed by them as the means of collecting a greater number of hearers.
A general term, applied to heathen idolaters, who worship false gods, and are not acquainted either with the doctrines of the Old Testament or the Christian dispensation. The worship of the Grand Lama is of the most extensive and splendid character among the Pagan idolaters. This extends all over Thibet and Mongolia, is almost universal in Bucharia and several provinces of Tartary; it has followers in Cashmere, and is the predominant religion of China.
The Grand Lama is a name given to the sovereign pontiff, or high priest, of the Thibetian Tartars, who resides at Patoli, a vast palace on a mountain, near the banks of Burhampooter, about seven miles from Lahassa. The foot of this mountain is inhabited by twenty thousand Lamas, or priests, who have their separate apartments round about the mountain, and, according to their respective quality, are placed nearer or at a greater distance from the sovereign pontiff. He is not only the sovereign pontiff, the vicegerent [pg 235]
The magnificence and number of the ancient heathen temples almost exceed calculation or belief. At one time, there were no less than 424 temples in the city of Rome, The temple of Diana, at Ephesus, was accounted one of the seven wonders of the world. It was 425 feet in length, 220 in breadth, and was adorned with 100 columns 60 feet high; and, as each column is said to have contained 150 tons of marble,—as the stupendous edifice, outside and in, was adorned with gold, and a profusion of ornaments,—how immense must have been the whole expense of its erection!
At the present day, many of the pagan nations go to immense expense in the support of their religious worship. It is stated, in the Indo-Chinese Gleaner, a paper published by the missionaries in China, that there are, in that empire, 1056 temples dedicated to Confucius, where above 60,000 animals are annually offered. The followers of Confucius [pg 236]
Mr. Ward, a distinguished missionary, was present at the worship of the goddess Doorga, at Calcutta, in 1806. After describing the greatness of the assembly, the profusion of the offerings, and the many strange peculiarities of the worship, he observes, “The whole produced on my mind sensations of the greatest honor. The dress of the singers, their indecent gestures, the abominable nature of the songs, the horrid din of their miserable drum, the lateness of the hour, the darkness of the place, with the reflection that I was standing in an idol temple, and that this immense multitude of rational and immortal creatures, capable of superior joys, were, in the very act of worship, perpetrating a crime of high treason against the God of heaven, while they themselves believed they were performing an act of merit,—excited ideas and feelings in my mind which time can never obliterate.”
The vast empire of China, misnamed the Celestial Empire, is given up to the vilest idolatry. Idols are encountered at every step, not merely in the temples, but in the houses, and even in the vessels, where a part of the forecastle is consecrated to them, as the most honorable place. The idol is dressed and adorned with a splendor proportioned to the wealth of the captain of the vessel, and daily receives an offering, composed of flesh and fruits, together with the smoke of perfumes. Besides this regular service, the captain makes a solemn sacrifice to his wooden deity, on all important occasions; as, for instance, in passing from one river into another, or in time of tempest, or when the sails flap idly in a calm. The Chinese have likewise a practice of deifying their dead ancestors, and of prostrating themselves before the monumental tablets which are erected to their memory. Yet they appear to have no real veneration for any of their idols; nor do they hesitate to profane the temples, by smoking their pipes, and taking refreshments, and even by gambling, within [pg 237]
Tortures of various kinds, burning, and burying alive, are considered religious duties among the pagans.
The festival of Juggernaut is annually held on the sea-coast of Orissa, where there is a celebrated temple, and an idol of the god. The idol is a carved block of wood, with a frightful visage, painted black, and a distended mouth of a bloody color. He is dressed in gorgeous apparel, and his appellation is one of the numerous names of Vishnu, the preserving power of the universe, according to the theology of the Bramins. On festival days, the throne of the idol is placed upon a stupendous movable tower, about sixty feet in height, resting on wheels, which indent the ground deeply, as they turn slowly under the ponderous machine. He is accompanied by two other idols, his brother Balaram, and his sister Shubudra, of a white and yellow color, each on a separate tower, and sitting on thrones of nearly an equal height. Attached to the principal tower are six ropes, of the length and size of a ship's cable, by which the people draw it along. The priests and attendants are stationed around the throne, on the car, and occasionally address the worshippers in libidinous songs and gestures. Both the walls of the temple and sides of the car are covered with the most indecent emblems, in large and durable sculpture. Obscenity and blood are the characteristics of the idol's worship. As the tower moves along, devotees, throwing themselves under the wheels, are crushed to death; and such acts are hailed with the acclamations of the multitude, as the most acceptable sacrifices. A body of prostitutes are maintained in the temple, for the use of the worshippers; and various other systematic indecencies, which will not admit of description, form a part of the service. A number of sacred bulls are kept in the place, which are generally fed with vegetables [pg 238]
The following is an account of the burning of a Gentoo woman, on the funeral pile of her deceased husband:—“We found,” says M. Stavorinus, “the body of the deceased lying upon a couch, covered with a piece of white cotton, and strewed with betel leaves. The woman, who was to be the victim, sat upon the couch, with her face turned to that of the deceased. She was richly adorned, and held a little green branch in her right hand, with which she drove away the flies from the body. She seemed like one buried in the most profound meditation, yet betrayed no signs of fear. Many of her relations attended upon her, who, at stated intervals, struck up various kinds of music.
“The pile was made by driving green bamboo stakes into the earth, between which was first laid fire-wood, very dry and combustible; upon this was put a quantity of dry straw, or reeds, besmeared with grease: this was done alternately, till the pile was five feet in height; and the whole was then strewed with rosin, finely powdered. A white cotton sheet, which had been washed in the Ganges, was then spread over the pile, and the whole was ready for the reception of the victim.
“The widow was now admonished, by a priest, that it was time to begin the rites. She was then surrounded by women, who offered her betel, and besought her to supplicate favors for them when she joined her husband in the presence of Ram, or their highest god, and, above all, that she would salute their deceased friends whom she might meet in the celestial mansions.
“In the mean time, the body of the husband was taken and washed in the river. The woman was also led to the Ganges for ablution, where she divested herself of all her [pg 239]
“She then took a farewell of her friends, and was conducted by two of her female relations to the pile. When she came to it, she scattered flowers and parched rice upon the spectators, and put some into the mouth of the corpse. Two priests next led her three times round it, while she threw rice among the bystanders, who gathered it up with great eagerness. The last time she went round, she placed a little earthen burning lamp to each of the four corners of the pile, then laid herself down on the right side, next to the body, which she embraced with both her arms; a piece of white cotton was spread over them both; they were bound together with two easy bandages, and a quantity of fire-wood, straw, and rosin, was laid upon them. In the last place, her nearest relations, to whom, on the banks of the river, she had given her nose-jewels, came with a burning torch, and set the straw on fire, and in a moment the whole was in a flame. The noise of the drums, and the shouts of the spectators, were such that the shrieks of the unfortunate woman, if she uttered any, could not have been heard.”
Instances are related of women eighty years of age, or upwards, perishing in this manner. One case is mentioned, by Mr. Ward, of a Bramin who had married upwards of a hundred wives, thirty-seven of whom were burnt with him. The pile was kept burning for three days, and when one or more of them arrived, they threw themselves into the blazing fire.
The Pagans worship an immense variety of idols, both animate and inanimate, and very frequently make to themselves gods of objects that are contemptible even among brutes. In Hindoo, the monkey is a celebrated god. A few years since, the rajah of Nudeeya expended $50,000 in celebrating the marriage of a pair of those mischievous creatures, with all the parade and solemnity of a Hindoo wedding.
A Bramin of superior understanding gave Mr. Ward [pg 240]
“He created, and then entered into, all things, in which he exists in two ways, untouched by matter, and receiving the fruits of practice. He now assumes visible forms for the sake of engaging the minds of mankind. The different gods are parts of God, though his essence remains undiminished, as rays of light leave the sun his undiminished splendor. He created the gods to perform those things in the government of the world, of which man was incapable. Some gods are parts of other gods, and there are deities of still inferior powers. If it be asked why God himself does not govern the world, the answer is, that it might subject him to exposure, and he chooses to be concealed: he therefore governs by the gods, who are emanations from the one God, possessing a portion of his power: he who worships the gods as the one God, substantially worships God. The gods are helpful to men in all human affairs, but they are not friendly to those who seek final absorption, being jealous lest, instead of attaining absorption, they should become gods, and rival them.
“Religious ceremonies procure a fund of merit to the performer, which raises him in every future birth, and at length advances him to heaven, where he enjoys happiness for a limited period, or carries him towards final absorption. A person may sink to earth again by crimes committed in heaven. The joys of heaven arise only from the gratification of the senses. A person raised to heaven is considered as a god.
[pg 241]“When the following lines of Pope were read to a learned Bramin, he started from his seat, begged a copy of them, and declared the author must have been a Hindoo:—
“Such are the best views of the best of men among the Hindoos. Such a mixture of truth and error, of sense and folly, do they believe and teach.”
According to the best accounts that can be obtained from missionaries and others, the number of Pagans, in different countries, exceeds half the population of the globe.
Considerable attempts have been made, of late years, for the enlightening of the heathen; and there is every reason to believe good has been done. From the aspect of Scripture prophecy, we are led to expect that the kingdoms of the heathen at large shall be brought to the light of the gospel. (Matt. 24:14, Isa. 60, Ps. 22:28, 29; 2:7, 8.) It has been much disputed whether it be possible that the heathen should be saved without the knowledge of the gospel; some have absolutely denied it, upon the authority of those texts which universally require faith in Christ; but to this it is answered, that those texts regard only such to whom the gospel comes, and are capable of understanding the contents of it. “The truth,” says Dr. Doddridge, “seems to be this—that none of the heathen will be condemned for not believing the gospel, but they are liable to condemnation for the breach of God's natural law: nevertheless, if there be any of them in whom there is a prevailing love to the Divine Being, there seems reason to believe that, for the sake of Christ, though to them unknown, they may be accepted by God; and so much the rather, as the ancient Jews, and even the apostles, during the time of our Savior's abode on earth, seem to have had [pg 242]
“That there exist beings, one or many, powerful above the human race, is a proposition,” says Lord Kaimes, “universally admitted as true in all ages and among all nations. I boldly call it universal, notwithstanding what is reported of some gross savages; for reports that contradict what is acknowledged to be general among men, require able vouchers. Among many savage tribes there are no words but for objects of external sense: is it surprising that such people are incapable of expressing their religious perceptions, or any perception of internal sense? The conviction that men have of superior powers, in every country where there are words to express it, is so well vouched, that, in fair reasoning, it ought to be taken for granted among the few tribes where language is deficient.” The same ingenious author shows, with great strength of reasoning, that the operations of nature and the government of this world, which to us loudly proclaim the existence of a Deity, are not sufficient to account for the universal belief of superior beings among savage tribes. He is, therefore, of opinion that this universality of conviction [pg 243]
A branch of the Messalians, who appeared about the year 390. It is said, among other things, that they believed the devil to be extremely powerful, and that it was much wiser to respect and adore than to curse him.
