Orthodoxy: Its Truths And Errors - free ebook by James Freeman Clarke

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Orthodoxy: Its Truths And Errors

James Freeman Clarke

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Preface.

Preface.

The Protestant Reformation has its Principle and its Method. Its Principle is Salvation by Faith, not by Sacraments. Its Method is Private Judgment, not Church Authority. But private judgment generates authority; authority, first legitimate, that of knowledge, grows into the illegitimate authority of prescription, calling itself Orthodoxy. Then Private Judgment comes forth again to criticise and reform. It thus becomes the duty of each individual to judge the Church; and out of innumerable indiv

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§ 1. Object and Character of this Book.

§ 1. Object and Character of this Book.

This we are about to undertake in the present treatise. We stand in the Unitarian position, but shall endeavor to see if there be not some truths in Orthodoxy which Unitarians have not yet adequately recognized. To use the language of our motto—we come “not as deserters, but as explorers” into the camp of Orthodoxy. We are satisfied with our Unitarian position, as a stand-point from which to survey that of others. And especially are we grateful to it, since it encourages us by all its traditions

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§ 2. Progress requires that we should look back as well as forward.

§ 2. Progress requires that we should look back as well as forward.

We ask, What are the substantial truths, and what the formal errors, of Orthodoxy? But what do we mean by these terms? By Orthodoxy in general is meant the right system of belief. This is the dictionary definition. But as the world and the Church differ as to which is the right system of belief—as there are a vast multitude of systems—and as all sects and parties, and all men, believe the system they themselves hold to be the right belief—Orthodoxy, in this sense of right belief, means nothing.

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§ 3. Orthodoxy as Right Belief.

§ 3. Orthodoxy as Right Belief.

A political party does not offer such an affront to its opponents. It may name itself Democratic, Republican, Federal; it may call itself the Conservative party, or that of Reform. By these titles it indicates its leading idea—it signifies that it bears the standard of reform, or that it stands by the old institutions of the country. But no political party ever takes a name signifying that it is all right and its opponents all wrong. This assumption was left to religious sects, and to those who

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§ 4. Orthodoxy as the Doctrine of the Majority. Objections.

§ 4. Orthodoxy as the Doctrine of the Majority. Objections.

Some people think that Orthodoxy means the oldest doctrine, and that if they can only find out what doctrine was believed by the Church in the first century, they shall have the true orthodox doctrine. But the early Church held some opinions which all now believe to be false. They believed, for instance, that Jesus was to return visibly, in that age, and set up his church in person, and reign in the world in outward form—a thing which did not take place. They therefore believed in the early chur

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§ 5. Orthodoxy as the Oldest Doctrine. Objections.

§ 5. Orthodoxy as the Oldest Doctrine. Objections.

But, it may be said, if Orthodoxy does not mean the absolutely right system of belief, nor the system held by the majority, nor the oldest doctrine of the Church, it may, nevertheless, mean the essential truths held in all Christian Churches, in all ages and times; in short, according to the ancient formula—that which has been believed always, by all persons, and everywhere— “ quod semper, quod ab omnibus, quod ubique .” In this sense no one would object to Orthodoxy. Only make your Catholicity

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§ 6. Orthodoxy as the Doctrine held by all.

§ 6. Orthodoxy as the Doctrine held by all.

Any attempt, therefore, rigidly to define Orthodoxy, destroys it. Regarded as a precise statement, in a fixed or definite form, it is an impossibility. There is no such thing, and never has been. No creed ever made satisfied even the majority. How, indeed, can any statement proceeding from the human brain be an adequate and permanent expression of eternal truth? Even the apostle says, “I know in part, and I prophesy in part, but when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shal

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§ 7. Orthodoxy, as a Formula, not to be found.

§ 7. Orthodoxy, as a Formula, not to be found.

If, therefore, every doctrinal statement is changeable and changing; if the history of opinions shows the rise and fall of creeds,—one after the other becoming dominant, and then passing away; if no formula has ever gained the universal assent of Christendom; if the oldest creeds contained errors now universally rejected,—what then remains as Orthodoxy? We answer, no one statement, but something underlying all statements—no one system of theology, but certain convictions, perhaps, pervading all

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§ 8. Orthodoxy as Convictions underlying Opinions.

§ 8. Orthodoxy as Convictions underlying Opinions.

Are there any such great convictions underlying and informing all the creeds? I think there are. I think, for example, it has always been believed in the Church that in some sense man is a sinner, and in some sense Christ is a Saviour from sin; that Christianity is in some way a supernatural revelation of the divine will and love; that Scripture is somehow an inspired book, and has authority over our belief and life; that there is a Church, composed of disciples of Jesus, whose work in the world

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§ 9. Substantial Truth and Formal Error in all great Doctrinal Systems.

§ 9. Substantial Truth and Formal Error in all great Doctrinal Systems.

This distinction is one of immense importance; because, being properly apprehended, it would, by destroying dogmatism, destroy bigotry also. Dogmatism consists in assuming that the essence of truth lies in its formal statement. Correctly assuming that the life of the soul comes from the sight of truth, it falsely infers that the essence of truth is in the verbal formula. Consequently, this formula must necessarily seem of supreme importance, and the very salvation of the soul to depend on holdin

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§ 10. Importance of this Distinction.

§ 10. Importance of this Distinction.

What, then, is the duty of those who stand opposed to each other in these controversies—of Catholics and Protestants, Christians and Deists, Orthodox and Unitarians? They have plainly a twofold duty to themselves as well as to their opponents. They ought to increase their insight, and to improve their statements; to deepen and widen their hold of the substance; to correct and improve their expression of the form. The first is the work of religion; the second, that of theology. The first is infin

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§ 11. The Orthodox and Liberal Parties in New England.

§ 11. The Orthodox and Liberal Parties in New England.

This is the object of the present work, which, though written by a Unitarian, and from a Unitarian stand-point, and though published by the American Unitarian Association, will, we trust, be sufficiently unsectarian. The principle of Orthodoxy is, that there is one true system of Christian doctrine, and that all others are false; that this system can be, and has been, so stated in words as to distinguish it from all the false systems or heresies; and that this true system of doctrine is the one

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§ 2. Logical Genesis of the Principle of Orthodoxy.

§ 2. Logical Genesis of the Principle of Orthodoxy.

The natural test of Orthodoxy is assumed to be the belief of the majority of Christians; for if Christianity be a revelation of truth, its essential contents must be easy to apprehend, and when apprehended, they must be generally accepted. The revelations of God in nature are seen and accepted by the human intellect, and so become matters of science. Orthodox science is that which the great majority of scientific men have accepted as such; and Orthodox Christianity , in like manner, must be that

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§ 3. Orthodoxy assumed to be the Belief of the Majority.

§ 3. Orthodoxy assumed to be the Belief of the Majority.

But if the essential truth of Christianity be thus plain, those who do not receive it must be either stupid or wilful. Its rejection argues a want of intellect or a bad heart. Heretics, therefore, ought logically to become to the Orthodox objects either of contempt or hatred. If they cannot see what is so plain, they must be intellectually imbecile. If they will not see it, they must be morally depraved. Therefore intelligent people who accept and teach heresies ought to be considered wicked peo

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§ 4. Heterodoxy thus becomes sinful.

§ 4. Heterodoxy thus becomes sinful.

If Orthodoxy consists in a statement of opinions the belief of which is essential to salvation, the question arises, Are all these opinions essential, or only a part? It is generally admitted that the great system called Orthodoxy contains some things not essential to salvation. How shall these be distinguished? Moreover, some variation of statement is judged allowable. No Orthodox creed is assumed to be inspired as to its language. The same essential truth may be expressed in different terms. H

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§ 5. The Doctrine of Essentials and Non-essentials leads to Rome.

§ 5. The Doctrine of Essentials and Non-essentials leads to Rome.

The fallacy in all this argument lies here—that faith is confounded with belief; knowledge with opinion; the sight of truth with its intellectual statement in the form of doctrine. Undoubtedly there is only one faith, but there may be many ways of stating it in the form of opinion. Moreover, no man, no church, no age, sees the whole of truth. Truth is multilateral, but men's minds are unilateral. They are mirrors which reflect, and that imperfectly, the side of the object which is towards them.

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§ 6. Fallacy in this Orthodox Argument.

§ 6. Fallacy in this Orthodox Argument.

We see, therefore, that the great master and head of Orthodoxy in the Church has himself declared every form of Orthodoxy to be transient. We conclude, therefore, that the apostle Paul, in this famous passage, overturns the whole principle of verbal Orthodoxy. He takes away its foundation. Not denying the reality and permanence of religious experience, not denying the saving power of truth, he declares that no expressed system of truth is permanent. The basis of doctrinal Orthodoxy is the assump

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§ 7. The three Tendencies in the Church.

§ 7. The three Tendencies in the Church.

Large numbers in the Church have followed each of these three methods, and made each the basis of its action. One has said, “We are saved by works;” a second, “We are saved by faith;” a third, “We are saved by love.” Two tendencies have joined in teaching salvation by works, or, more strictly, in teaching the initiative of the will in religion . These are the Church-tendency and the Moral-tendency in Christianity. The Church party in Christianity teaches that the first duty towards a child is to

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§ 8. The Party of Works.

§ 8. The Party of Works.

Essentially the same view is taken by the Ethical party, or Moralists, in Christianity. Their statement, also, of the foundation of religion is, that it lies in obedience. They differ only from the Church party as regards the authority to be obeyed. With them it is not the Church, but the Moral Law, as made known to men in revelation, or in the natural instincts of conscience. The foundation of all goodness and religion is right doing. This leads to right thinking and right feeling; or, when it

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§ 9. The Party of Emotion in Christianity.

§ 9. The Party of Emotion in Christianity.

If Churchism and Moralism place the essence of Christianity in action, and Emotionalism puts it in feeling, Orthodoxy places it in something intellectual, which it calls faith. All the sects of Christendom do, indeed, place faith at the root of the Christian life; but some make it essentially an intellectual act, others essentially affectionate, and others an act of will. Orthodoxy makes it, in substance, a sight of faith, or an act of looking at spiritual realities. Sometimes it is called a rea

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§ 10. The Faith Party in Religion.

§ 10. The Faith Party in Religion.

Admitting, then, what all these systems and parties in the Church unite in asserting,—that an act of faith is always at the foundation of every Christian state and of all Christian experience,—we ask, Which is the most essential element in faith—will, intellect, or affection? Is an act of faith chiefly an act of the will, a determination, or is it a loving desire, or a state of knowledge, a looking at truth? Suppose we call it a state of love, for this reason, that in order to be good, the first

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§ 11. Truth in the Orthodox Idea.

§ 11. Truth in the Orthodox Idea.

Protestantism arose in this way, to salt the corrupting Church. Ecclesiasticism, in its well-meant efforts at training men, by a complete discipline, to a perfect virtue, had suppressed the individual love of truth to such an extent, that religion had become a mere surface, without substance. Jesuitism abolished the distinction between things right and wrong in themselves, and made right to consist solely in the intention; that is, made it wholly subjective. The Lutheran reformation was the revi

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§ 12. Error in the Orthodox Principle.

§ 12. Error in the Orthodox Principle.

Therefore we still contend that Protestantism and Orthodoxy are right in making the free and independent sight of truth the root of all religion. But the mistake of Orthodoxy has been in confounding truth with doctrine—the sight of the thing with the theory about that sight. From hence come the hardness and coldness of Orthodoxy. Pure thought is always cold, and ought to be. The sight of spiritual things is truth and love in one; but when we begin to reflect on that sight, the love drops out, an

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§ 13. Faith, Knowledge, Belief, Opinion.

§ 13. Faith, Knowledge, Belief, Opinion.

These steps of intellectual activity may be called by other names than these. What we (with Jacobi) call faith, 7 may be denominated “intuition” (with the transcendentalists), reason (with Coleridge), God-consciousness (with Schleiermacher), or anschauungs-vermögen (with Schelling and others). But, by whatever name we call this power, we say there is a power in man by which he can see spiritual facts, as with his earthly senses he can perceive sensible facts. If he has no such power, he is incap

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§ 1. Meaning of Natural and Supernatural.

§ 1. Meaning of Natural and Supernatural.

Thus brutes, and men like brutes, who are below the moral law, are subter natural as regards that law. We do not call it a sin in a tiger to kill a man, for he is below law as regards sin. He is below the moral law. Again, we can conceive of angels so high up as to be above the moral law, in part of its domain, not capable either of common virtue or of common sin, according to our standards of morality, though perhaps under some higher code of ethics. They are supernatural beings as regards that

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§ 2. The Creation Supernatural.

§ 2. The Creation Supernatural.

This being granted, the question between naturalism and supernaturalism is, whether this superintending mind, which came from above the world into it by acts of creation, when the world was made, has or has not come into it subsequently. We have a series of creations down to the time that man arrived on the earth. When he came, he was a supernatural being, and his coming a supernatural event. Unless we assume that he was developed, by existing laws, out of some ape, gorilla, or chimpanzee, his c

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§ 3. The Question stated.

§ 3. The Question stated.

The supernaturalist says, God comes to us in both ways—through nature; that is, through the order of things already established; and also by new creative impulses, coming in, from time to time, from above. He contends that such a new creative impulse came into the world through Jesus Christ, adding a new substance and new forms to those already existing—a new life not before in the world, proceeding according to new laws. This new creation, as the Scriptures themselves term it, is Christianity.

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§ 4. Argument of the Supernaturalist from successive Geologic Creations.

§ 4. Argument of the Supernaturalist from successive Geologic Creations.

But there is another example of the supernatural element in the world. Dr. Bushnell, in his book called “Nature and the Supernatural,” contends that man is capable of supernatural acts; that, in fact, every really free act is, and must be, a supernatural act. To those who hold the doctrine of necessity, this is, of course, no argument. But they who believe, in the testimony of their own consciousness, that they are free beings; who feel that they are not dragged helplessly by the strongest motiv

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§ 5. Supernatural Argument from Human Freedom.

§ 5. Supernatural Argument from Human Freedom.

Now, says the supernaturalist, if we have all this evidence to show that God not only acts through nature, by carrying on existing forces and laws, but also has repeatedly come into nature with new creations, not there before,—and if even man himself has a certain limited but strictly supernatural power, so as to be able to stand outside of the nexus of law, and act upon it,—why deny, as incredible, that God should have made a new moral creation in Christianity? should have created a new class,

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§ 6. Supernatural Events not necessarily Violations of Law.

§ 6. Supernatural Events not necessarily Violations of Law.

And besides all this, says the supernaturalist, we have continued and constant evidences, in all history and in all human experience, of the existence of this supernatural element. Only a small minority of mankind have ever doubted it; and those are men so immersed in physical science, or so hampered by some logical manacles, or so steeped in purely worldly affairs, as to be incapable of seeing the supernatural facts which are recurrent evermore. Christianity itself has been an uninterrupted ser

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§ 7. Life and History contain Supernatural Events.

§ 7. Life and History contain Supernatural Events.

Supernaturalism has generally disregarded God in nature, and only sees him in revelation. It has allowed a sort of natural religion, but only in the way of an argument to prove the existence of God by what he did a long time ago. But it has not gone habitually to nature to see God there, incarnate in sun, moon, and stars; incorporate in spring, summer, autumn, and winter; in day and night; in the human soul, reason, love, will. God has been all around us, never far from us; but theology has only

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§ 8. The Error of Orthodox Supernaturalism.

§ 8. The Error of Orthodox Supernaturalism.

Then the Church has been too apt to teach a miraculous revelation, in which the miracles are violations of law. But as God is confessedly the author of law, it has made the Deity violate his own laws; that is, has made him inconsistent, arbitrary, irregular, and wilful. Deep in the human mind God has himself rooted a firm faith in the immutability of law; so that when miracles are thus defined, naturalism justly objects to them. But between true naturalism and true supernaturalism we do not thin

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§ 9. No Conflict between Naturalism and Supernaturalism.

§ 9. No Conflict between Naturalism and Supernaturalism.

Orthodoxy has erred, as it would seem, in placing too great a gulf between Christianity and all other religions. Christianity is sufficiently distinguished from all other religions by being regarded as the perfect, and therefore universal, religion of mankind. It is to all preceding religions what man is to all previous races. These are separated from man by various indelible characters; yet they are his fellow-creatures, proceeding from the same creative mind, according to one creative plan. So

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§ 10. Further Errors of Orthodox Supernaturalism—Gulf between Christianity and all other Religions.

§ 10. Further Errors of Orthodox Supernaturalism—Gulf between Christianity and all other Religions.

Now, the common teaching in our churches and religious books and newspapers tends to depreciate all natural religion in the interest of revealed religion. It is commonly said that the light of nature helps us a very little way in the knowledge of God. “Look at the heathen,” it is said; “see their religious ignorance, their awful superstitions, their degrading worship of idols, and their subjection to priestcraft. This is your boasted light of nature, and these are its results—the Fetichism of Af

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§ 11. Christianity considered unnatural, as well as supernatural by being made hostile to the Nature of Man.

§ 11. Christianity considered unnatural, as well as supernatural by being made hostile to the Nature of Man.

In considering the truth and error in the Orthodox doctrine concerning miracles, we must, first , find out what this doctrine is; secondly , see what objections have been urged against it; and so, lastly, we may come to some conclusion as to where the truth or the error lies. There are, however, four distinct questions in regard to miracles, each of which may be considered separately. There is the philosophic question, or definition of a miracle, which asks, What is a miracle? Then there is the

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§ 2. The Definition of a Miracle.

§ 2. The Definition of a Miracle.

Robinson's Bible Dictionary. “ Miracle. A sign, wonder, prodigy. These terms are commonly used in Scripture to denote an action, event, or effect, superior (or contrary) to the general and established laws of nature. And they are given, not only to true miracles, wrought by saints or prophets sent by God, but also to the false miracles of impostors, and to wonders wrought by the wicked, by false prophets or by devils. ” After giving examples of this from the Scriptures, Robinson adds, “ Miracles

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§ 3. The different Explanations of the Miracles of the Bible.

§ 3. The different Explanations of the Miracles of the Bible.

This, until recently, has been the favorite view of miracles among theologians, and is the view of miracles against which the arguments of those who reject them have been chiefly directed. The arguments in favor of this view are these:— 1. The miracles of the New Testament seem to be violations of laws of nature. For example: the turning water into wine; healing by a word or touch; stilling the tempest; feeding five thousand; walking on the sea; transfiguration; raising of Lazarus; Christ's own

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§ 4. Criticism on these Different Views of Miracles.

§ 4. Criticism on these Different Views of Miracles.

The reason why so many intelligent men find it impossible to believe the miracles of the New Testament, while they find it very easy to believe the religious and moral teaching of Jesus is partly due to the spirit of the age. The intellect of this age is more and more scientific. Now, science is the knowledge of facts and laws. A miracle is opposed to all usual observation of facts, and is often called by theologians a violation of the laws of nature. It is not therefore strange that men imbued

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§ 5. Miracles no Proof of Christianity.

§ 5. Miracles no Proof of Christianity.

The Orthodox doctrine has been, and still is, that Christianity rests on miracles. Our view is, that miracles rest on Christianity. But we close this section with extracts from Luther, Channing, Trench, and Walker, to show that the view for which we contend is not without able supporters in all parts of the Church. Martin Luther says,— “ People cry it up as a great miracle, that Christ made the blind see, the deaf hear, and the lepers clean; and it is true such works are miraculous signs; but Ch

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§ 6. But Orthodoxy is right in maintaining their Reality as Historic Facts.

§ 6. But Orthodoxy is right in maintaining their Reality as Historic Facts.

I do not deny that some mistakes or misapprehensions may have crept into the records. Occasionally we can see signs of something being mistaken for a miracle which was really not one. For example, the finding of a piece of money in the fish's mouth may have been the mistake of a proverbial expression, common among fishermen, and used by Matthew in his original Hebrew Gospel, but which the Greek translator, ignorant of the popular phrase, considered to be meant for a miracle. The most natural sup

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§ 7. Analogy with other Similar Events recorded in History.

§ 7. Analogy with other Similar Events recorded in History.

I. There is in man a power, as yet undeveloped, and only occasionally seen in exceptional conditions, of overcoming the common laws of nature by force of will; and this is sometimes voluntary, and sometimes involuntary. II. This phenomenon takes these forms:— A. Power of the soul over the body (a.) to resist pain , as in the case of martyrs, who are burned alive without any appearance of suffering; (b.) to resist physical injury , as in the case of the Convulsionists; (c.) to dispense with the u

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§ 8. Miracle of the Resurrection. Sceptical Objections.

§ 8. Miracle of the Resurrection. Sceptical Objections.