A sect which arose in the diocese of Hippo, in Africa, in the fifth century. They regulated marriage after the example of Abel, who, they pretended, was married, but lived in a state of continence: they therefore allowed each man to marry one woman, but enjoined them to live in the same state. To keep up the sect, when a man and woman entered into this society, they adopted a boy and a girl, who were to inherit their goods, and to marry upon the same terms of not having children, but of adopting two of different sexes.
Persons who hold that God, without any regard to the good or evil works of men, has resolved, by an eternal decree, supra lapsum, antecedently to any knowledge of the fall of [pg 244]
A sect which sprung up, about 1373, in Flanders, and places about. It was their custom all of a sudden to fall a-dancing, and, holding each other's hands, to continue thereat, till, being suffocated with the extraordinary violence, they fell down breathless together. During these intervals of vehement agitation, they pretended to be favored with wonderful visions. Like the Whippers, they roved from place to place, begging their victuals, holding their secret assemblies, and treating the priesthood and worship of the church with the utmost contempt.
The disciples of Epicurus, who flourished about A. M. 3700. This sect maintained that the world was formed not by God, nor with any design, but by the fortuitous concourse of atoms. They denied that God governs the world, or in the least condescends to interfere with creatures below; they denied the immortality of the soul, and the existence of angels; they maintained that happiness consisted in pleasure; but some of them placed this pleasure in the tranquillity and joy of the mind, arising from the practice of moral virtue, and which is thought by some to have been the true principle of [pg 245]
The word Skeptic properly signifies considerative and inquisitive, or one who is always weighing reasons on one side or the other, without ever deciding between them. The word is applied to an ancient sect of philosophers founded by Pyrrho, who denied the real existence of all qualities in bodies, except those which are essential to primary atoms, and referred every thing else to the perceptions of the mind produced by external objects; in other words, to appearance and opinion. In modern times, the word has been applied to Deists, or those who doubt of the truth and authenticity of the sacred Scriptures.
The followers of the famous John Wickliffe, called “the first reformer,” who was born in Yorkshire, in the year 1324. He attacked the jurisdiction of the pope and the bishops. He was for this twice summoned to a council at Lambeth, to give an account of his doctrines, but, being countenanced by the duke of Lancaster, was both times dismissed without condemnation. Wickliffe, therefore, continued to spread his new principles, as usual, adding to them doctrines still more alarming; by which he drew after him a great number of [pg 246]
A denomination which sprung up in Germany, in the fifteenth century; so called because they dug their assemblies under ground, in caves and forests. They derided the church, its ministers, and sacraments.
A branch of the Reformers, so called from Zuinglius, a noted divine of Switzerland. His chief difference from Luther was concerning the eucharist. He maintained that the bread and wine were only significations of the body and blood of Jesus Christ, whereas Luther believed in consubstantiation.
A denomination which arose in the year 1645. They derived their name from their maintaining that the true church ministry, Scripture, and ordinances, were lost, for which they were seeking. They taught that the Scriptures were uncertain; that present miracles were necessary to faith; that our ministry is without authority; and that our worship and ordinances are unnecessary or vain.
A denomination in the 13th century, so called from Wilhelmina, a Bohemian woman, who resided in the territory of Milan. She persuaded a large number that the Holy Ghost was become incarnate in her person, for the salvation of a great part of mankind. According to her doctrines, none were saved by the blood of Jesus but true and pious Christians, while the Jews, Saracens, and unworthy Christians, were to obtain salvation through the Holy Spirit which dwelt in her, and that, in consequence thereof, all which happened in Christ during his appearance upon earth in the human nature, was to be exactly renewed in her person, or rather in that of the Holy Ghost, which was united to her.
This is a name assumed by those who believe in the inviolability of human life, and whose motto is, Resist not Evil,—that is, by the use of carnal weapons or brute force. They [pg 248]
In the autumn of 1838, an association was formed in Boston, called the “New England Non-Resistance Society,” the principles of which are comprehensively imbodied in the second article of its constitution, as follows:—
“The members of this society agree in opinion that no man, or body of men, however constituted, or by whatever name called, have the right to take the life of man as a penalty for transgression; that no one, who professes to have the Spirit of Christ, can consistently sue a man at law for redress of injuries, or thrust any evil-doer into prison, or fill any office in which he would come under obligation to execute penal enactments, or take any part in the military service, or acknowledge allegiance to any human government, or justify any man in fighting in defence of property, liberty, life, or religion; that he cannot engage in or countenance any plot or effort to revolutionize, or change, by physical violence, any government, however corrupt or oppressive; that he will obey ‘the powers that be,’ except in those cases in which they bid him violate his conscience—and then, rather than to resist, he will meekly submit to the penalty of disobedience; and that, while he will cheerfully endure all things for Christ's sake, without cherishing even the desire to inflict injury upon his persecutors, yet he will be bold and uncompromising for God, in bearing his testimony against sin, in [pg 249]
On the same occasion, a Declaration of Sentiments was adopted, in which the views of Non-Resistants are set forth in the following positive and argumentative form:—
“We cannot acknowledge allegiance to any human government; neither can we oppose any such government by a resort to physical force. We recognize but one King and Lawgiver, one Judge and Ruler of mankind. We are bound by the laws of a kingdom which is not of this world; the subjects of which are forbidden to fight; in which Mercy and Truth are met together, and Righteousness and Peace have kissed each other; which has no state lines, no national partitions, no geographical boundaries; in which there is no distinction of rank, or division of caste, or inequality of sex; the officers of which are Peace, its exactors Righteousness, its walls Salvation, and its gates Praise; and which is destined to break in pieces and consume all other kingdoms.
“Our country is the world, our countrymen are all mankind. We love the land of our nativity only as we love all other lands. The interests, rights, liberties of American citizens, are no more dear to us than are those of the whole human race. Hence we can allow no appeal to patriotism, to revenge any national insult or injury. The Prince of Peace, under whose stainless banner we rally, came not to destroy, but to save, even the worst of enemies. He has left us an example, that we should follow his steps. God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
“We conceive that, if a nation has no right to defend itself against foreign enemies, or to punish its invaders, no individual possesses that right in his own case. The unit cannot be of greater importance than the aggregate. If one man may take life, to obtain or defend his rights, the same license must necessarily be granted to communities, states, and nations. If he may use a dagger or a pistol, they may [pg 250]
“The dogma, that all the governments of the world are approvingly ordained of God, and that the powers that be, in the United States, in Russia, in Turkey, are in accordance with his will, is not less absurd than impious. It makes the impartial Author of human freedom and equality unequal and tyrannical. It cannot be affirmed that the powers that be, in any nation, are actuated by the spirit, or guided by the example, of Christ, in the treatment of enemies; therefore they cannot be agreeable to the will of God; and, therefore, their overthrow, by a spiritual regeneration of their subjects, is inevitable.
“We register our testimony, not only against all wars, whether offensive or defensive, but all preparations for war; against every naval ship, every arsenal, every fortification; against the militia system and a standing army; against all military chieftains and soldiers; against all monuments commemorative of victory over a foreign foe, all trophies won in battle, all celebrations in honor of military or naval exploits; against all appropriations for the defence of a nation by force and arms, on the part of any legislative body; against every edict of government requiring of its subjects military service. Hence we deem it unlawful to bear arms, or to hold a military office.
“As every human government is upheld by physical strength, and its laws are enforced virtually at the point of the bayonet, we cannot hold any office which imposes upon its incumbent [pg 251]
“It follows that we cannot sue any man at law, to compel him by force to restore any thing which he may have wrongfully taken from us or others; but, if he has seized our coat, we shall surrender up our cloak rather than subject him to punishment.
“We believe that the penal code of the old covenant, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth, has been abrogated by JESUS CHRIST; and that, under the new covenant, the forgiveness, instead of the punishment, of enemies has been enjoined upon all his disciples, in all cases whatsoever. To extort money from enemies, or set them upon a pillory, or cast them into prison or hang them upon a gallows, is obviously not to forgive, but to take retribution. Vengeance is mine—I will repay, saith the Lord.
“The history of mankind is crowded with evidences proving that physical coËrcion is not adapted to moral regeneration; that the sinful dispositions of man can be subdued only by love; that evil can be exterminated from the earth only by goodness; that it is not safe to rely upon an arm of flesh, upon man, whose breath is in his nostrils, to preserve us from harm; that there is great security in being gentle, harmless, long-suffering, and abundant in mercy; that it is only the meek who shall inherit the earth, for the violent, who resort to the sword, are destined to perish with the sword. Hence, as a measure of sound policy,—of safety to property, life, and liberty,—of public quietude and private enjoyment,—as well as on the ground of allegiance to HIM who is King of kings and Lord of lords,—we cordially adopt the non-resistance principle; being confident that it provides for all possible consequences, will insure all things needful to us, is [pg 252]
“We advocate no Jacobinical doctrines. The spirit of Jacobinism is the spirit of retaliation, violence, and murder. It neither fears God nor regards man. We would be filled with the Spirit of Christ. If we abide by our principles, it is impossible for us to be disorderly, or plot treason, or participate in any evil work: we shall submit to every ordinance of man, for the Lord's sake; obey all the requirements of government, except such as we deem contrary to the commands of the gospel; and in no case resist the operation of law, except by meekly submitting to the penalty of disobedience.
“But while we shall adhere to the doctrine of non-resistance and passive submission to enemies, we purpose, in a moral and spiritual sense, to speak and act boldly in the cause of God; to assail iniquity in high places and in low places; to apply our principles to all existing civil, political, legal, and ecclesiastical institutions; and to hasten the time when the kingdoms of this world will have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever.
“It appears to us a self-evident truth, that whatever the gospel is designed to destroy at any period of the world, being contrary to it, ought now to be abandoned. If, then, the time is predicted, when swords shall be beaten into ploughshares, and spears into pruning-hooks, and men shall not learn the art of war any more, it follows that all who manufacture, sell, or wield those deadly weapons, do thus array themselves against the peaceful dominion of the Son of God on earth.”