“ Strauss's prepossession, therefore, is justifiable. It is the prepossession of the rational theist, who does not believe in a God who changes his mind and improves with practice—the prentice maker of the world; it is the prepossession of the pantheist, in whose theory of the perfect government of an immanent God, miracle is an extravagance and absurdity; it is the prepossession of the philosophical naturalist, whose experience of the operations of nature recognizes no extra-mundane interventio

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§ 9. Final Result of this Examination.

§ 9. Final Result of this Examination.

Miracles were at first believed, on low grounds, as violations of law by a God outside of the world. Now they are disbelieved on scientific grounds. They may possibly be believed again on grounds of philosophy and historic evidence, not as portents, not as violations of law, not as the basis of a logical argument, but as the natural effluence and outcome of a soul like that of Jesus, into which a supernatural influx of light and life had descended. They are not more wonderful than nature; they a

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§ 1. Subject of this Chapter. Three Views concerning the Bible.

§ 1. Subject of this Chapter. Three Views concerning the Bible.

This is the Orthodox theory even at the present time. Any variation from this is considered a deviation into heresy. No doubt, in practice it is deviated from, by very Orthodox people; but all Protestant sects, claiming to be Orthodox, profess to hold to the plenary inspiration of the Bible. ( b. ) The Rationalist or Naturalistic View of the Bible. —The Bible is not inspired at all, or at least in no way differing from any other book. Its authors were inspired, perhaps, just as Homer, or Thucydi

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§ 2. The Difficulty. Antiquity of the World, and Age of Mankind.

§ 2. The Difficulty. Antiquity of the World, and Age of Mankind.

Another question, which is now being investigated, is the age of mankind—the antiquity of the human race. The Bible gives the list of generations from Adam to Abraham; and the length of each, and other data, given in Scripture, make six thousand years for the life of man on this earth. Greek history only goes back some twenty-three hundred years; the Egyptian monuments go back fifteen hundred or two thousand years earlier—to 2000 B.C., or 3000 B.C. The “Vedas,” in India, may have been written 15

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§ 3. Basis of the Orthodox Theory of Inspiration.

§ 3. Basis of the Orthodox Theory of Inspiration.

The only religion, it is added, which is of any real value, is that which carries with it this authority. The outward world, with its influences and its temptations, is so strong, that we shall be swept away by it unless we can oppose to it some inward conviction as solid and real. Amid the temptations of the senses, the allurements of pleasure, the deceitfulness of riches, will it enable a man to hold fast to honesty, temperance, purity, generosity—to believe that in all probability these thing

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§ 4. Inspiration in general, or Natural Inspiration.

§ 4. Inspiration in general, or Natural Inspiration.

There are, therefore, two principal intellectual states of the mind—the one receptive, the other plastic; the one by which it takes in truth, the other by which it works it up into shape. By the one it obtains the substance of thought, by the other the form of thought. The one may be called the perceptive state, the other the reflective state. Thus, too, we see that the perceptive faculty may be exercised in two directions, outwardly and inwardly. It is the same intellectual faculty which, throu

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§ 5. Christian or Supernatural Inspiration.

§ 5. Christian or Supernatural Inspiration.

We are thus prepared to state more distinctly the difference between inspiration in general and Christian inspiration in particular. ( a. ) These two inspirations resemble each other in resulting from the exercise of the same mental faculties, since the state of mind in both cases is not that of reflection, but perception; and the perception is inward perception. Newton fixes his mind steadily upon the confused mathematical thought within till it becomes clear. Milton fixes his mind upon the inw

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§ 6. Inspiration of the Scriptures, especially of the New Testament Scriptures.

§ 6. Inspiration of the Scriptures, especially of the New Testament Scriptures.

The famous proof-text on this subject is that in the Second Epistle of Paul to Timothy: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness.” To what Scripture did Paul refer? Some say to the Jewish Scripture. Some say to the Jewish and Christian writings. But the Christian writings were not then all written, and were not collected into what we call the New Testament. The apostle does not limit himself to these. He

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§ 7. Authority of the Scriptures.

§ 7. Authority of the Scriptures.

What gives a man authority as a guide, teacher, counsellor, is not our belief in his infallibility, but our belief in his knowledge; if we believe that he knows something we do not know, he becomes thereby an authority to us. If he has been where we have not been, and seen what we have not seen, he is an authority. A man who has just come from Europe or from California, who has been in the midst of a great battle, who has studied a subject which others have not studied, and made himself familiar

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§ 8. The Christian Prepossession.

§ 8. The Christian Prepossession.

To read the New Testament to any purpose, we must, therefore, read with the faith that there is some great good to be got from it. But what is the true foundation of this faith? Is it legitimate, or is it an illusion? The basis of this faith is to be found in the fact that the Bible has done so much, and is doing so much, for the world—a fact which cannot be stated better than in these words of one who is not commonly supposed to have too high a reverence for the Bible:— A book which exercises t

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§ 9. Conclusion.

§ 9. Conclusion.

We now approach the orthodoxy of Orthodoxy—the system of sin and redemption, which constitutes its most essential character. The questions hitherto treated—the natural and supernatural, miracles, the Scriptures—belong to universal religion. On these points heretics and the Orthodox may agree. But the essence of heresy, in the eyes of an Orthodox man, is to vary from the standards of belief in regard to sin and salvation. We commence with the subject of human sinfulness; in other words, with the

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§ 1. The Question stated.

§ 1. The Question stated.

Orthodoxy answers the question, “What is man?” by saying, “Man is a sinner;” and this answer has these four moments:— 1. Man was created at first righteous and good. 2. Man fell, in and with Adam, and became a sinner. 3. All now born are born totally corrupt and evil;— 4. And are utterly disabled to all good, so as not to have the power of repenting, or even of wishing to repent. These four ideas are,— First, that of The Fall , or Inherited Evil . Second, of Natural Depravity . Third, of Total D

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§ 2. The four Moments or Characters of Evil. The Fall, Natural Depravity, Total Depravity, Inability.

§ 2. The four Moments or Characters of Evil. The Fall, Natural Depravity, Total Depravity, Inability.

These four ideas are,— First, that of The Fall , or Inherited Evil . Second, of Natural Depravity . Third, of Total Depravity . Fourth, of Inability . These points are fully stated in the following passage from the “Assembly's Confession of Faith,” chap. 6:— “ 1. Our first parents, being seduced by the subtlety and temptation of Satan, sinned in eating the forbidden fruit. This their sin God was pleased, according to his wise and holy counsel, to permit; having purposed to order it to his own gl

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§ 3. Orthodox and Liberal View of Man, as morally diseased or otherwise.

§ 3. Orthodox and Liberal View of Man, as morally diseased or otherwise.

We regard Orthodoxy as substantially right in its views of sin as being a deep and radical disease. Our Saviour says, “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” “The Son of man came to seek and to save that which is lost.” But the question recurs, Is there only one kind of sin,—namely, voluntary and conscious transgression of God's law, originating with the individual himself, and in the moment of committing it, by means of his free will, which is its only seat? or is there

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§ 4. Sin as Disease.

§ 4. Sin as Disease.

If we attempt to analyze evil, we shall find that it may be conveniently distributed into these divisions:— 1. Physical Evil. ( a. ) Pain. ( b. ) Weakness. ( c. ) Physical disease. 2. Intellectual or Mental Evil. ( a. ) Ignorance. ( b. ) Error, or mistake. ( c. ) Sophism, or falsehood. 3. Moral Evil. Disobedience to the Moral Law. ( a. ) Ignorant and accidental, or transgression. ( b. ) Habitual disobedience, or vice. ( c. ) Wilful violation of human law; crime. ( d. ) Diseased moral state, as s

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§ 5. Doctrine of the Fall in Adam, and Natural Depravity. Their Truth and Error.

§ 5. Doctrine of the Fall in Adam, and Natural Depravity. Their Truth and Error.

We are all in the garden; we are at first placed in paradise; and each has in himself all the four dramatis personæ —Adam, Eve, the Serpent, and the Voice of God. Adam is the will, the power of choice, the masculine element, in man; Eve is the affection, the desire, the feminine element, in man; the Voice of God is the higher reason in the soul, through which infinite truth commands,—i.e., the higher law; and the Serpent, the lower reason in the soul, the cunning element, the sophistical underst

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§ 6. Examination of Romans, 5:12-21.

§ 6. Examination of Romans, 5:12-21.

“And death by sin;” — (By means of the sin of one man, death entered.) “And so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” (Rather “death came upon all men, because all have sinned.” The Vulgate has here in quo , “in whom;” that is, in Adam. So Augustine. But even those who, like Olshausen, contend for Augustine's views, admit that ἐφ᾽ ῷ here is a conjunction, equivalent to because , and not a relative.) The next five verses (13, 14, 15, 16, 17) constitute a parenthesis, and refer to a

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§ 7. Orthodox View of Total Depravity and Inability.

§ 7. Orthodox View of Total Depravity and Inability.

1. A text often cited is Genesis 6:5,—the reason given for destroying the human race, in the time of Noah, by the deluge: “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” But this seems to be a description of the state of the world at that particular time, not of its character in all ages. It is not a description of man's natural condition, but of an extremely degenerate condition. If the state of

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§ 8. Proof Texts.

§ 8. Proof Texts.

This also is a degenerate condition, not a natural one. It was a condition into which men had fallen, not one in which they were born. “They have all gone out of the way; they are together become unprofitable.” It does not, therefore, apply to men universally , but to men in those particular times. It was not true of all , even at that particular time. It was not true of David himself, that he did not seek after God, or have the fear of God before his eyes; or else other passages in the same boo

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§ 9. Truth in the Doctrine of Total Depravity.

§ 9. Truth in the Doctrine of Total Depravity.

“This is a true saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” It is because we are sinners that we need to experience this great change. We do not wish to exaggerate the amount of human sinfulness. Theologians have carried their attacks on human nature quite too far, and the result has often been that men have looked on sin as a sort of theological matter, which has nothing to do with actual life. They have cheerfully admitted that they were total

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§ 10. Ability and Inability.

§ 10. Ability and Inability.

Without attempting here to enter into the tormented question of fate and freedom, of necessity so irrefragably demonstrated by the logic of Edwards and others,—of free-will perpetually reasserted by the intuitive reason in the soul,—we may say this: Whether there be such a thing as metaphysical freedom or not, there is such a thing as moral freedom. In proportion as man sinks into the domain of nature, he is bound by irresistible laws. In proportion as he rises into the sphere of reason, justice

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§ 11. Orthodox Doctrine of Inability.

§ 11. Orthodox Doctrine of Inability.

These charges, it must be noticed, are brought against Calvinism, not by us, but by Presbyterian divines, themselves holding to this same Westminster Confession. But let us look at some of the expositions given to this doctrine of inability by modern Orthodox authorities. ( a. ) The Old School Presbyterians. —As stated by one of their own number (Professor Atwater, of Princeton College, Bibliotheca Sacra, January, 1864), they hold an inability “moral, sinful, and real,” “irremovable by the sinne

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§ 12. Some further Features of Orthodox Theology concerning Human Sinfulness.

§ 12. Some further Features of Orthodox Theology concerning Human Sinfulness.

Professor Lawrence explains the belief of the Old School in the imputation of Adam's sin thus: It was not the personal guilt of Adam which was imputed to his descendants, but “certain disastrous consequences.” They, as well as he, became “subject to temporal and eternal death.” The next consequence of Adam's sin we must give in Professor Lawrence's own language, in order not to misrepresent him. “The first evil disposition which led to the evil choice was not only confirmed in him as an individu

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§ 1. Orthodoxy recognizes only two Conditions in which Man can be found.

§ 1. Orthodoxy recognizes only two Conditions in which Man can be found.

Again, the change from one state to the other is assumed to be so distinct and marked, that he who runs can read. One may say to another, “ Where were you converted? ” just as they may say, “ Where did you go to college? ” “Where were you born?” said an English bishop to Summerfield, the Methodist preacher. “In Dublin and Liverpool,” he answered. “Were you born in two places?” said the bishop. “ ‘Art thou a master in Israel, and knowest not these things?’ ” replied Summerfield. On the other ha

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§ 2. Crisis and Development.

§ 2. Crisis and Development.

The next position of Orthodoxy is, that man, in the second or regenerate state, is a new creature. It asserts the change to be entire and radical, and the difference immense. Not only the whole direction of the life is changed, but the motive power is different, and the spirit different. Instead of ambition, there is content; in the place of sensitive vanity, there comes humility; instead of anxiety, trust in God. The burden of sin is taken away; the sense of our unworthiness no longer torments

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§ 3. Nature of the Change.

§ 3. Nature of the Change.

And the experience of the whole Church, the biographies of the saints in every denomination, assure us of the substantial truth of this description. Even in churches which are not Orthodox,—churches like our own, which insist more upon development than upon crisis,—observation verifies this description. Even those who do not expect such a change, nor believe in it, often come to it unexpectedly. In the course of each one's experience as a Christian minister, though he may never have insisted on

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§ 4. Its Reality and Importance.

§ 4. Its Reality and Importance.

But now comes a difficulty in the Orthodox statement. Orthodoxy declares that this regenerate state is the result of faith, not of works; and that faith is the gift of God; and herein Orthodoxy follows the Scripture. Yet Orthodoxy calls upon us to repent and be converted, that our sins may be blotted out; and herein likewise Orthodoxy follows the Scripture. Is, then, conversion an experience, or is it an action? Is it something God gives, or something which he commands? Is it a duty to be done,

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§ 5. Is it the Work of God, or of the Man himself? Orthodox Difficulty.

§ 5. Is it the Work of God, or of the Man himself? Orthodox Difficulty.

The distinction of which we speak is between repentance or conversion on the one side, and regeneration or a new life on the other side. Repentance or conversion consists in renouncing all sin, and resolving to forsake it; in turning to God, with the purpose of submitting to his will and obeying his law. This conversion or repentance is an act proceeding from the will, and in obedience to the conscience. This is what God commands, and what we can and ought to do. Every conscientious person, ever

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§ 6. Solved by the Distinction between Conversion and Regeneration.

§ 6. Solved by the Distinction between Conversion and Regeneration.

If this be so, we may divide men into three classes, and not into two. The first class is of those who are neither converted nor regenerate; the second, who are converted, but not regenerate; the third, who are converted, and also regenerate. The first are like the prodigal in the parable,—living without God; the second, like the hired servants in the same story,—serving God for wages; the third are sons, serving from love, ever with their Father, and all that he has is theirs. The motive of the

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§ 7. Men may be divided, religiously, into three Classes, not two.

§ 7. Men may be divided, religiously, into three Classes, not two.

Thus we see that all religious experiences coincide. The experience of the apostle Paul is exactly the same, in its essentials, with that of every soul, however humble, that begins and goes forward in the Christian life. If this distinction between conversion and regeneration be correct, it removes the difficulty in the Orthodox statement. Conversion is an act, regeneration an experience. “Turn ye, turn ye; for why will ye die?” is the command of the Old Testament. “Repent, and be converted, tha

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§ 8. Difference between Conversion and Regeneration.

§ 8. Difference between Conversion and Regeneration.

And herein lies the basis of the truth in the doctrine of the “perseverance of saints.” We cannot but think the attitude of Orthodoxy towards this part of Christianity to be singularly unsatisfactory and inefficient. The work of the Church, all admit, is to convert the world to God, and so save it from the power and evil of sin. But if this is a work which the Church has to do, it ought surely to have some fixed method or rule by which to act. It should not be a matter of accident whether it can

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§ 9. Unsatisfactory Attitude of the Orthodox Church.

§ 9. Unsatisfactory Attitude of the Orthodox Church.

The Church of Rome has a great advantage over Protestant Orthodoxy in this respect. It, too, admits revivals, and has its periods of extraordinary attention to religion. But there is this great difference. It does not depend on them for creating Christianity in the soul; it uses them only for increasing its warmth and power. In the Roman Church every baptized person is a Christian so long as he does not continue in mortal sin, but by the regular use of the sacraments preserves his Christian life

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§ 10. The Essential Thing for Man is to repent and be converted; that is, to make it his Purpose to obey God in all Things.

§ 10. The Essential Thing for Man is to repent and be converted; that is, to make it his Purpose to obey God in all Things.

In the third chapter of John we have the conversation which has been made the basis of the doctrine of the new birth. In this conversation of Jesus with Nicodemus we have the old argument, which is always being renewed, between the letter and the spirit, between knowledge and insight, between routine and genius, ceremony and inspiration, the past and the future, the goodness of habit and the holiness born out of the living vision of good. In fact this little dialogue may be considered as a renew

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§ 11. Regeneration is God's Work in the Soul. Examination of the Classical Passage, or conversation of Jesus with Nicodemus.

§ 11. Regeneration is God's Work in the Soul. Examination of the Classical Passage, or conversation of Jesus with Nicodemus.

Now, if his state of mind, thus described, had been at that time exposed and told, it would not have been thought a very sound Orthodox experience. But in reality the boy was at that very time as good a Christian for a boy as he is now for a man. But Miss Beecher, in the book referred to, tells us that when one of her other brothers was striving in prayer for this change of heart, with groans and struggles, the house was like a tomb. The poor young man was in his chamber alone, and his groans an

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§ 12. Evidences of Regeneration.

§ 12. Evidences of Regeneration.

All the births of time partake of this quality. They do not reflect on themselves, are not surprised at themselves, but come as a matter of course. Years after, when the early heat of the new life has grown cold, the historians and biographers arrive to examine it in the crucible of their painful analysis, and to tell us how wonderful it is. How can any man prove that he is alive ? Why should he prove it? Let his life show itself, but not try to prove itself. Let its light shine, and those who s

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§ 1. Orthodox Doctrine stated.

§ 1. Orthodox Doctrine stated.

This idea of Christ, as we know, was gradually formed in the Christian Church, and did not become Orthodox until after many struggles. First came the question whether the Deity of Christ was equal or subordinate to that of the Father. Hardly had the Orthodox doctrine triumphed over that of subordination, against those who denied the equal Deity, than it was obliged to turn round and contend against those on the other side, who denied the humanity of Christ altogether. The Ebionites considered Je

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§ 2. This Doctrine gradually developed.

§ 2. This Doctrine gradually developed.

As this view of the Deity of Christ has been stated, it seems, in its doctrinal form, contradictory to Scripture as well as to reason. That the infinite God, who fills the universe, and sustains it; present in the smallest insect; present in the most distant nebula, whose light just arriving at our eye has been a million of years on its journey,—that this infinite Being should have been born in Palestine, seems to confute itself by its very statement. Who took care of the universe when God was a

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§ 3. Unitarian Objections.

§ 3. Unitarian Objections.

But now we ask, What substantial truth underlies this formal error? What truth of life underlies this error of doctrine? Let us remember how empty the world was of God at the time of Christ's coming. The wisest men could speak thus with Pliny: “All religion is the offspring of necessity, weakness, and fear. What God is,—if in truth he be anything distinct from the world,—it is beyond the power of man's understanding to know.” All intelligent men agreed that if God existed he could not possibly t

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§ 4. Substantial Truth in this Doctrine.

§ 4. Substantial Truth in this Doctrine.

Is it any wonder that men should have called Jesus God? that they should call him so still? In him truly “dwelt the fulness of the Godhead bodily;” and this indwelling Spirit expressed itself in what he said and what he did. When Jesus speaks, it is as if God speaks. When Jesus does anything, it is as if we saw God do it. It becomes to us an expression of the divine character. When Jesus says to the sinner, “Go and sin no more,” we see in this a manifestation not merely of his own compassion, bu

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§ 5. Formal Error of the Orthodox Statement.

§ 5. Formal Error of the Orthodox Statement.

All such passages refer, as it seems to us, not to a past natural creation, but to a supernatural creation—a creation of life eternal, which, beginning in Christ, is to embrace the whole of humanity. And we cannot but think this doctrine far truer, as well as more Orthodox, than the Arianism which so long struggled in the Church for supremacy. That view which supposed that Christ was neither truly man nor truly God, but some high, preëxisting being between the two, appears to us to be the falses

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§ 6. Errors of Arianism and Naturalism.

§ 6. Errors of Arianism and Naturalism.

That portion of the New Testament which speaks so earnestly of justification by faith is by many supposed to have become obsolete for all useful purposes at the present time. The doctrine that “we are justified by faith, and not by works,” it is supposed, was intended for the benefit of the Jews alone, and to amount to this—that admittance to the privileges of the gospel is to be obtained, not by practising the ceremonies and external ritual of the Jewish law, but by a simple belief in Jesus Chr

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§ 1. This Doctrine of Paul not obsolete.

§ 1. This Doctrine of Paul not obsolete.