Having thus frankly stated their principles and purposes, they proceed to specify the measures they propose to adopt, in carrying their object into effect, as follows:—
“We expect to prevail through the foolishness of preaching, striving to commend ourselves unto every man's [pg 253]
“In entering upon the great work before us, we are not unmindful that, in its prosecution, we may be called to test our sincerity, even as in a fiery ordeal. It may subject us to insult, outrage, suffering, yea, even death itself. We anticipate no small amount of misconception, misrepresentation, calumny. Tumults may arise against us. The ungodly and violent, the proud and Pharisaical, the ambitious and tyrannical, principalities and powers, and spiritual wickedness in high places, may combine to crush us. So they treated the MESSIAH, whose example we are humbly striving to imitate. If we suffer with him, we know that we shall reign with him. We shall not be afraid of their terror, neither be troubled. Our confidence is in the Lord Almighty, not in man.
“Having withdrawn from human protection, what can sustain us but that faith which overcomes the world? We shall not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try us, as though some strange thing had happened unto us, but rejoice, inasmuch as we are partakers of CHRIST'S sufferings. Wherefore we commit the keeping of our souls to GOD, in well-doing, as unto a faithful Creator. For every one that forsakes houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands [pg 254]
For entertaining these sentiments, they say that they “have been stigmatized as no human government men,” and ranked among disorganizers and anarchists. But they believe that the gospel requires men to suppress every angry emotion, to forgive every injury, to revenge none; and they ask, “Shall we forgive as individuals, and retaliate as communities? Shall we turn the other cheek as individuals, and plunge a dagger into the heart of our enemy as nations? We might as well be sober as individuals, and drunk as nations. We might as well be merciful as individuals, and rob as patriots.” They believe that the forgiveness of enemies, whether foreign or domestic, is the essence, the chief virtue, the soul of the gospel; that we should preach our Savior's peace, even if it brings us to our Savior's cross; that Christians should not punish, either to amend those who trespass against them, or to comfort themselves; for they do not amend others by fines and imprisonments, nor do they need any better comfort than that of their Savior, who, on the cross, not only prayed, but apologized for his murderers; that, if the gospel is right in prescribing pardon, the law is wrong in inflicting punishment; that, if a Christian reigns, he reigns by love, not by force; that he cannot smile with frowns, forgive with punishment, love with hatred, bless with the sword, do good with evil, be humble with pride, love God and serve Mammon; that moral power would govern men altogether cheaper and better than physical; that the destruction of every kingdom that has heretofore existed, proves that men will not, cannot be governed by physical force; that the refusal of our Savior to govern, when he had the power of miracles, was his greatest miracle; and that his obedience, forgiveness, sufferings, and death, established the constitution of a government, in which peace on earth and good-will to men will be maintained by the God of peace, the Prince of peace, and the Spirit of peace. They believe that, when Jesus referred his hearers to the law [pg 255]
Dr. Evans gives the following account of the religious views and opinions of Joanna Southcott, who made considerable noise in England, towards the close of the last century:—
“The mission of this prophetess commenced in the year 1792, and the number of people who have joined with her [pg 256]
“The mission of Joanna is to be accomplished by a perfect [pg 257]
“It is represented that in the Bible is recorded every event by which the Deity will work the ultimate happiness of the human race, but that the great plan is, for the most part, represented by types and shadows, and otherwise so wrapped up in mysteries, as to be inscrutable to human wisdom. [pg 258]
“The mission of Joanna began in 1792, at which time she had prophecies given her, showing how the whole was to be accomplished. Among other things, the Lord said he should visit the surrounding nations with various calamities for fifteen years, as a warning to this land; and that then he should bring about events here which should more clearly manifest the truth of her mission, by judgment and otherwise; so that this should be the happy nation to be the first redeemed from its troubles, and be the instrument for awakening the rest of the world to a sense of what is coming upon all, and for destroying the Beast, and those who worship his image.
“Joanna Southcott died of a protracted illness. It Was given out that she was to be the mother of a Second Shiloh. Presents were accordingly made her for the Babe, especially a superb cradle, with a Hebrew inscription in poetry. But she expired, and no child appeared on the occasion. A stone placed over her remains in the New Burial-ground, Mary-le-bone, has this mystic inscription:—
In Memory Of
Joanna Southcott.
Who departed this life December 27th, 1814,
Aged 60 years.
A sect that arose in Holland, in the sixteenth century, founded by Henry Nicholas, a Westphalian. He maintained that he had a commission from Heaven to teach men that the essence of religion consisted in the feelings of divine love; that all other theological tenets, whether they related to objects of faith or modes of worship, were of no sort of moment, and, consequently, that it was a matter of the most perfect indifference what opinions Christians entertained concerning the divine nature, provided their hearts burned with the pure and sacred flame of piety and love.
Hutchinsonians, the followers of John Hutchinson, born in Yorkshire, 1674, and who, in the early part of his life, served the duke of Somerset in the capacity of steward. The Hebrew Scriptures, he says, comprise a perfect system of natural philosophy, theology, and religion. In opposition to Dr. Woodward's “Natural History of the Earth,” Mr. Hutchinson, in 1724, published the first part of his curious book, called “Moses' Principia.” Its second part was presented to the public in 1727, which contains, as he apprehends, the principles of the Scripture philosophy, which are a plenum and the air. So high an opinion did he entertain of the Hebrew language, that he thought the Almighty must have employed it to communicate every species of knowledge, and that, accordingly, every species of knowledge is to be found in the Old Testament. Of his mode of philosophizing, the following specimen is brought forward to the reader's attention:—“The air, he supposes, exists in three conditions,—fire, light, and spirit;—the two latter are the finer and [pg 260]
The followers of Mr. Hutchinson are numerous, and among others the Rev. Mr. Romaine, Lord Duncan Forbes, of Culloden, and the late amiable Dr. Horne, bishop of Norwich.
In a little work entitled Religious Creeds and Statistics, published in 1836, we gave some account of the origin and faith of the Mormonites, or Latter-Day Saints, as they prefer being called. Since that time, we have received an additional stock of the publications of this people, and are now enabled to tell their story in their own words.
In a letter dated Nauvoo, Illinois, March 1, 1842, Prophet Joseph Smith says:—
“On the evening of the 21st of September, A. D. 1823, while I was praying unto God, and endeavoring to exercise faith in the precious promises of Scripture, on a sudden a light like that of day, only of a far purer and more glorious appearance and brightness, burst into the room; indeed, the first sight was as though the house was filled with consuming fire; the appearance produced a shock that affected the whole body [pg 261]
“I was informed that I was chosen to be an instrument in the hands of God to bring about some of his purposes in this glorious dispensation.
“I was also informed concerning the aboriginal inhabitants of this country, and shown who they were, and from whence they came; a brief sketch of their origin, progress, civilization, laws, governments, of their righteousness and iniquity, and the blessings of God being finally withdrawn from them as a people, was made known unto me. I was also told where there were deposited some plates, on which was engraven an abridgment of the records of the ancient prophets that had existed on this continent. The angel appeared to me three times the same night, and unfolded the same things. After having received many visits from the angels of God, unfolding the majesty and glory of the events that should transpire in the last days, on the morning of the 22d of September, A. D 1827, the angel of the Lord delivered the records into my hands.
“These records were engraven on plates which had the appearance of gold; each plate was six inches wide and eight inches long, and not quite so thick as common tin. They were filled with engravings, in Egyptian characters, and bound together in a volume, as the leaves of a book, with three rings running through the whole. The volume was something near six inches in thickness, a part of which was sealed. The characters on the unsealed part were small, and beautifully engraved. The whole book exhibited many marks of antiquity in its construction, and much skill in the art of engraving. [pg 262]
“Through the medium of the Urim and Thummim I translated the record, by the gift and power of God.
“In this important and interesting book the history of ancient America is unfolded, from its first settlement by a colony that came from the tower of Babel, at the confusion of languages, to the beginning of the fifth century of the Christian era. We are informed by these records that America, in ancient times, has been inhabited by two distinct races of people. The first were called Jaredites, and came directly from the tower of Babel. The second race came directly from the city of Jerusalem, about six hundred years before Christ. They were principally Israelites, of the descendants of Joseph. The Jaredites were destroyed about the time that the Israelites came from Jerusalem, who succeeded them in the inheritance of the country. The principal nation of the second race fell in battle towards the close of the fourth century. The remnant are the Indians that now inhabit this country. This book also tells us that our Savior made his appearance upon this continent after his resurrection, that he planted the gospel here in all its fulness, and richness, and power, and blessing; that they had apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, and evangelists; the same order, the same priesthood, the same ordinances, gifts, powers, and blessing, as were enjoyed on the eastern continent; that the people were cut off in consequence of their transgressions; that the last of their prophets who existed among them was commanded to write an abridgment of their prophecies, history, &c., and to hide it up in the earth, and that it should come forth, and be united with the Bible, for the accomplishment of the purposes of God in the last days. For a more particular account, I would refer to the Book of Mormon, which can be purchased at Nauvoo, or from any of our travelling elders.
“As soon as the news of this discovery was made known, [pg 263]
“On the 6th of April, 1830, the ‘Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints’ was first organized in the town of Manchester, Ontario county, state of New York. Some few were called and ordained by the spirit of revelation and prophecy, and began to preach as the Spirit gave them utterance; and though weak, yet were they strengthened by the power of God, and many were brought to repentance, were immersed in the water, and were filled with the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands. They saw visions and prophesied: devils were cast out, and the sick healed by the laying on of hands. From that time, the work rolled forth with astonishing rapidity, and churches were soon formed in the states of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri. In the last-named state, a considerable settlement was formed in Jackson county; numbers joined the church, and we were increasing rapidly; we made large purchases of land, our farms teemed with plenty, and peace and happiness were enjoyed in our domestic circle and throughout our neighborhood; but we could not associate with our neighbors, who were many of them of the basest of men.”
After giving an account of their removal from Jackson to Clay, and from Clay to Caldwell and Davies counties, Missouri, with a relation of their persecutions and consequent distresses, the prophet proceeds:—
“We arrived in the state of Illinois in 1839, where we found a hospitable people and a friendly home; a people who were willing to be governed by the principles of law and humanity. We have commenced to build a city, called [pg 264]
“Persecution has not stopped the progress of truth, but has only added fuel to the flame; it has spread with increasing rapidity. Proud of the cause which they have espoused, and conscious of their innocence, and of the truth of their system, amidst calumny and reproach have the elders of this church gone forth, and planted the gospel in almost every state in the Union; it has penetrated our cities, it has spread over our villages, and has caused thousands of our intelligent, noble, and patriotic citizens to obey its divine mandates, and be governed by its sacred truths. It has also spread into England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. In the year 1839, where a few of our missionaries were sent, over five thousand joined the standard of truth. There are numbers now joining in every land.
“Our missionaries are going forth to different nations; and in Germany, Palestine, New Holland, the East Indies, and other places, the standard of truth has been erected. No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing. Persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the great Jehovah shall say, ‘The work is done!’