At all events, it is a matter of fact, that there seldom has been in the Church any great religious movement which has not immediately gone back to the apostle Paul, and planted itself on his doctrine of justification by faith. This was the watchword of Luther, and the soul of the reformation. Luther and his companions armed themselves with this doctrine to contend against the great power of the Papacy and the Romish Church. Let us, then, endeavor to see what we can of the truth there may be in

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§ 2. Its Meaning and Importance.

§ 2. Its Meaning and Importance.

This is another easy way of getting over difficulties. In reading the New Testament, when we come to a place where we are stopped by something which looks deep and is dark, we are often told, “That darkness is not depth: it is the shadow of a Jewish error which lies across the path.” Have we not often felt dissatisfied, when, approaching some great saying of Christ and his apostles from which we hoped to gain new insight, we have been told, “That has nothing to do with us . The Jews had such and

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§ 3. Need of Justification for the Conscience.

§ 3. Need of Justification for the Conscience.

Love makes us very thoughtful of another's wishes. When people love each other, they joy in thinking of each other; they treasure souvenirs of each other; they like to make each other presents of things they think will please; they steal an hour from daily cares or nightly rest to write letters to each other. Our heavenly Father's arms are around us all day,—his infinite bounty blessing us, his careful providence making for us home, friends, all; yet we do not think of him, or wish to do anythin

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§ 4. Reaction of Sin on the Soul.

§ 4. Reaction of Sin on the Soul.

The same principle operates with respect to God. We have broken his law. We feel that he must be displeased with us; we therefore hide ourselves from him, turn away from him, avoid the thought of him, are alienated from him. This is the greatest evil of sin, and this we may call the inward consequence of sin, because it affects our inward relation to God rather than our outward relation to the universe. And now, how are we to be reconciled to God? How are we to be freed from this sense of guilt

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§ 5. Different Methods of obtaining Forgiveness.

§ 5. Different Methods of obtaining Forgiveness.

Pagan religions are founded, therefore, wholly on the first mode of reconciliation. The offending party comes to him whom he has injured, and does something to pacify him. But these religions never brought peace to the heart of the worshipper. After the wretched mother had dropped her infant into the burning arms of Moloch, she still had no evidence that his wrath was turned away. In the religion of Moses, the first mode of reconciliation was united with the second. Pitying the weakness of man,

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§ 6. Method in Christianity.

§ 6. Method in Christianity.

And if one asks how the death of Christ does this, we will briefly indicate what we believe to be the way in which it operates. We look at Christ, and see the brightness of God's glory and express image of his person. We see a holiness pure and perfect, a character infinitely beautiful and lovely. We see how dear and near such a one must have been to God; and we hear God say, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased;” and we hear him say of God, “My Father has not left me alone; for I

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§ 7. Result.

§ 7. Result.

2. Faith is not mere intellectual belief or opinion; nor is it mere feeling, nor a mystical emotion in which we are wholly passive; but a sentiment, in which belief, feeling, and determination are blended together. The belief is that Christ is the Son of God; the feeling is trust and joy in the love of God seen in him; and the determination is to rely on him as a Mediator and Saviour. That faith is not a mere intellectual belief, but involves also a feeling of trust, appears from such passages a

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§ 8. Its History in the Church.

§ 8. Its History in the Church.

That hour of simple, child-like faith passed away. Its decay appeared in a return to the old mode of justification. Instead of simply relying on what God had done, men must do something themselves to atone for their sins; they must do penance, and have priests, and sacraments, and masses, and countless ceremonies to come between them and God; they must pile up a cumbrous fabric of religious and moral works, by which to climb up to God; until, at last, though the doctrine of justification by fait

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§ 9. Orthodox Errors, at the present Time, in Regard to Justification by Faith.

§ 9. Orthodox Errors, at the present Time, in Regard to Justification by Faith.

And again: is it not thought by Orthodox people, that, in order to be justified and have peace with God through Jesus Christ, it is necessary that a person should experience certain feelings, beginning with a sense of guilt, a fear of punishment, and passing into a state of hope and assurance? And, accordingly, men make it a work , and labor, to have these feelings in the precise order and manner, and, until they can experience these feelings, believe that they can have no access to God. As befo

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§ 10. Errors of Liberal Christians.

§ 10. Errors of Liberal Christians.

To tell men to do their duties that they may be forgiven, is to tell them to do what they have no power to do. A confident reliance on God's love, and steadfast communion with him, are the only source of real improvement. When we feel these, we are one with God; when we can go to him confidently, as children to a father; when we can betake ourselves to his love in every emergency of life,—we have a source of real strength, and growth, and improvement within us. But, without this feeling of peace

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§ 1. Confusion in the Orthodox Statement.

§ 1. Confusion in the Orthodox Statement.

“There is a general concurrence in the words vicarious , expiation , offering , substitute , and the like, but no agreement as to the manner in which they are to get their meaning. Sometimes the analogy of criminal law is taken; and then our sins are spoken of as being transferred to Christ, or he as having accepted them to bear their penalty. Sometimes the civil or commercial law furnishes the analogy; and then, our sins being taken as a debt, Christ offers himself as a ransom for us. Or the an

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§ 2. Great Importance attributed to this Doctrine.

§ 2. Great Importance attributed to this Doctrine.

Consider the stress laid on the sufferings of Jesus in the New Testament. Notice what our Saviour says himself: “This is my blood of the New Covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” “The bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” “For as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.” “I am the good shepherd: the good sheph

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§ 3. Stress laid on the Death of Jesus in the Scripture.

§ 3. Stress laid on the Death of Jesus in the Scripture.

These are some of the passages which connect the sufferings of Jesus Christ with sin on the one hand, and salvation on the other. There is a difficulty, however, in understanding the meaning and feeling the force of such texts as these. This difficulty consists in the fact that these passages are constantly quoted as proof texts. From our childhood up we have heard them brought forward to prove the truth of some particular doctrine or theory of atonement, and when we read these verses, we immedi

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§ 4. Difficulty in interpreting these Scripture Passages.

§ 4. Difficulty in interpreting these Scripture Passages.

The Scriptures state the fact; the theologians have supplied the explanations. Innumerable have been the theories devised by theology to show in what way the sufferings of Christ have availed for the salvation of men—theories of imputation, theories of substitution, theories of satisfaction. He was punished in our place; he paid our debt; he was our federal head and representative; he satisfied the justice of God; he appeased the wrath of God. But especially are the figures and metaphors of the

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§ 5. Theological Theories based on the Figurative Language of the New Testament.

§ 5. Theological Theories based on the Figurative Language of the New Testament.

Three principal views on this subject have prevailed in the Christian Church as Orthodox. The first may be called the warlike view of Christ's work, the second may be called the legal view, and the third the governmental view. The first was the prevailing Orthodox view from the earliest times till the middle ages, and is based on the idea of a conflict or war between Christ and the Devil for the soul of man. The Devil had gained possession of the human race in consequence of its sin. The right o

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§ 6. The three principal Views of the Atonement—warlike, legal, and governmental.

§ 6. The three principal Views of the Atonement—warlike, legal, and governmental.

But in the middle ages another view of the atonement became Orthodox, founded not upon the idea of a ransom, but on that of a debt . According to this view the divine law requires that the debt which man owes to God, which is perfect obedience, shall be paid, either by himself or by some one else. Anselm, the founder of this theory, defined sin “as not giving to God his due.” Man cannot pay this debt himself, and therefore Christ pays it for him. This is the legal view of the atonement, or perha

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§ 7. Impression made by Christ's Death on the Minds of his Disciples. First Theory on the Subject in the Epistle to the Hebrews.

§ 7. Impression made by Christ's Death on the Minds of his Disciples. First Theory on the Subject in the Epistle to the Hebrews.

According to these passages Christ suffered,—1. To learn obedience; 2. That he might thus become perfect; 3. By an entire cultivation of his sympathies with the tempted; 4. So as to become to them the author of eternal salvation by reconciling them to God. This, we may observe, so far as it goes, is really a theory of atonement, and not a mere statement of the fact. Moreover, it seems to us to contain the germ of a far nobler and deeper theory than any in which the Church has hitherto believed.

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§ 8. Value of Suffering as a Means of Education.

§ 8. Value of Suffering as a Means of Education.

For suppose that we could remove from the world all outward evil—get rid of sickness, pain, poverty, death. Would not the worst part of evil still remain? Would not discontent, selfishness, envy, wilfulness, cruelty, self-indulgence continue? All these exist—perhaps exist most frequently—where there is the least of outward evil; and the outward evil is the bitter medicine which comes by and by as a cure. The central idea of the atonement is, that Christ has done something which enables God to fo

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§ 9. The Human Conscience suggests the Need of some Satisfaction in order to our Forgiveness.

§ 9. The Human Conscience suggests the Need of some Satisfaction in order to our Forgiveness.

We think that if we analyze the feeling which the conscience gives us concerning the consequences of wrong-doing, it is this: First, conscience demands reparation to the injured party; second, it demands punishment as a satisfaction to be made to the law of right, and this suffering to be accepted as just by the guilty party; and thirdly, it declares that guilt should produce an alienation or separation between the guilty party and those who are not guilty. To illustrate all this, let us suppose

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§ 10. How the Death of Jesus brings Men to God.

§ 10. How the Death of Jesus brings Men to God.

( b. ) To say that repentance and good works are enough, will not remove it. ( c. ) To say that God is merciful , will not remove it; for the difficulty lies in the conscience , which declares that every sin is,— 1. An injury done to God. 2. An injury to the moral universe; inasmuch as it is an example of evil, and a defiance of right. 3. An injury to ourselves, by putting us away from God, the source of life, and alienating us from him. Now, it is true that the New Testament says, “Repent, and

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§ 11. This Law of Vicarious Suffering universal.

§ 11. This Law of Vicarious Suffering universal.

If this were not so, we could not understand Christ, nor sympathize with him. His life would be, not only supernatural, which it is, but unnatural, which it is not. His miracles would be, not what they truly are,—God's higher life flowing into nature, and the Spirit overcoming the material resistance of things,—but they would be magical; they would be like sorcery and enchantment—violations of the course of events. All of Christ's life, then, is typical of our future lives, in this world or in s

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§ 12. This Law illustrated from History—in the Death of Socrates, Joan of Arc, Savonarola, and Abraham Lincoln.

§ 12. This Law illustrated from History—in the Death of Socrates, Joan of Arc, Savonarola, and Abraham Lincoln.