“We believe in God, the eternal Father, and in his Son Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.
[pg 265]“We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam's transgression.
“We believe that, through the atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel.
“We believe that these ordinances are, 1. faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; 2. repentance; 3. baptism, by immersion, for the remission of sins; 4. laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.
“We believe that a man must be called of God by ‘prophecy, and by laying on of hands,’ by those who are in authority to preach the gospel, and administer in the ordinances thereof.
“We believe in the same organization that existed in the primitive church, viz., apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, &c.
“We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, &c.
“We believe the Bible to be the word of God, as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.
“We believe all that God has revealed, all that he does now reveal, and we believe that he will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the kingdom of God.
“We believe in the literal gathering of Israel, and in the restoration of the ten tribes; that Zion will be built upon this continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisaic glory.
“We claim the privilege of worshipping Almighty God according to the dictates of our conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what, they may.
“We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.
“We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent virtuous, [pg 266]
From the Gospel Reflector, a volume edited by B. Winchester, presiding elder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Philadelphia, we extract the following.
“History Of The Ancients Of America, And Also Of The Book Of Mormon.
“Six hundred years B. C, according to the Book of Mormon, Lehi, who was a righteous man, was forewarned of the destruction of Jerusalem and the Babylonish captivity, who was commanded by the Lord, took his family and fled into the wilderness. He pitched his tent in the wilderness, near the Red Sea, and sent back his sons to Jerusalem, who persuaded one Ishmael and his family to accompany them to their father Lehi. The Lord promised to lead them to a choice land above all lands; therefore they set out on their journey for this land. After a long and tedious journey, they came to the great waters, or the ocean. Nephi, the son of Lehi, who was also a prophet, and their pilot, or leader, in the wilderness, was commanded and instructed to build a ship sufficiently large to transport them over the sea. This work was accomplished in eight years from the time they left Jerusalem. They set sail, and in a proper time they landed, as we infer from their record, somewhere on the western coast of South America. They immediately commenced tilling the earth, and erecting mansions for dwelling-places.
“Lehi had six sons, Laman, Lemuel, Nephi, Sam, Jacob, and Joseph. Laman, Lemuel, and the sons of Ishmael, rebelled against God, and would not keep his commandments; for this they were cursed. Their posterity, in process of time, became a powerful nation, but extremely wicked; and [pg 267]
“The Nephites tilled the land, built cities, and erected temples for places of worship; but the Lamanites lived a more indolent life, although, in some instances, they built cities. The Nephites were at times faithful to God; at other times they were indifferent, and would not be faithful. They frequently had long and tedious wars with the Lamanites, and were often driven before them. They were constantly emigrating to the north. At length they commenced settlements in the region of country not far from the Isthmus of Darien; and, while in those parts, they advanced further in science and arts than at any time previous, and built more spacious cities and buildings than they did before.
“Six hundred and thirty odd years from the time Lehi left Jerusalem, Christ, after his resurrection, appeared unto many of the Nephites, and established his church, chose disciples, and sent them throughout the land to preach his gospel, thus fulfilling the saying, ‘Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold; them I must go and bring also.’
“Individuals of the Lamanites, at times, were obedient to the faith. The Nephites, after Christ's appearance, were faithful for many years; but, in the third or fourth century, iniquity began to abound, and their love began to wax cold. Some dissented, and raised up churches for the sake of gain; and thus they were troubled with the spirit of pride and [pg 268]
“Thus a powerful nation, whose fathers were the favorites of Heaven, were cut off, and their names have faded into oblivion!
“The Indians of America are the descendants of the Lamanites, and, according to predictions that are in the Book of Mormon, they will yet lay down their weapons of war, and be converted unto the Lord.
“Moroni finished compiling and abridging the records of his fathers, which he engraved upon new plates, for that purpose, to use his own words, as follows:—‘And now, behold, we have written this record, according to our knowledge, in the characters which are called among us the reformed Egyptian; being handed down and altered by us, according to our manner of speech. And, if our plates had been sufficiently large, we should have written in Hebrew; but the Hebrew hath been altered by us also; and, if we could have written in Hebrew, behold, ye would have had no imperfection in our record. But the Lord knoweth the things which we have written, and also that none other people knoweth our language; therefore he hath prepared means for the interpretation thereof.’
“He also engraved on them an account, called the ‘Book [pg 269]
“Moroni was then commanded to deposit this record in the earth, together with the Urim and Thummim, or, as the Nephites would have said, Interpreters, which were instruments to assist in the work of the translation, with a promise from the Lord that it should be brought to light by means of a Gentile nation that should possess the land, and be published to the world, and go forth to the Lamanites, and be one of the instruments in the hands of God for their conversion. It remained safe in the place where it was deposited, till it was brought to light by the administration of angels, and translated by the gift and power of God.”
The Mormon Bible contains five hundred and eighty-eight duodecimo pages, and purports to have been written at different times, and by the different authors, whose names the parts respectively bear. The following are the names of the different books, in the order in which they occur:—
1. First Book of Nephi.
2. Second Book of Nephi.
3. Book of Jacob, brother of Nephi.
4. Book of Enos, son of Jacob.
5. Book of Jarom, son of Enos.
6. Book of Omni, son of Jarom.
7. Words of Mormon.
8. Book of Mosiah.
9. Book of Alma.
10. Book of Helaman.
11. Book of Nephi, son of Nephi, son of Helaman.
12. Book of Nephi, son of Nephi, one of the disciples of Christ.
13. Book of Mormon.
14. Book of Ether.
15. Book of Moroni.
Two new books have recently been published,—the Prophecies of Enoch, in the Morning and Evening Star, and the Book of Abraham, in the Times and Seasons.
[pg 270]The Mormons seem to think that revelations from Heaven and miracles wrought, are as necessary now, and as important to the salvation of the present generation, as they were to any generation in any preceding age or period.
In a volume entitled “Doctrine and Covenants,” are a great number of revelations, purporting to be from Jesus Christ to Smith and his coadjutors. The following extracts from a revelation given on the 22d and 23d of September, 1832, convey, it is believed, a fair specimen of the whole. We copy verbatim.
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, It is expedient that every man who goes forth to proclaim mine everlasting gospel, that, inasmuch as they have families, and receive moneys by gift, that they should send it unto them, or make use of it for their benefit, as the Lord shall direct them; for thus it seemeth me good. And let all those who have not families, who receive moneys, send it up unto the bishop in Zion, or unto the bishop in Ohio, that it may be consecrated for the bringing forth of the revelations, and the printing thereof, and for establishing Zion.
“And if any man shall give unto any of you a coat, or a suit, take the old and cast it unto the poor, and go your way rejoicing. And if any man among you be strong in the Spirit, let him take with him he that is weak, that he may be edified in all meekness, that he may become strong also.
“And the bishop, also, should travel round about and among all the churches, searching after the poor, to administer to their wants by humbling the rich and the proud; he should, also, employ an agent to take charge and to do his secular business, as he shall direct; nevertheless, let the bishop go unto the city of New York, and also to the city of Albany, and also to the city of Boston, and warn the people of those cities with the sound of the gospel, with a loud voice, of the desolation and utter abolishment which awaits them if they do reject these things; for if they do reject these things, the hour of their judgment is nigh, and their [pg 271]
“And verily I say unto you, the rest of my servants, Go ye forth, as your circumstances shall permit, in your several callings, unto the great and notable cities and villages, reproving the world, in righteousness, of all their unrighteous and ungodly deeds, setting forth clearly and understandingly the desolation of abomination in the last days; for with you, saith the Lord Almighty, I will rend their kingdoms; I will not only shake the earth, but the starry heavens shall tremble; for I the Lord have put forth my hand to exert the powers of heaven: ye cannot see it now; yet a little while and ye shall see it, and know that I am, and that I will come and reign with my people. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. Amen.”
Joseph Smith is the son of a farmer, and was born in Sharon, Vermont, 23d December, 1805. His father removed to the state of New York about the year 1815, and resided in Palmyra, and afterwards in Manchester.
Smith has many enemies, and his doctrines are warmly opposed; still, it must be acknowledged that, by his talents, or the magic influence his scheme of religion has on the minds of men, or by a union of both, he has acquired an imposing station in the world. He is styled Prophet and High Priest of Jesus Christ, President of the Council of the Church of the Latter-Day Saints, and Lieutenant-General of the Nauvoo Legion. He sends his elders, bishops, priests, and teachers, by scores, into all lands, and more than seventy-five thousand people bow, with willing subjection, to his mandates.
Nauvoo, Illinois, formerly Commerce, is situated on the east side of the Mississippi River, at the head of Des Moines Rapids, about two hundred and ten miles (by the river) above St. Louis, thirteen hundred and fifty miles above New Orleans, and about three hundred miles below Dubuque, in [pg 272]
The followers of David Dale, a very industrious manufacturer, a most benevolent Christian, and the humble pastor of an Independent congregation at Glasgow. At first, he formed a connection with the Glassites, in many of whose opinions he concurred, but was disgusted by their narrow and worldly spirit: he therefore separated from them, chiefly on the ground of preferring practical to speculative religion, and Christian charity to severity of church discipline. As he grew rich by industry, he devoted all his property to doing good, and ranks high among the philanthropists of his age. He was founder of the celebrated institution of New Lanark, now under Mr. Robert Owen, his son-in-law. The Daleites now form the second class of Independents in Scotland.
This body of Christians was formed in Kentucky, in 1805, by the association of a number of ministers and churches of [pg 273]
The Emancipators say to Christians of all denominations in the United States, in the words of an eloquent philanthropist, “Banish from your land the remains of slavery. Be consistent with your congressional declaration of rights. Remember, there never was, nor will be, a period when justice should not be done. Do what is just, and leave the event with God. Justice is the pillar that upholds the whole fabric of human society, and mercy is the genial ray which cheers and warms the habitations of men. The perfection of our social character consists in properly tempering the two with one another; in holding that middle course which admits of our being just without being rigid, and allows us to be generous without being unjust. May all the citizens of America be found in the performance of such social duties as will secure them peace and happiness in this world, and in the world to come life everlasting!”
A modern sect in New England, who believe that every individual action is either wholly sinful or wholly righteous, and that every being in the universe, at any given time, is either entirely holy or entirely wicked. Consequently, they unblushingly maintain that they themselves are free from sin. In support of this doctrine, they say that Christ dwells in and controls believers, and thus secures their perfect holiness; that the body of Christ, which is the church, is nourished and guided by the life and wisdom of its Head. Hence they condemn the greatest portion of the religion in the world named Christianity, as the work of Antichrist. “All the essential features of Judaism,” they say, “and of its successor, Popery, may be distinctly traced in nearly every form of Protestantism; and although we rejoice in the blessings which the reformation has given us, we regard it as rightly named the reformation, it being an improvement of Antichrist, not a restoration of Christianity.” This last opinion, which has some foundation in truth, has been long held, variously modified, in different parts of the Christian world.