They asked why she let the people kiss her feet and garments. She answered, “The poor people came to me because I did them no wrong, and helped them when I could.” “Was it well to attack Paris on Our Lady's day?” “It is well to keep the festivals of Our Lady always.” “Do your saints love the English?” “They love what God loves, and hate what he hates.” “Does God hate the English?” “As to his love or hate for their souls I know nothing; but I know he will drive them from France.” “Can you tell wh

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§ 13. Dr. Bushnell's View of the Atonement.

§ 13. Dr. Bushnell's View of the Atonement.

The Orthodox doctrine of the atonement contains a fact and a theory which ought to be carefully discriminated. The fact asserted by Orthodoxy is, that Jesus Christ has done something by means of which we obtain God's forgiveness for our sins. The theory attempts to explain what is the difficulty in the way of our forgiveness, and how Christ removes it. Thus Orthodoxy attempts to answer three questions: “What?” “Why?” and “How?” The first of these regards the fact. “ What has Christ done?” And th

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§ 14. Results of this Discussion.

§ 14. Results of this Discussion.

Now, as concerns the matter of fact, Orthodoxy is in full accordance with the Scriptures, which everywhere teach that through Christ we have redemption, through his blood, even the forgiveness of our sins. But the Scriptures are perfectly silent concerning the theory. They do not tell us why it was necessary for Jesus to die, nor how his death procured forgiveness. The only exception is, as we have seen, in the statement, in the Epistle to the Hebrews, that the sufferings of Christ were necessar

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§ 1. Orthodox Doctrine.

§ 1. Orthodox Doctrine.

V. “Those of mankind that are predestinated unto life, God, before the foundation of the world was laid, according to his eternal and immutable purpose, and the secret counsel and good pleasure of his will, hath chosen in Christ unto everlasting glory, out of his mere free grace and love, without any foresight of faith or good works, or perseverance in either of them, or any other thing in the creature, as conditions or causes moving him thereunto, and all to the praise of his glorious grace. VI

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§ 2. Scripture Basis for this Doctrine.

§ 2. Scripture Basis for this Doctrine.

In order that God shall be the Ruler of the world, and its providence, he must know the course of events, and determine them. In order that man shall be responsible, and a moral being, he must be free to choose, at every moment, between right and wrong, good and evil. In part of his nature and life, man is a creature of destiny; in part, he is the creator of destiny. Every man's character is the result of three factors—organization, education, and freedom. The character he has now has come to hi

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§ 3. Relation of the Divine Decree to Human Freedom.

§ 3. Relation of the Divine Decree to Human Freedom.

Before Augustine, all the Greek and Latin Fathers of the Church taught the concurrence of free will and grace in human conversion. They taught that man must begin the work, and that God would aid him. God and man must work together. Then came the controversy between Augustine and Pelagius. The latter, being at Rome, heard this sentence read from the writings of the former: “ Da quod jubes, et jube quod vis ” —Give what thou commandest, and command what thou willest. Pelagius objected to this for

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§ 4. History of the Doctrine of Election and Predestination.

§ 4. History of the Doctrine of Election and Predestination.

Augustine objected that God worked in us both to will and to do. He had first taught that God sends motives which we can obey or resist; but he saw that if God works in us to will, he must also conquer our resistance, and work the power by which we consent. But to this Pelagius replied, “Then there is no freedom in man.” Augustine answered, “God does not move us as we move a stone, but rationally; he makes us will what is good, and does not force us against our will. He frees the will from its p

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§ 5. Election is to Work and Opportunity here, not to Heaven hereafter. How Jacob was elected, and how the Jews were a Chosen People.

§ 5. Election is to Work and Opportunity here, not to Heaven hereafter. How Jacob was elected, and how the Jews were a Chosen People.

God selected Jacob and rejected Esau. “Jacob have I loved, and Esau have I hated.” But how did God love Jacob? He loved him by giving him opportunity. And why? Not because he was better than Esau, but because he was different. Jacob was selected to be father of the chosen people because he had the qualities required for his work. Esau was wild, reckless, martial. Jacob was industrious, money-making, fond of small trade; pastoral, rather than warlike; tenacious of his ideas even to obstinacy. The

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§ 6. How other Nations were elected and called.

§ 6. How other Nations were elected and called.

Every great denomination, and small ones, too, are chosen to unfold some one Christian idea. The Catholic Church was chosen to carry forward the great central idea of unity—one Lord, one faith, one baptism. But the Catholic Church is not catholic enough: it has turned itself into a sect by excluding those who could not accept all its statements and methods, though they accepted Christ. The Jewish Church committed the same mistake. When it became narrow, bigoted, exclusive, it left its first love

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§ 7. How different Denominations are elected.

§ 7. How different Denominations are elected.

And now let us apply the doctrine of election to individuals. When one is elected he is always elected to some special opportunity, which he can improve or not, and for which he is held accountable. When God sends into the world a great and original genius, like Columbus, Sir Isaac Newton, Dante, Shakespeare, Mozart, Michael Angelo, Franklin, Washington, Byron, Napoleon, it is very plain that they are sent, provided with certain qualities, to do a certain work. It is evident that God meant Colum

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§ 8. How Individuals are elected.

§ 8. How Individuals are elected.

Perhaps we can now better understand how Christ was “the chosen one of God.” If Columbus was chosen and sent to discover a world, if Dante was sent to be a great poet, if Mozart, Rafaelle, had each his mission, can we doubt that Jesus also was specially selected and endowed for the work which he has actually done, to be the leader of the human race in religion and goodness—to lead it up to God? Yet those who will admit the mission in all other cases, question it in his case. But what was true in

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§ 9. How Jesus was elected to be the Christ.

§ 9. How Jesus was elected to be the Christ.

Jesus, by his nature and organization, by his education, by the very time of his birth, by the inspiration and influence of the Holy Spirit, was elected and called. And he fulfilled his part perfectly; and so, the two conditions being met, he became Saviour of the world, and perpetual Ruler of the moral and spiritual nature of man. But it is not merely great men, and men of genius, who are thus providentially chosen and sent. Every man is chosen for something, and that something not vague and ge

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§ 1. Orthodox Doctrine.

§ 1. Orthodox Doctrine.

1. Man consists of soul and body. 2. The soul of man is naturally immortal. 3. The only satisfactory proof of this immortality is the resurrection of Christ. 4. Christ's resurrection consisted in his return to earth in the same body as that with which he died, though glorified. 5. Our resurrection will consist in our taking again the same bodies which we have now, glorified if we are Christians, but degraded if we are not. On the other hand, those views which incline towards rationalism and spir

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§ 2. The Doctrine of Immortality as taught by Reason, the Instinctive Consciousness, and Scripture.

§ 2. The Doctrine of Immortality as taught by Reason, the Instinctive Consciousness, and Scripture.

This is the metaphysical proof of immortality. Then comes the teleologic proof, or that from final causes. Man's end is not reached in this life. We see everything in this world made for an end. The body is made for an end, and attains it, and then decays and is dissolved. The soul, with all its great powers, goes on and on, but the body dies before the soul is ever perfected. Every human life is like an unfinished tale in a magazine, with “to be continued” written at its close, to show that it

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§ 3. The Three Principal Views of Death—the Pagan, Jewish, and Christian.

§ 3. The Three Principal Views of Death—the Pagan, Jewish, and Christian.

The Christian view of death is, that it is abolished—it has ceased to be anything. The New Testament distinctly says, “who has abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light.” 32 Death, to a Christian, is but a point on the line of advancing being; a door through which we pass; a momentary sleep between two days. In the same sense the Saviour says, “He that liveth and believeth on me shall never die.” So also he spoke of Lazarus as being only asleep, and said of the daughter of Jairu

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§ 4. Eternal Life, as taught in the New Testament, not endless Future Existence, but present Spiritual Life.

§ 4. Eternal Life, as taught in the New Testament, not endless Future Existence, but present Spiritual Life.

That “eternal life” is not an endless temporal existence appears,— ( a. ) From the passages in which it is spoken of as something to be obtained by one's own efforts, as (Matt. 19:16) when the young man asks of Jesus what good thing he shall do that he may have eternal life, and Jesus replies that he must keep the commandments, give his possessions to the poor, and come and follow him. Certainly that was not the method to obtain an endless existence, but it was the true preparation for receiving

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§ 5. Resurrection, and its real Meaning, as a Rising up, and not a Rising again.

§ 5. Resurrection, and its real Meaning, as a Rising up, and not a Rising again.

The immense stress laid, in the New Testament, on the resurrection of Jesus is by no means explained by supposing that after his death he came to life again, and so proved that there is a life after death. What he showed his disciples was, that death was not going down, but going up; not descent into the grave, or Hades, but ascent to a higher world. This is the evident sense of such passages as these. We have not room to go over all the passages which should be noticed in a critical examination

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§ 6. Resurrection of the Body, as taught in the New Testament, not a Rising again of the same Body, but the Ascent into a higher Body.

§ 6. Resurrection of the Body, as taught in the New Testament, not a Rising again of the same Body, but the Ascent into a higher Body.

Let us consider, first, what is meant by a resurrection of the body. This word resurrection tends to mislead us by suggesting the rising from the grave of the material body there deposited; and accordingly we have the theory which makes the future body the mere revival of the same particles of matter composing the present body. But the Greek word, as we have fully shown, means not merely rising out of the grave, but rising to a higher state of existence. The anastasis of the body is its elevatio

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§ 1. The Coming of Christ is not wholly future, not wholly outward, not local, nor material.

§ 1. The Coming of Christ is not wholly future, not wholly outward, not local, nor material.

And if not local, neither can it be a bodily coming; for all bodily coming must be in some one place. Since, therefore, Jesus distinctly denies that his coming is to be “here” or “there,” —that is, local,—it must be a spiritual coming, a coming in spirit and in power. All the material images connected with it—the clouds, the trumpet, &amp;c.—are to be considered symbolical. The “clouds of heaven” may symbolize spiritual movements and influences; the “trumpet,” the awakening power of new trut

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§ 2. No Second Coming of Christ is mentioned in Scripture.

§ 2. No Second Coming of Christ is mentioned in Scripture.

It is often said that the apostles themselves were mistaken in expecting a speedy coming of Christ. No doubt they did expect his speedy coming, and with reason; for he himself had told them that the existing generation should not pass away till all those things were fulfilled. Therefore they were justified in looking for a near coming of Jesus as the Christ. We admit that they expected his speedy coming; but we think they were not mistaken, for he did come. He came, though not perhaps in the man

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§ 3. Were the Apostles mistaken in expecting a speedy Coming of Christ?

§ 3. Were the Apostles mistaken in expecting a speedy Coming of Christ?

Materialists and Literalists are always the same. The apostles soon rose out of their literalism, and soon spoke of Christ as being revealed within them, not outside of them; dwelling, not in the air, but in their hearts. But literalists, down to this day, have always imagined the coming of Christ to be to the senses, rather than to the soul. They do not see that a great noise in the air is not so glorious a thing as a voice heard in the depths of the heart, and a great outward conflagration som

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§ 4. Examination of the Account of Christ's Coming given by Jesus in Matthew (chapters 24-26).

§ 4. Examination of the Account of Christ's Coming given by Jesus in Matthew (chapters 24-26).

The best way to get at the facts is to begin at the beginning, and ask what the disciples meant when they asked for the signs of Christ's coming. They were sitting with Jesus on the Mount of Olives, looking across the valley between, at the Temple. They saw and admired the gorgeous magnificence of this vast edifice towering before them, white with marble and yellow with gold, against the deep blue sky of that sunny land, and as they admired it, Jesus told them that every stone of that divine str

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§ 5. Coming of Christ in Human History at different Times.

§ 5. Coming of Christ in Human History at different Times.

Let us look at one more event of history—the Lutheran Reformation. What evils attended it! What wars came out of it! How has the impulse to freedom given by Luther degenerated into licentiousness, run out in infidelity and unbelief! And yet, when we consider the ideas of personal responsibility and individual independence which have been born of it,—when we consider what an impulse it has given to thought, to free inquiry, to earnest investigation of truth, all the results of this fruitful princ

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§ 6. Relation of the Parable of the Virgins, and of the Talents, to Christ's Coming.

§ 6. Relation of the Parable of the Virgins, and of the Talents, to Christ's Coming.

But what is meant by the judgment described in the 25th chapter of Matthew, commencing, “When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory, and before him shall be gathered all nations, and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth the sheep from the goats.” This stands in such close connection with what goes before, that many refer this also to the destruction of Jerusalem. But the moral meaning is so p

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§ 7. Relation of the Account of the Judgment by the Messiah, in Matt. ch. 25, to his Coming.

§ 7. Relation of the Account of the Judgment by the Messiah, in Matt. ch. 25, to his Coming.

In some places Jesus says that he is made Judge of mankind, and in other places denies that he is to judge any one. Take, for example, the following passages, selected because they seem to contradict each other. They are all in the Gospel of John, and therefore the contradiction is not in the different limitations or special misconceptions of the different evangelists. The passages are, John 3:17; 9:39; 5:22; 8:15; 12:47. The first is as follows: “For God sent not his Son into the world to conde

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§ 8. How Christ is, and how he is not, to judge the World.

§ 8. How Christ is, and how he is not, to judge the World.

And here we may remark, in passing, that there are many such seeming contradictions as these in the New Testament, and that to the student of the Gospels, who is a sincere seeker of truth, they are very precious and valuable. Such a one is always glad at finding statements in the New Testament which thus appear opposed to each other; for he knows, by experience, that they are the very passages from which he may learn the most, and where he will be likely to find some hitherto unnoticed truth con

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§ 9. When Christ's Judgment takes Place.

§ 9. When Christ's Judgment takes Place.

But is this judgment which takes place in this world the only one? It is unreasonable to think so. There are, in fact, two extreme views on this subject. The views of those who say that all judgment is in this life, and the views of those who say that no judgment is in this life. The New Testament teaches that we are judged here, and that we are also judged hereafter. The coming of Christ is here, and also hereafter; and the judgment which commenced with his first coming will not be completed ti

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§ 10. Paul's View of the Judgment by Christ.

§ 10. Paul's View of the Judgment by Christ.

The other point is the passage in 1 Cor. 11:31: “If we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.” Here a principle seems to be laid down—that just so far as we apply God's truth to our own hearts and consciences, we do not need to have it applied by God. And this corresponds with the account of the judgment to which we have before referred, in the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew. Those who are there called up for judgment, and who stand before the throne, are not Jews or Christians, but Ge

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§ 11. Final Result.

§ 11. Final Result.

The different views concerning the future state, held by the Christian Church, may be thus classified; arranging them, exhaustively, under eight divisions:— I. The Roman Catholic Church makes three conditions hereafter; viz.,— II. The Orthodox Protestant Church makes two conditions hereafter; viz.,— III. The Old School Universalists make one condition hereafter; viz.,— IV. New School Universalists and Restorationists make two conditions hereafter; viz.,— V. Unitarians make an indefinite number o

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§ 1. Different Views concerning the Condition of the Impenitent hereafter.

§ 1. Different Views concerning the Condition of the Impenitent hereafter.

III. The Old School Universalists make one condition hereafter; viz.,— IV. New School Universalists and Restorationists make two conditions hereafter; viz.,— V. Unitarians make an indefinite number of conditions hereafter, according to the various characters and moral states of men. VI. The Swedenborgians make an indefinite but limited number of heavens and hells, suited to the varieties of character, but having a supernatural origin. VII. The Spiritualists make the other world like this world,

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§ 2. The Doctrine of Everlasting Punishment, as held by the Orthodox at the Present Time.

§ 2. The Doctrine of Everlasting Punishment, as held by the Orthodox at the Present Time.

But it must also be considered, that this doctrine, which throws such darkness over the future, also sends down a rayless night over the present. It refutes every theodicy; it nullifies every solution of evil. The consolation for the sufferings of this world is, that the fashion of this world passes away, and that there is a better world to come. The explanation of the evils of this life is, that they are finite, and that they are, therefore, to be swallowed up and to disappear in an infinite go

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§ 3. Apparent Contradictions, both in Scripture and Reason, in Regard to this Doctrine.

§ 3. Apparent Contradictions, both in Scripture and Reason, in Regard to this Doctrine.

There is a similar contradiction on this subject, if considered in the light of pure reason. When looked at from the divine attributes, the unavoidable conclusion seems to be, that all men must be finally saved. For God is infinitely benevolent, and therefore must wish to save all; is infinitely wise, and therefore must know how to save all; is infinitely powerful, and therefore must be able to overcome all difficulties in the way of saving all: hence all must be saved. But, on the other hand, w

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§ 4. Everlasting Punishment limits the Sovereignty of God.

§ 4. Everlasting Punishment limits the Sovereignty of God.

This doctrine is a relapse on Paganism, and derived from it. It has nothing to do with Christianity, except to corrupt it. No man was ever made better by believing it: multitudes have been made worse. It attributes to our heavenly Father conduct that, if done by the worst of men, would add a shade of increased wickedness to their character. It assumes that God has made intelligent creatures with the intention of tormenting some of them forever. It assumes that those who are thus created, exposed

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§ 5. Everlasting Punishment contradicts the Fatherly Love of God.

§ 5. Everlasting Punishment contradicts the Fatherly Love of God.

The God of the New Testament is our Father. If he inflicts suffering, it is for our good; “not for his pleasure, but for our profit, that we may be partakers of his holiness.” All earthly suffering finds this solution, and accords with the fatherly character of God in this point of view. Much, no doubt, cannot be now fully understood. We do not see how it tends to good; but all suffering that ends may end in good. Suffering that does not end cannot end in good. If human beings are everlastingly

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§ 6. Attempts to modify and soften the Doctrine of Everlasting Punishment.

§ 6. Attempts to modify and soften the Doctrine of Everlasting Punishment.

Many of the early fathers, and some of the mediæval doctors, took milder views of the future sufferings of the impenitent or unconverted. Proceeding from the idea of freedom, as indestructible in the human soul, Origen declared that, no matter how low any moral being has fallen, a way to return is always open to him. Even the devil may, in time, regain the highest position in the angelic hierarchy. 52 No doubt Origen admitted the need of external conditions for this restoration; but he said, God

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§ 7. The meaning of Eternal Punishment in Scripture.

§ 7. The meaning of Eternal Punishment in Scripture.

From this knowledge of God and of itself, therefore,—from this judgment of the last day,—will flow eternal life to the one class, and eternal punishment or suffering to the other. Those who have been conscientious and generous; who have endeavored faithfully to live for truth and right; who have made sacrifices, and not boasted of them; who have clothed the naked and fed the hungry, making the world better and happier by their presence,—will hear the Saviour say, “Come, ye blessed of my Father,

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§ 8. How Judgment by Christ is connected with Punishment.

§ 8. How Judgment by Christ is connected with Punishment.

The account of judgment (in the 25th chapter of Matthew) at Christ's coming we considered in the last chapter. It will, however, bear a little further examination. There are three different judgments indicated in the three parables of the virgins, the talents, and the sheep and goats. The first is the judgment of opportunity, the second of work, the third of knowledge. In the first and second we judge ourselves, in the last we are judged. These two occur in time, the other in eternity. The first

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§ 9. The Doctrine of Annihilation.

§ 9. The Doctrine of Annihilation.

This opinion has its roots, we think, in the gospel. It has prevailed in the church from the earliest times, having been held, as we have seen, by Origen, and a great number of eminent church fathers and doctors. What more Christian word has come to us from the earliest centuries than the cry out of the heart of the great Alexandrian teacher, “My Saviour, even now, mourns for my sins. My Saviour cannot be happy while I remain in my iniquity. He does not wish to drink the cup of joy alone in the

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§ 10. The Doctrine of Universal Restoration.

§ 10. The Doctrine of Universal Restoration.

The apostle is speaking of the “riches of God's grace,” wherein “he hath abounded toward us,” and gives as the proof this revelation made in Christ of a great mystery—that “in the dispensation [economy] of the fulness of times” he might bring into one (under one head) “all things in heaven and on earth.” The idea of the passage seems evidently to be that in the economy, or order, of the divine plan, which extends through indefinite periods of time, all things shall be united under one head in Ch

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§ 1. The Question stated.

§ 1. The Question stated.

Admitting, then, the permanency of the Christian Church, we next ask, “What is its true form?” or, “Which is the true Church?” or, again, to state it in another way, “Is the form of the Church permanent, or only its substance? Is any union for Christian purposes, for worship and work, a Church, or must it be found in some particular organic form?” To this question Romanism and High Church Episcopacy reply, “It must.” The rest of Protestantism answers, “No.” Romanism says—Jesus established an ess

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§ 2. Orthodox Doctrine of the Church—Roman Catholic and High Church.