An unsuccessful attempt was made to propagate the views of this sect through the medium of a paper published at New Haven, Conn., entitled the Perfectionist.
Methodists' Views Of Perfection.
“The highest perfection which man can attain, while the soul dwells in the body, does not exclude ignorance, and error, and a thousand other infirmities. Now, from wrong judgments, wrong words and actions will often necessarily flow; and in some cases, wrong affections, also, may spring from the same source. I may judge wrong of you; I may [pg 275]
for innumerable violations of the Adamic, as well as the angelic law. It is well, therefore, for us, that we are not now under these, but under the law of love. “Love is [now] the fulfilling of the law,” which is given to fallen man. This is now, with respect to us, “the perfect law.” But even against this, through the present weakness of our understanding, we are continually liable to transgress. Therefore every man living needs the blood of atonement; or he could not stand before God.
“What is, then, the perfection of which man is capable while he dwells in a corruptible body? It is the complying with that kind command, ‘My son, give me thy heart.’ It is the ‘loving the Lord his God with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his mind.’ This is the sum of Christian perfection: it is all comprised in that one word, love. The first branch of it is the love of God; and, as he that loves God loves his brother also, it is inseparably connected with the second, ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself;’ thou shalt love every man as thy own soul, as Christ loved us. ‘On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets:’ these contain the whole of Christian perfection.
“Another view of this is given us in those words of the great [pg 276]
“St. Paul, when writing to the Galatians, places perfection in yet another view. It is the one undivided fruit of the Spirit, which he describes thus: ‘The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, fidelity, [so the word should be translated here,] meekness, temperance.’ What a glorious constellation of grace is here! Now, suppose all these things to be knit together in one, to be united together in the soul of a believer,—this is Christian perfection.
How To Be Sought.
“'But what is that faith whereby we are sanctified, saved from sin, and perfected in love?' It is a divine evidence and conviction, first, that God hath promised it in the holy Scripture. Till we are thoroughly satisfied of this, there is no moving one step farther. And one would imagine there needed not one word more to satisfy a reasonable man of this than the ancient promise, ‘Then will I circumcise thy heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.’ How clearly does this express the being perfected in love!—how strongly imply the being saved from all sin! For as long as love takes up the whole heart, what room is there for sin therein?
“It is a divine evidence and conviction, secondly, that what God hath promised he is able to perform. Admitting, therefore, that ‘with men it is impossible’ ‘to bring a clean thing out of an unclean,’ to purify the heart from all sin, and [pg 277]
“It is, thirdly, a divine evidence and conviction that he is able and willing to do it now. And why not? Is not a moment to him the same as a thousand years? He cannot want more time to accomplish whatever is his will. And he cannot want to stay for any more worthiness or fitness in the persons he is pleased to honor. We may, therefore, boldly say, at any point of time, ‘Now is the day of salvation!’ ‘To-day, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.’ ‘Behold, all things are now ready; come unto the marriage.’
“To this confidence that God is both able and willing to sanctify us now, there needs to be added one thing more—a divine evidence and conviction that he doeth it. In that hour it is done: God says to the inmost soul, ‘According to thy faith be it unto thee.’ Then the soul is pure from every spot of sin; it is clean ‘from all unrighteousness.’ The believer then experiences the deep meaning of those solemn words, ‘If we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.’
“ ‘But does God work this great work in the soul gradually, or instantaneously?’ Perhaps it may be gradually wrought in some: I mean, in this sense, they do not advert to the particular moment wherein sin ceases to be. But it is infinitely desirable, were it the will of God, that it should be done instantaneously; that the Lord should destroy sin ‘by the breath of his mouth,’ in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. And so he generally does—a plain fact, of which there is evidence enough to satisfy any unprejudiced person. Thou, therefore, look for it every moment.”—See Wesley's Sermons, vols. i. and ii.
[pg 278]Oberlin Views Of Sanctification.
In the fall of 1836, during an interesting revival of religion in Oberlin, Ohio, the minds of many became deeply interested in the inquiry, “Can we live holy lives? and, if we can, how?” At first, fears were entertained that some would run into the errors of the Perfectionists; but, finally, after much prayer and investigation, they adopted the following views of sanctification:—
“1. That entire obedience to the moral law constitutes entire sanctification or holiness.
“2. That all moral agents are able to render this obedience.
“3. That because all moral agents are able to render this obedience, they are bound to do so.
“4. That sufficient grace for the actual attainment of this state is abundantly in the gospel, and that nothing prevents any Christian from making this attainment in this life, but a neglect to avail himself of the proffered grace of Christ.
“5. That all are bound to aim at and pray for this attainment in this life, and that aiming at this state is indispensable to Christian character.
“6. That obedience to the moral law, or a state of entire sanctification, is in such a sense attainable, as to make it an object of rational pursuit, with the expectation of attaining it.
“7. That the philosophy of the mind, the commandments of God, the promises and provisions of the gospel, and the attainments of Paul and many others, should be presented, to induce men to aim at a state of entire sanctification, with the expectation of attaining it.”
Since these views were embraced at Oberlin, they have been extensively circulated by many books and pamphlets, and a paper, entitled the Oberlin Evangelist. By many [pg 279]
Many authors of note make the antiquity of this denomination coeval with the apostolic age. The following is an extract from their confession of faith, which is said to have been copied out of certain manuscripts, bearing date nearly four hundred years before the time of Luther:—
“1. That the Scriptures teach that there is one God, almighty, all-wise, and all-good, who made all things by his goodness; for he formed Adam in his own image and likeness; but that, by the envy of the devil, sin entered into the world; and that we are sinners in and by Adam.
“2. That Christ was promised to our fathers, who received the law; that so knowing, by the law, their unrighteousness and insufficiency, they might desire the coming of Christ, to satisfy for their sins, and accomplish the law by himself.
“3. That Christ was born in the time appointed by God the Father; that is to say, in the time when all iniquity abounded, that he might show us grace and mercy, as being faithful; that Christ is our life, truth, peace, and righteousness, as also our pastor, advocate, and priest, who died for the salvation of all who believe, and is risen for our justification; that there is no mediator and advocate with God the Father, save Jesus Christ; that, after this life, there are only two places, the one for the saved, and the other for the damned; that the feasts, the vigils of saints, the water which they call holy, as also to abstain from flesh on certain days, and the like, but especially the masses, are the inventions of men, and ought to be rejected; that the sacraments are signs of the holy thing, visible forms of the invisible [pg 280]
The disciples of Henry Allen, of Nova Scotia, who began to propagate his doctrines in that country about the year 1778, and died in 1783, during which interval he made many proselytes, and at his death left a considerable party behind him, though now much declined. He published several treatises and sermons, in which he declares that the souls of all the human race are emanations, or rather parts, of the one great Spirit; that they were all present in Eden, and were actually in the first transgression. He supposes that our first parents, in innocency, were pure spirits, and that the material world was not then made; but that, in consequence of the fall, that mankind might not sink into utter destruction, this world was produced, and men clothed with material bodies; and that all the human race will, in their turn, be invested with such bodies, and in them enjoy a state of probation for immortal happiness.
The followers of Mr. John Johnson, many years Baptist minister at Liverpool, in the last century, of whose followers there are still several congregations in different parts of England. He denied that faith was a duty, or even action of the soul, and defined it “an active principle” conferred [pg 281]
Though Mr. Johnson entertained high Supralapsarian notions on the divine decrees, he admitted the universality of the death of Christ. On the doctrine of the Trinity, his followers are said to have embraced the indwelling scheme, with Calvinistic views of justification and the atonement.
A denomination which arose in the fourth century. They derived their name from Donatus, bishop of Numidia. They maintained that their community was alone to be considered as the true church, and avoided all communication with other churches, from an apprehension of contracting their impurity and corruption. Hence they pronounced the sacred rites and institutions void of all virtue and efficacy among those Christians who were not precisely of their sentiments, and not only rebaptized those who came over to their party from other churches, but, with respect to those who had been ordained ministers of the gospel, they either deprived them of their office, or obliged them to be ordained the second time.
A sect of small note, which was formed in England about the beginning of the seventeenth century, by one John Smith, who maintained that it was lawful for every one to baptize himself. There is at this day an inconsiderable sect in Russia who are known by this name, and who perform the rite upon themselves, from an idea that no one is left on earth sufficiently holy to administer it aright.
A sect in Russia, which sprang up about the year 1770. They do not rebaptize those who join them from the Greek church, but insist on the necessity of their having the mystery of the chrism or unction again administered to them. They are very numerous in Moscow.
The name of a famous sect among the Chinese, who owe their rise to Laou-tsze Lao Kian, or Laokium, a philosopher, who lived, if we may credit his disciples, about five hundred years before Christ. He professed to restore the religion of Tao, (Taou,) or Reason. Some of his writings are still extant, and are full of maxims and sentiments of virtue and morality. Among others, this sentence is often repeated in them: “Tao hath produced one, one hath produced two, two have produced three, and three have produced all things.”
The morality of this philosopher and his disciples is not unlike that of the Epicureans, consisting in a tranquillity of mind, free from all vehement desires and passions. But as this tranquillity would be disturbed by thoughts of death, they boast of a liquor that has the power of rendering them immortal. They are addicted to chemistry, alchemy, and magic, and are persuaded that, by the assistance of demons, whom they invoke, they can obtain all that they desire. The hope of avoiding death prevailed upon a great number of mandarins to study this diabolical art, and certain credulous and superstitious emperors brought it greatly into vogue.
The doctrine of this sect, concerning the formation of the world, according to Dr. Milne, much resembles that of the Epicureans. If they do not maintain the eternity of matter, on the other hand, they do not deny it; but, in analogy with [pg 283]
The disciples of Michael de Molinos, a Spanish priest, who flourished in the seventeenth century, and wrote a book called “The Spiritual Guide.” They argue thus:—“The apostle tells us, that ‘the Spirit makes intercession for,’ or in ‘us.’ Now, if the Spirit pray in us, we must resign ourselves to his impulses, by remaining in a state of absolute rest, or quietude, till we attain the perfection of the unitive life”—a life of union with, and, as it should seem, of absorption in, the Deity.
A denomination in the sixteenth century, so called from Bertrand Knipperdoling, who taught that the righteous, before the day of judgment, shall have a monarchy on earth, and the wicked be destroyed; that men are not justified by their faith in Christ Jesus; that there is no original sin; that infants ought not to be baptized, and immersion is the only mode of baptism; that every one has authority to preach, and administer the sacraments; that men are not obliged to pay respect to magistrates; that all things ought to be in common; and that it is lawful to marry many wives.
From twenty to twenty-five thousand families of this sect still remain, chiefly in the neighborhood of Bassora, a city between Arabia and Persia, on the extremity of the desert of Irac. They are sometimes called Christians of St. John—a name which they probably received from the Turks, and to which they contentedly submit for the sake of the toleration it affords them; but they are better known in ecclesiastical history as Hemero (or every day) Baptists, from their frequent washings.
The followers of Ludovic Muggleton, a journeyman tailor, who, with his companion Reeves, set up for great prophets, in the time of Cromwell. They pretended to absolve or condemn whom they pleased, and gave out that they were the two last witnesses spoken of in the Revelation, who were to appear previous to the final destruction of the world. They affirmed that there was no devil at all without the body of man or woman; that the devil is man's spirit of unclean reason and cursed imagination; that the ministry in this world, whether prophetical or ministerial, is all a lie, and abomination to the Lord; with a variety of other vain and inconsistent tenets.
Muggleton died in 1697, and on his gravestone is this inscription:—
[pg 285]The raven plume of oblivion hath long ago waved over this prophet's grave.
From a very interesting work recently published by Asahel Grant, M. D., a medical missionary to the Nestorians, we copy the following account:—
“The passage of the Tigris transferred me from Mesopotamia into Assyria, and I stood upon the ruins of Nineveh, ‘that great city,’ where the prophet Jonah proclaimed the dread message of Jehovah to so many repenting thousands whose deep humiliation averted for a time the impending ruin. But when her proud monarchs had scourged idolatrous Israel and carried the ten tribes into captivity, and raised their hands against Judah and the holy city, the inspired strains of the eloquent Nahum, clothed in terrible sublimity as they were, met their full accomplishment in the utter desolation of one of the largest cities on which the sun ever shone. ‘Nineveh is laid waste! who will bemoan her? She is empty, and void, and waste; her nobles dwell in the dust; her people are scattered upon the mountains, and no man gathereth them.’
“Where her gorgeous palaces once resounded to the strains of music and the shouts of revelry, a few black tents of the [pg 286]
“Soon after leaving the ruins of Nineveh, we came in sight of two villages of the Yezidees, the reputed worshippers of the devil. Large and luxuriant olive-groves, with their rich green foliage, and fruit just ripening in the autumnal sun, imparted such a cheerful aspect to the scene as soon dispelled whatever of pensive melancholy had gathered around me, while treading upon the dust of departed greatness. Several white sepulchres of Yezidee sheiks attracted attention as I approached the villages. They were in the form of fluted cones or pyramids, standing upon quadrangular bases, and rising to the height of some twenty feet or more. We became the guests of one of the chief Yezidees of Baa-sheka, whose dwelling, like others in the place, was a rude stone structure, with a flat terrace roof. Coarse felt carpets were spread for our seats in the open court, and a formal welcome was given us; but it was evidently not a very cordial one. My Turkish cavass understood the reason, and at once removed it. Our host had mistaken me for a Mahometan towards whom the Yezidees cherish a settled aversion. As soon as I was introduced to him as a Christian, and he had satisfied himself that this was my true character, his whole deportment was changed. He at once gave me a new and cordial welcome, and set about supplying our wants with new alacrity. He seemed to feel that he had exchanged a Moslem foe for a Christian friend, and I became quite satisfied [pg 287]
“They are said to cherish a high regard for the Christian religion, of which clearly they have some corrupt remains. They practise the rite of baptism, make the sign of the cross, so emblematical of Christianity in the East, put off their shoes, and kiss the threshold when they enter a Christian church; and it is said that they often speak of wine as the blood of Christ, hold the cup with both hands, after the sacramental manner of the East, when drinking it, and, if a drop chance to fall on the ground, they gather it up with religious care.
“They believe in one supreme God, and, in some sense at least, in Christ as a Savior. They have also a remnant of Sabianism, or the religion of the ancient fire-worshippers. They bow in adoration before the rising sun, and kiss his first rays when they strike on a wall or other object near them; and they will not blow out a candle with their breath, or spit in the fire, lest they should defile that sacred element.
“Circumcision and the passover, or a sacrificial festival allied to the passover in time and circumstance, seem also to identify them with the Jews; and, altogether, they certainly present a most singular chapter in the history of man.
“That they are really the worshippers of the devil can only be true, if at all, in a modified sense, though it is true that they pay him so much deference as to refuse to speak of him disrespectfully, (perhaps for fear of his vengeance;) and, instead of pronouncing his name, they call him the ‘lord of the evening,’ or ‘prince of darkness;’ also, Sheik Maazen, or Exalted Chief. Some of them say that Satan was a fallen angel, with whom God was angry; but he will at some future day be restored to favor, and there is no reason why they should treat him with disrespect.
“The Christians of Mesopotamia report that the Yezidees make votive offerings to the devil, by throwing money and jewels into a certain deep pit in the mountains of Sinjar, where a large portion of them reside; and it is said that [pg 288]
“The precise number of the Yezidees it is difficult to estimate, so little is known of them; but it is probable that we must reckon them by tens of thousands, instead of the larger computations which have been made by some travellers, who have received their information merely from report. Still they are sufficiently numerous to form an important object of attention to the Christian church; and I trust, as we learn more about them, sympathy, prayer, and effort, will be enlisted in their behalf. It will be a scene of no ordinary interest when the voice of prayer and praise to God shall ascend from hearts now devoted to the service of the prince of darkness, ‘the worshippers of the devil’! May that day be hastened on!”
The Greek church separated from the Latin or Romish church about A. D. 1054. It is under the jurisdiction of the patriarchs or bishops of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem. The Greek or Russian church is very extensive. Its jurisdiction embraces more territory than that of the Roman see. The population of this church is estimated at about forty millions.
[pg 289]The following are some of the chief tenets held by the Greek or Russian church:—They disown the authority of the pope, and deny that the church of Rome is the true catholic church. They do not baptize their children till they are three, four, five, six, ten, nay, sometimes eighteen years of age: baptism is performed by trine immersion. They insist that the sacrament of the Lord's supper ought to be administered in both kinds, and they give the sacrament to children immediately after baptism. They grant no indulgences, nor do they lay any claim to the character of infallibility, like the church of Rome. They deny that there is any such place as purgatory; notwithstanding, they pray for the dead, that God would have mercy on them at the general judgment. They practise the invocation of saints; though, they say, they do not invoke them as deities, but as intercessors with God. They exclude confirmation, extreme unction, and matrimony out of the seven sacraments. They deny auricular confession to be a divine precept, and say it is only a positive injunction of the church. They pay no religious homage to the eucharist. They administer the communion in both kinds to the laity, both in sickness and in health, though they have never applied themselves to their confessors, because they are persuaded that a lively faith is all which is requisite for the worthy receiving of the Lord's supper. They maintain that the Holy Ghost proceeds only from the Father, and not from the Son. They believe in predestination. They admit of no images in relief or embossed work, but use paintings and sculptures in copper or silver. They approve of the marriage of priests, provided they enter into that state before their admission into holy orders. They condemn all fourth marriages. They observe a number of holy days, and keep four fasts in the year more solemn than the rest, of which the fast in Lent, before Easter, is the chief. They believe the doctrine of consubstantiation, or the union of the body of Christ with the sacramental bread.
The Russians adhere to the doctrine and ceremonies of the Greek church, though they are now independent of the [pg 290]
A new sect, professing to be an association of Christians to promote the revival and spread of primitive Christianity, has recently sprung up at Bradford, in England. Its originators, or founders, are a Mr. Barker and a Mr. Trother, who have recently been expelled from the ministry of the New Connection of Methodists, by the annual assembly or conference of the members of that body, for some difference of opinion on doctrinal points between them and the conference.
By this term we are to understand those who believe that there are three distinct, persons in the Godhead, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the same in substance, equal in power and dignity, and that these three are one. Hence it is said they believe in a triune God. (See Deut. 6:4. 2 Kings 19:15. Ps. 19:1; 83:18; 139:7. Isa. 6:3, 9; 9:6; 11:3; 14:5, 23, 25. Jer. 17:10; 23:6. Ezek. 8:1, 3. Matt. 3:16, 17; 9:6; 18:20; 23:19. Luke 1:76; 24:25. John 1:1; 2:1; 5:19, 23; 10:30; 16:10, 15. Acts 5:4; 28:23, 25. Rom. 1:5; 9:5; 14:12, 19. 1 Cor. 2:10; 8:6. 2 Cor. 13:14. Phil. 2:5, 6, 7, &c.; 3:21. Heb. 1:3, 6, 10, 11, 12; 9:14; 13:8. 1 John 5:7, 20. Rev. 1:4, 5, 6, 8; 3:14; 5:13, &c.) The Unitarians believe that there is but one person in the Godhead, and that this person [pg 291]
The unity of God is a doctrine which both parties consider the foundation of all true religion.
Although the doctrine of the Trinity is ostensibly the main subject of dispute between Trinitarians and Unitarians, yet it is in reality respecting the character of Christ. Those who believe in his proper deity very easily dispose of all the other difficulties in the Trinitarian system; while anti-Trinitarians find more fault with this doctrine than any other in the Trinitarian creed; and the grand obstacle to their reception of the Trinitarian faith is removed, when they can admit that Jesus Christ is God, as well as man; so that the burden of labor, on both sides, is either to prove or disprove the proper deity of the Son of God.
In proof of this doctrine, the Trinitarians urge many declarations of the Scripture, which, in their opinion, admit of no consistent explanation upon the Unitarian scheme; they there find that offices are assigned to Christ, and to the Holy Spirit, which none but God can perform; particularly the creation of the world, and the grand decisions of the day of judgment. As they read the Scriptures, the attributes of omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, unchangeableness, and eternity, are ascribed to Jesus Christ; and they infer that a being to whom all these perfections are ascribed must be truly God, coËqual and coËternal with the Father.
The Unitarians, on the other hand, contend that some of these passages are interpolations, and that the others are either mistranslated or misunderstood. The passage in John, in particular, respecting the three that bear record, &c., has been set aside by such high authority, that they consider it unfair to introduce it in the controversy.
The excellent and learned Stillingfleet, in the preface to his Vindication of the Doctrine of the Trinity, says, “Since both sides yield that the matter they dispute about is above their reach, the wisest course they can take is, to assert and [pg 292]
The Millenarians are those who believe that Christ will reign personally on earth for a thousand years; and their name, taken from the Latin mille, a thousand, has a direct allusion to the duration of the spiritual empire.