§ 2. Orthodox Doctrine of the Church—Roman Catholic and High Church.

“According to the Catholic dogma,” says Guericke, 60 “the Church is an outward community, by which all communion with Christ is conditioned and mediated. This outward community is the true Church, with the signs of unity, universality, apostolicity, and holiness, and is both the only infallible Church, and only one which can save the soul.” This Church, according to Bellarmine, is a wholly visible and outward association; as much so as the kingdom of France or republic of Venice. 61 According to

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§ 3. The Protestant Orthodox Idea of the Church.

§ 3. The Protestant Orthodox Idea of the Church.

and which, in “Van Artevelde,” declares that,— and partly because the Protestant Churches are often less active and diligent in the practical part of Christian work than the Roman Catholic Churches. Instead of a manly Protestantism, they give us a diluted Catholicism. They insist on a creed which has neither antiquity nor authority to recommend it, on sacraments that are no real sacraments, but only symbols, and on a ritual which has neither the beauty nor variety of the Roman worship. What does

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§ 4. Christ's Idea of a Church, or the Kingdom of Heaven.

§ 4. Christ's Idea of a Church, or the Kingdom of Heaven.

Mark 1:15. “The kingdom of God is at hand.” Luke 9:27. “There are some standing here who shall not taste of death till they see the kingdom of God.” Mark 9:1. “There be some of them which stand here which shall not taste of death till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power.” 2. It was already beginning. Luke 17:20. “And when he was demanded of the Pharisees when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation, neither shall the

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§ 5. Church of the Leaven, or the Invisible Church.

§ 5. Church of the Leaven, or the Invisible Church.

The little children must be allowed to go through; consistency requires them to be damned; but consistency must take care of itself; so much the worse for consistency. But who comes next? Here are all the heathen, who have not heard of Christ. Must they be damned? According to the creeds, yes; but modern Orthodoxy has its doubts; its heart has grown tender. Somehow or other we think that we shall have to let them pass, before a great while. Then here are all the people whom we have known and lov

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§ 6. The Church of the Mustard-seed.

§ 6. The Church of the Mustard-seed.

If we study the nature, organization, and character of the primitive Christian Church, as it appears in the book of Acts and in the Epistles, we recognize easily the warm, loving life which was in its spring time, when all buds were swelling, and all flowers opening. It was far from being a perfect Church. It had many errors, and included many vices. Some persons in the Church did not believe in the resurrection of the dead. (1 Cor. 15:12.) Some disciples had not heard there was a Holy Ghost. (A

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§ 7. Primitive and Apostolic Church, or Church as it was.

§ 7. Primitive and Apostolic Church, or Church as it was.

That they had no form of service, no fixed Liturgy, in the apostolic Church, appears from 1 Cor. 14:26. “How is it, brethren, when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, a doctrine, a tongue, a revelation, an interpretation? Let the prophets speak, two or three, and the others judge, and if anything be revealed to another that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace. You may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all be comforted.” Now, it is very evident no fixed or formal

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§ 8. The Actual Church, or the Church as it is.

§ 8. The Actual Church, or the Church as it is.

One of the greatest evils of our churches is, that they are churches of the clergy, not of the people. Our clergy are generally pure-minded, well-intentioned men, less selfish and worldly than most men; but they are not equal to the demands of their position. We take a young man, send him to college, then to a theological school, where he studies his Greek very faithfully, and learns to write sermons. He comes out, twenty-two years old, a pleasing speaker, and is immediately settled and ordained

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§ 9. The Church Ideal, or Church as it ought to be.

§ 9. The Church Ideal, or Church as it ought to be.

Was that an Ideal Church where Paul was obliged to write to Titus that a bishop must not be a striker, nor given to wine, nor to filthy lucre? and to advise Timothy to avoid “profane and vain babbling” ? There was more life in it than in the Church now; a great struggling, but undeveloped power of life, heaving and tossing the Church, as with subterranean fire—smoke and flame bursting forth together; a great power of life, but little chance of doctrine as yet; little harmony of action; little in

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§ 10. The Church Possible, or Church as it can be.

§ 10. The Church Possible, or Church as it can be.

It is possible to have a Church which shall consider it its duty to obey its Master's first command, and “preach the gospel to every creature.” Its mission shall be to go out into the highways and the hedges, to seek and save the lost. It will regard the world as its field, and the whole community as its sphere of labor—the whole community, according to its needs, to be taught, helped, comforted, and cured by the gospel. It is possible to have a Church which shall be united, not on ceremonies, n

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§ 1. Definition of the Church Doctrine.

§ 1. Definition of the Church Doctrine.

The explanations given to these phrases vary indefinitely. Nitzsch (System d. Christ. Lehre, § 80) says, “We stand related in such a way, with all our Christian experience (Gewerdensein und Werden), to the one, eternal, divine essence, who is love, that in the Son we adore love as mediating and speaking, in the spirit as fellowship and life, in the Father as source and origin.” Schleiermacher considers this doctrine as not any immediate expression of the Christian consciousness, and declares tha

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§ 2. History of the Doctrine.

§ 2. History of the Doctrine.

The Church, ever since, has been like a ship beating against head winds between opposing shores. It has stood on one tack to avoid Arianism or Tritheism, till it finds itself running into Sabellianism; then it goes about, and stands away till it comes near Arianism or Tritheism again. Unitarianism is on both sides: on one side in the form of one God, with a threefold manifestation of himself; on the other side in the form of a Supreme God, with the Son and Spirit subordinate. It has always been

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§ 3. Errors in the Church Doctrine of the Trinity.

§ 3. Errors in the Church Doctrine of the Trinity.

Because the doctrine is thus a negation, it has failed of its chief use. It has become exclusive; whereas, when stated truly, as a positive truth, it would become inclusive. Rightly stated, it would bind together all true religion in one harmonious whole, comprehending in its universal sweep everything true in natural religion, everything true in reason, and uniting them in vital union, without discord and without confusion. Every manifestation which God has made of himself in nature, in Christ,

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§ 4. The Trinity of Manifestations founded in the Truth of Things.

§ 4. The Trinity of Manifestations founded in the Truth of Things.

The Scriptures also speak of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. When they speak of the Father, they usually mean God as the Supreme Being. Matt. 11:25: “Jesus said, I thank thee, O Father , Lord of heaven and earth.” As omniscient: “Of that day knoweth no man, nor the angels, nor the Son, but the Father only.” As omnipotent: “Abba, Father , all things are possible to thee.” As having life in himself, and as spirit: “They shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth.” As the source of al

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§ 5. It is in Harmony with Scripture.

§ 5. It is in Harmony with Scripture.

The Son (or Son of God) is spoken of in the New Testament as distinct from the Father, but intimately united with him. The Father gives power; the Son receives it. The Father gives light; the Son receives it. The Son does nothing but what he seeth the Father do. “The Father hath sent me,” he says, “and I live by the Father.” “I am not alone; but I, and the Father who sent me.” “The Son is in the Father, and the Father in him.” “No man cometh to the Father but by” him. He shows the Father to the

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§ 6. Practical value of the Trinity, when rightly understood.

§ 6. Practical value of the Trinity, when rightly understood.

Moreover, the Trinity, truly apprehended, teaches, by its doctrine of One Substance (the Homoousion), that these three revelations, though distinct, are essentially at one; that nature cannot contradict revelation; that revelation cannot contradict nature; and that the intuitions of the soul cannot be in conflict with either. Hence it teaches that the Naturalist need not fear revelation; nor the Christian believer, natural Theism. Since it is one and the same God who dwells in nature, in Christ,

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§ 1. On the Defence of Nescience in Theology, by Herbert Spencer and Henry L. Mansel.

§ 1. On the Defence of Nescience in Theology, by Herbert Spencer and Henry L. Mansel.

But total negation is not the result,—only nescience. Atheism, Pantheism, and Theism agree in one belief, namely, that of a problem to be solved. An unknown God is the highest result of theology and of philosophy. “If religion and science are to be reconciled, the basis of the reconciliation must be their deepest, widest, and most certain of all facts—that the power which the universe manifests is utterly inscrutable.” Thus Mr. Spencer proposes to take back human thought eighteen centuries, and

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§ 2. On the Defence of Verbal Inspiration by Gaussen.

§ 2. On the Defence of Verbal Inspiration by Gaussen.

Let us consider the arguments in support of this kind of inspiration, and the objections to them. Argument I. Plenary Inspiration is necessary, that we may know with certainty what we ought to believe. Great stress is laid upon this supposed necessity , both by Gaussen and Kirk. “The book so written,” say they, “is the Word of God, and binds the conscience of the world; and nothing else does so bind it, even though it were the writings of Paul and Peter. “With the Infidel, whether he be Christia

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§ 3. Defence of the Doctrine that Sin is a Nature, by Professor Shedd.

§ 3. Defence of the Doctrine that Sin is a Nature, by Professor Shedd.

The proofs of this position are, 1. The language of St. Paul (Eph. 2:3), “We were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.” 2. That we are compelled by the laws of our mind to refer volitions to a nature, as qualities to a substance. We cannot stop in the outward act of sin, but by a mental instinct look inward to the particular volition from which the sin came. Nor can the mind stop with this particular volition. There is a steady and uniform state of character, which particular volitio

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§ 4. Defence of Everlasting Punishment, by Dr. Nehemiah Adams and Dr. J. P. Thompson.

§ 4. Defence of Everlasting Punishment, by Dr. Nehemiah Adams and Dr. J. P. Thompson.

1. The view taken in his tract, of God, cannot be true, because it conflicts with his supreme and sovereign deity. Of course, this is to dethrone God. God, if not sovereign, is not God. Any view which disturbs, however remotely, the supremacy of the Deity, must be a relapse towards Pagan idolatry. We charge this tendency on the whole tenor of this tract. We affirm that it seriously impairs that confidence and strength which can only come from reliance on Omnipotence, and remands us to the terror

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§ 5. Defence of the Trinity, by Frederick D. Huntington, D. D.

§ 5. Defence of the Trinity, by Frederick D. Huntington, D. D.

7. That it is a doctrine of philosophy, and not of faith. 8. That we can trace its gradual historic formation in the Christian Church. 9. That it is opposed to a belief in the real divinity of Christ, and to a belief in his real humanity; thus undermining continually the faith of the Church in the divine humanity of Christ Jesus the Lord. Proceeding, then, to an examination of these reasons, we say,— I. The Church doctrine of the Trinity is nowhere stated in the New Testament. To prove this, as

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