The doctrine of the millennium, or a future paradisaical state of the earth, it is said, is not of Christian, but of Jewish origin. The tradition is attributed to Elijah, which fixes the duration of the world, in its present imperfect condition, to six thousand years, and announces the approach of a Sabbath of a thousand years of universal peace and plenty, to be ushered in by the glorious advent of the Messiah. This idea may be traced in the Epistle of Barnabas, and in the opinions of Papias, who knew of no written testimony in its behalf. It was adopted by the author of the Revelation, by Justin Martyr, by IrenÆus, and by a long succession of the fathers. As the theory is animating and consolatory, when it is divested of cabalistic numbers and allegorical decorations, it will no doubt always retain a number of adherents.
However the Millenarians may differ among themselves respecting the nature of this great event, it is agreed, on all hands, that such a revolution will be effected in the latter days, by which vice and its attendant misery shall be banished from the earth; thus completely forgetting all those dissensions and animosities by which the religious world hath been agitated, and terminating the grand drama of Providence with [pg 293]
The Tabernacle or Lady Huntingdon Connection, formed by Whitefield, is so called from the name given to several places of worship, in London, Bristol, &c. In some of the chapels in this Connection, the service of the church of England is read; in others, the worship is conducted much in the same way as among the Congregationalists; while, in all, the system of supply is more or less kept up, consisting in the employment, for a month or six weeks, of ministers from different parts of the country, who either take the whole duty, or assist the resident minister. Some of the congregations consist of several thousand hearers; and, by the blessing of God on the rousing and faithful sermons which are usually delivered to them, very extensive good is effected in the way of conversion. Most of the ministers now employed as supplies [pg 294]
The Calvinistic Methodists in Wales are very numerous.—See Biographical Sketches of Whitefield, Wesley, and Lady Huntingdon.
Those who refused to take the oaths to government, and who were, in consequence, under certain incapacities, and liable to certain severe penalties. The members of the Episcopal church of Scotland have long been denominated Nonjurors; but perhaps they are now called so improperly, as the ground of their difference from the established church is more on account of ecclesiastical than political principles.
Those who refuse to join the established church. Nonconformists in England may be considered of three sorts:—1. Such as absent themselves from divine worship in the established church through total irreligion, and attend the service of no other persuasion.—2. Such as absent themselves on the plea of conscience; as, Presbyterians, Independents, [pg 295]
This denomination, among themselves, are generally called simply Christians. This they do merely to denote their character as the followers of Christ; but, when applied to them collectively, it necessarily becomes the name of a denomination. They are sometimes, by their opposers, called Christ-ians; but this pronunciation of the word they universally reject as very improper.
The Christians began to associate and to form a distinct people about the beginning of the nineteenth century, so that they may be said to have existed but about forty years. They seem to have sprung up almost simultaneously in different and remote parts of the country, without any interchange of sentiments, concert of action, or even knowledge of each other's views or movements, till after a public stand had been taken in several parts of the country.
The first branch arose in Virginia and North Carolina, and consisted of seceders from the Methodists. At first, there were about one thousand communicants.
The northern branch of this denomination sprung up in New England. It commenced by the formation of several [pg 296]
The western branch arose in Kentucky, and was composed of seceders from the Presbyterians. Some of their ministers were men of strong and well-cultivated minds, who urged forward the reform they had undertaken, till they have spread over most of the Western States.
In all these different sections, their leading purpose, at first, appears to have been, not so much to establish any peculiar or distinctive doctrine, as to assert for individuals and churches more liberty and independence in relation to matters of faith and practice; to shake off the authority of human creeds, and the shackles of prescribed modes and forms; to make the Bible their only guide, claiming for every man the right to judge for himself what is its doctrine, and what are its requirements; and in practice to follow more strictly the simplicity of the apostles and primitive Christians.
This class of believers recognize no individual as a leader or founder, and no man claims this high eminence, although several persons were instrumental in giving rise and progress to the society. They point all to Christ as the Leader and Founder, and professedly labor to bring all to the first principles of original, apostolic Christianity.
Seceding, as the first ministers did, from different denominations, they necessarily brought with them some of the peculiarities of faith and usage in which they had been educated. But the two prominent sentiments that led them out, both kept them together, by rendering them tolerant toward each other, and gradually brought them to be very similar both in faith and practice. These two sentiments were, that the Scriptures only should be consulted as a rule of faith and duty, and that all Christians should enjoy universal toleration. Hence scarcely any churches have written creeds, although nearly all record their principles of action. Very few are Trinitarians, though nearly all believe in the [pg 297]
Perfect uniformity does not exist among all the members of this community, although the approximation to it is far greater than many have supposed it ever could be without a written creed. But there are several important points in which they generally agree fully; and these are regarded as sufficient to secure Christian character, Christian fellowship, and concert of action. Some of these points are the following:—That the Scriptures, including the Old and New Testament, were given by inspiration of God, and are sufficient to teach what men should believe, and what they should practise. That every man has a right to study the Scriptures, and to exercise his own judgment with regard to their true import and meaning. That there is one God, perfect and infinite. That Jesus Christ is the Son of God in the highest possible sense, and that salvation is found in him alone. That all men have sinned and come short of the glory of God, therefore are polluted and guilty. That no transgressor can find pardon but by repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. That the Holy Spirit reproves all sinners, and comforts all Christians. That whoever has sinned has also a way of salvation set before him. That pardon and eternal salvation are found alone through regeneration. That none are proper subjects of church membership, or the ordinances except the regenerated. That God calls men to the ministry, and no others are his true ministers. That perseverance to the end is the only condition on our part that can secure our eternal happiness. That revivals of religion are of the first importance, and should be labored for continually. That every believer should be immersed, and become a public member of some visible church. That every church should continue to observe the Lord's supper. That there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and of the unjust; and that, at the day of judgment, the righteous and the wicked [pg 298]
On all the above points, there is but very little difference of opinion or practice throughout the whole body.
Candidates for baptism and church membership are required to give the reason of their hope, by a relation of their Christian experience; and persons coming from other churches are expected to furnish satisfactory testimonials of their Christian character.
Their communions are always open and free for all Christians of every denomination; but no unconverted or immoral person is invited to the Lord's table.
Each church is so far independent as to have a right to transact all its internal affairs without foreign interference. Every church makes choice of its own minister, agrees on its own principles of action, and administers its own discipline, as they understand the New Testament; but the imposition of hands is invariably administered by ordained ministers.
The connection between the several churches, and between the ministers, is kept up by means of associations called conferences, each of which is generally composed of the ministers and churches within a certain district. These hold annual sessions, at which the ministers meet in person, and the churches by delegates. The churches and ministers are generally thus associated; but, if any choose not to do so, the fraternal bonds are not thereby impaired.
Very few of their ministers are thoroughly educated men; but they are generally well acquainted with the Bible, and many of them good sermonizers and powerful preachers. All the important means by which pure Christianity may be advanced are fast gaining favor both in the ministry and the churches.
Within the last few years, there has been a very rapid spread, and great increase; while all has been settling upon a firm and consistent basis. While many are engaged calling sinners to repentance, the churches are set in order, and thus mightily the word of God grows and prevails.
This school of theology, which has become famous both in England and abroad, had its origin at Oxford, about A. D. 1838. Some distinguished members of the university thought that the church of England was in an alarming position, and that irreligious principles and false doctrines had been admitted into the measures of the government of the country on a large scale. To check the progress of these supposed errors and mischievous practices, they published a series of “Tracts for the Times,” on such subjects as the constitution of the church; the authority of its ministers; refutations of the errors of Romanism, and how to oppose it, &c. &c.
The Puseyites strenuously assert the apostolical succession; in other words, that the clergy derive their power from the apostles, through episcopal ordination.
In regard to church polity, they maintain that the church is an empire and government of its own,—a government appointed by God,—and that its laws, as they are to be found in the Book of Common Prayer, ought to be implicitly obeyed. They deprecate the neglect of the daily service, the desecration of festivals, and the scanty administration of the eucharist.
With respect to sacraments, the Puseyites hold that they are not subjects of discussion, or for speculation; but “high, mysterious, awful Christian privileges—to be felt, reverenced, embraced, realized, acted.”
With respect to church authority, they hold that human tradition has no place in revelation; that no individuals, since the apostles, can be regarded as expositors of the will of Christ; that the unanimous witness of Christendom, as to the teaching of the apostles, is the only and the fully-sufficient guaranty of the whole revealed faith, and that we do possess historically such a guaranty in the remains of the primitive church.
[pg 300]The Puseyites inculcate the necessity of dispensing religious truth with caution and reverence, not throwing it promiscuously before minds ill suited to receive it.
A characteristic feature of the Oxford school of theology, is its opposition to what is called the “popular religionism of the day.” The masters of the school grieve that men are sent from the seat of their education with the belief that they are to think, not read; judge, rather than learn; and look to their own minds for truth, rather than to some permanent external standard.
At the head of this school are Dr. Pusey, Regius professor of Hebrew, and canon of Christ Church, Rev. J. Keble, professor of poetry, Rev. J. H. Newman, Rev. J. Williams, and Rev. W. Sewall, professor of moral philosophy.
This denomination of Christians dissent from the regular Baptists on the point that immersion is a prerequisite to the privileges of a church relation, and permit Christians of all denominations, in regular church standing, to partake with them at the Lord's table.
The Rev. Robert Hall, of England, one of the most learned and eloquent Baptist ministers of the age, was an unflinching opposer of the practice of “close communion,” which he denounced as “unchristian and unnatural.” In a tract written in defence of his views on this subject, he remarks, “It is too much to expect an enlightened public will be eager to enroll themselves among the members of a sect which displays much of the intolerance of Popery, without any portion of its splendor, and prescribes, as the pledge of conversion, the renunciation of the whole Christian world.”
In reference to the mode of baptism, Mr. Hall says, “I would not myself baptize in any other way than by immersion, [pg 301]
This class of Baptists are found chiefly in the western and northern parts of the state of New York. They number between forty and fifty churches and ministers.
Transcendent and Transcendental are technical terms in philosophy. According to their etymology, (from transcendere,) they signify that which goes beyond a certain limit; in philosophy, that which goes beyond, or transcends, the circle of experience, or of what is perceptible by the senses. Properly speaking, all philosophy is in this sense transcendental, because all philosophical investigations rise above the sensual, even if they start from that which is perceptible by the senses. But philosophical inquiries are to be distinguished according as they proceed from experience, or from principles and ideas not derived from that source. The latter sort are called, in a narrower sense, pure, or transcendental. The school of Kant makes a still further distinction: it gives the name of transcendental to that which does not, indeed, originate from experience, but yet is connected with it, because it contains the grounds of the possibility of experience; but the term transcendent it applies to that which cannot be connected with experience, but transcends the limit of possible experience and of philosophizing.
As applied in this country, especially when used as a term of reproach, Transcendentalism would designate a system [pg 302]
The first Protestant Confession was that presented, in 1530, to the diet of Augsburg, by the suggestion and under the direction of John, elector of Saxony. This wise and prudent prince, with the view of having the principal grounds on which the Protestants had separated from the Romish communion distinctly submitted to that assembly, intrusted the duty of preparing a summary of them to the divines of Wittemberg. Nor was that task a difficult one; for the Reformed doctrines had already been digested into seventeen articles, which had been proposed at the conferences both at Sultzbach and Smalcald, as the confession of faith to be adopted by the Protestant confederates. These, accordingly, were delivered to the elector by Luther, and served as the basis of the celebrated Augsburg Confession, written “by the elegant and accurate pen of Melancthon”—a work which has been admired by many even of its enemies, for its perspicuity, piety, and erudition. It contains twenty-eight chapters, the leading topics of which are, the true and essential divinity of Christ; his substitution and vicarious sacrifice; original sin; human inability; the necessity, freedom, and efficacy of divine grace; consubstantiation; and particularly justification by faith, to establish the truth and importance of which was one of its chief objects. The last seven articles condemn and confute the Popish tenets of communion in one kind, clerical celibacy, private masses, auricular confession, legendary traditions, [pg 303]
The chief point of separation between the Armenians on the one side, and the Greeks and the Papists on the other, is, that, while the latter believe in two natures and one person of Christ, the former believe that the humanity and divinity of Christ were so united as to form but one nature; and hence they are called Monophysites, signifying single nature.
Another point on which they are charged with heresy by the Papists is, that they adhere to the notion that the Spirit proceeds from the Father only; and in this the Greeks join them, though the Papists say that he proceeds from the Father and the Son. In other respects, the Greeks and Armenians have very nearly the same religious opinions, though they differ somewhat in their forms and modes of worship. For instance, the Greeks make the sign of the cross with three fingers, in token of their belief in the doctrine of the Trinity, while the Armenians use two fingers, and the Jacobites, one.
The Armenians hold to seven sacraments, like the Latins although baptism, confirmation, and extreme unction, are all performed at the same time; and the forms of prayer for confirmation and extreme unction are perfectly intermingled, which leads one to suppose that, in fact, the latter sacrament does not exist among them, except in name, and that this they have borrowed from the Papists.
Infants are baptized both by triple immersion and pouring water three times upon the head; the former being done, [pg 304]
The latter ceremony they derive from the tradition that, when Christ was baptized, he stood in the midst of Jordan, and John poured water from his hand three times upon his head. In all their pictures of this scene, such is the representation of the mode of our Savior's baptism. Converted Jews, or Mahometans, though adults, are baptized in the same manner.
The Armenians acknowledge sprinkling as a lawful mode of baptism; for they receive from other churches those that have merely been sprinkled, without rebaptizing them.
They believe firmly in transubstantiation, and worship the consecrated elements as God.
Unleavened bread is used in the sacrament, and the broken pieces of bread are dipped in undiluted wine, and thus given to the people.
The latter, however, do not handle it, but receive it into their mouths from the hands of the priest. They suppose it has in itself a sanctifying and saving power. The Greeks, in this sacrament, use leavened bread, and wine mixed with water.
The Armenians discard the Popish doctrine of purgatory but yet, most inconsistently, they pray for the dead.
They hold to confession of sins to the priests, who impose penances and grant absolution, though without money, and they give no indulgences.
They pray through the mediation of the virgin Mary, and other saints. The belief that Mary was always a virgin, is a point of very high importance with them; and they consider the thought of her having given birth to children after the birth of Christ, as in the highest degree derogatory to her character, and impious.
They regard baptism and regeneration as the same thing and have no conception of any spiritual change; and they know little of any other terms of salvation than penance, the Lord's supper, fasting, and good works in general.
[pg 305]The Armenians are strictly Trinitarians in their views, holding firmly to the supreme divinity of Christ, and the doctrine of atonement for sin; though their views on the latter subject, as well as in regard to faith and repentance, are somewhat obscure. They say that Christ died to atone for original sin, and that actual sin is to be washed away by penances,—which, in their view, is repentance. Penances are prescribed by the priests, and sometimes consist in an offering of money to the church, a pilgrimage, or more commonly in repeating certain prayers, or reading the whole book of Psalms a specified number of times. Faith in Christ seems to mean but little more than believing in the mystery of transubstantiation.—See Coleman's Christian Antiquities.
This sect forms a party in England, which seceded from the Wesleyans in 1817. They differ from the Wesleyans chiefly in church government, by admitting lay representation. They are said to increase rapidly. Their present number is about seventy thousand.
An heretical sect in the early church, which derives its name from Novatian, an heresiarch of the third century, who was ordained a priest of the church of Rome, and afterwards got himself clandestinely consecrated bishop of Rome, by three weak men, upon whom he had imposed, and one of whom afterwards did penance for his concern in the business. He was never acknowledged bishop of Rome, but was condemned and excommunicated. He still, however [pg 306]
The branch of the Christian church known by this name is so called from Nestorius, a patriarch of Constantinople, who was born in Germanica, a city of Syria, in the latter part of the fourth century. He was educated and baptized at Antioch, and, soon after his baptism, withdrew to a monastery in the vicinity of that city. His great reputation for eloquence, and the regularity of his life, induced the emperor Theodosius to select him for the see of Constantinople; and he was consecrated bishop of that church A. D. 429. He became a violent persecutor of heretics; but, because he favored the doctrine of his friend Anastasius, that “the virgin Mary cannot with propriety be called the mother of God,” he was anathematized by Cyril, bishop of Alexandria, who, in his turn, was anathematized by Nestorius. In the council of Ephesus, A. D. 431, (the third General Council of the church,) at which Cyril presided, and at which Nestorius was not present, he was judged and condemned without being heard, and deprived of his see. He then retired to his monastery, in Antioch, and was afterwards banished to Petra, in Arabia, and thence to Oasis, in Egypt, where he died, about A. D. 435 or 439.
The decision of the council of Ephesus caused many difficulties in the church; and the friends of Nestorius carried his doctrines through all the Oriental provinces, and established numerous congregations, professing an invincible opposition to the decrees of the Ephesian council. Nestorianism spread rapidly over the East, and was embraced by a [pg 307]
The Nestorian church is Episcopal in its government, like all the other Oriental churches. Its doctrines, also, are, in general, the same with those of those churches, and they receive and repeat, in their public worship, the Nicene creed. Their distinguishing doctrines appear to be, their believing that Mary was not the mother of Jesus Christ, as God, but only as man, and that there are, consequently, two persons, as well as two natures, in the Son of God. This notion was looked upon in the earlier ages of the church as a most momentous error; but it has in later times been considered more as an error of words than of doctrine; and that the error of Nestorius was in the words he employed to express his meaning, rather than in the doctrine itself. While the Nestorians believe that Christ had two natures and two persons, they say “that these natures and persons are so closely and intimately united that they have but one aspect.” “Now, the word barsopa, by which they express this aspect, is precisely of the same signification with the Greek word p??s?p??, which signifies a person; and hence it is evident that they attached to the word aspect the same idea that we attach to the word person, and that they understood, by the word person, precisely what we understand by the term nature.”
The Nestorians, of all the Christian churches of the East, have been the most careful and successful in avoiding a multitude of superstitious opinions and practices, which have infected the Romish and many Eastern churches.
[pg 308]Our readers are referred to an interesting volume recently published by Asahel Grant, M. D., in which is contained strong evidence that the Nestorians and the “Lost Tribes” are one people.
A term first given to the Nonjurors, who refused to acknowledge William III. as their lawful king, and who had very proud notions of church power; but it is now commonly used in a more extensive signification, and is applied to all those who, though far from being Nonjurors, yet form high conceptions of the authority and jurisdiction of the church.
Copy of the first Covenant, or Confession of Faith, of the First Church in Salem, Massachusetts.
The first ordination to the pastoral office, and the first complete organization and erection of a Protestant church, in North America, took place in that town, in the year 1629.
The First Covenant, Or Confession Of Faith, Of The First Church In Salem.
“We covenant with our Lord, and one with another, and we do bind ourselves, in the presence of God, to walk together in all his ways, according as he is pleased to reveal himself unto us in his blessed word of truth; and do explicitly, [pg 309]
“We avouch the Lord to be our God, and ourselves to be his people, in the truth and simplicity of our spirits.
“We give ourselves to the Lord Jesus Christ, and the word of his grace, for the teaching, ruling, and sanctifying of us in matters of worship and conversation, resolving to cleave unto him alone for life and glory, and to reject all contrary ways, canons, and constitutions of men, in his worship.
“We promise to walk with our brethren, with all watchfulness and tenderness, avoiding jealousies and suspicions, backbitings, censurings, provokings, secret risings of spirit against them; but, in all offences, to follow the rule of our Lord Jesus, and to bear and forbear, give and forgive, as he hath taught us.
“In public or private, we will willingly do nothing to the offence of the church, but will be willing to take advice for ourselves and ours, as occasion shall be presented.
“We will not, in the congregation, be forward, either to show our own gifts and parts in speaking or scrupling, or there discover the weakness or failings of our brethren; but attend an orderly call thereunto, knowing how much the Lord may be dishonored, and his gospel, and the profession of it, slighted by our distempers and weaknesses in public.
“We bind ourselves to study the advancement of the gospel in all truth and peace, both in regard to those that are within or without; no way slighting our sister churches, but using their counsel, as need shall be; not laying a stumbling-block before any, no, not the Indians, whose good we desire to promote; and so to converse, as we may avoid the very appearance of evil.
“We do hereby promise to carry ourselves in all lawful obedience to those that are over us, in church or commonwealth, knowing how well pleasing it will be to the Lord, [pg 310]
“We resolve to approve ourselves to the Lord in our particular callings, shunning idleness, as the bane of any state; nor will we deal hardly or oppressingly with any, wherein we are the Lord's stewards.
“Promising, also, unto our best ability, to teach our children and servants the knowledge of God, and of his will, that they may serve him also; and all this, not by any strength of our own, but by the Lord Christ, whose blood we desire may sprinkle this our covenant, made in his name”
“The above is a covenant,” says a learned divine, “to which all good Christians, of every denomination, to the end of time, will be able to subscribe their names,—written in a style of touching simplicity, which has seldom been equalled, and containing sentiments which are felt to be eloquent by every amiable and pious heart,—and should form the bond to unite the whole church on earth, as they will unite the church of the redeemed in heaven. This Covenant might well be adopted by all Congregational and Protestant churches; and it will forever constitute the glory, perpetuate the fame, and render precious the memory, of Francis Higginson, the first minister of Salem.”12
